The U.S. women's junior national team went 2-1 in the preliminary round of the FIVB Women's U20 World Championships over the weekend in Cordoba, Mexico, earning a spot in the gold bracket.

After losing to Brazil in four sets on Friday and sweeping Cuba the next day, the U.S. team needed a victory over Serbia in its final match of the preliminary pool play round on Sunday. The Serbians went up 2-0, including handing the Americans a 25-10 defeat in the second set, but the USA rallied to a five-set victory, winning 17-15 in the fifth.

Middle blocker Brionne Butler, a freshman at Texas, has been the U.S. team's top scorer so far in the tournament, leading the team in points in the matches versus Brazil and Cuba. Against Serbia, Oregon sophomore middle Ronika Stone and Kentucky sophomore outside hitter Leah Edmond led the U.S. team with 15 points each.

Joining Team USA in the eight-team gold bracket are Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Japan, Poland, Russia, and Turkey. The U.S. opens gold bracket competition against China on Tuesday at 2 PM ET.