Americans Make History With Record-Setting Eighth Straight Sweep

The U.S. Women’s National Team’s Volleyball Nations League run has officially gone from impressive to historic.

Team USA (9-1) won its eighth consecutive VNL match on Tuesday, defeating No. 5 Russia in straight sets. That’s the impressive part. The historic part? All eight of those victories have been sweeps.

Twenty-four consecutive sets across eight matches without so much as a hiccup is unprecedented. The only comparable run by a group of Americans spanned seven matches over three years, from 1978 to 1981.

Karch Kiraly’s team just broke that record in less than three weeks.

As for what actually happened in the victory over Russia, suffice to say, the USA was remarkably comfortable from wire to wire, crushing the Russians in the first set, 25-14, and cruising through sets 2-3—both 25-18 wins.

Michelle Bartsch-Hackley led the offensive attack with 13 kills and two aces.

Carli Lloyd set the American offense to a 52.0 kill percent, while the Americans held Russia to just 30.5 kill percent.

Next in line for Team USA is a 4 AM (CT) date with rival Brazil on Wednesday—LIVE on FloVolleyball.