Rio recap: Aug. 9

This year, at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 36 past, current and future UCLA athletes will compete in Rio de Janeiro. Each day, the Daily Bruin will wrap up the different events with Bruin highlights, key performances and upcoming events.

Women’s gymnastics:

Team Final

This U.S. women’s gymnastics team might just be the best ever.

In a performance unmatched in the history of the Olympics, the “Final Five” scored 184.897 and won the team gold by a record 8.209 points – two days after placing first in the preliminary round by 9.959 points.

Individual all-around gold medal favorite Simone Biles led the charge as she posted the highest scores in the vault, balance beam and floor exercise. Incoming UCLA freshman Madison Kocian recorded a 15.933 in her only event, the uneven bars. As a team, the U.S. earned the highest score in all four rotations.

Tuesday’s win sets the table for Biles to become the first gymnast to win five gold medals at a single Olympic Games. Next up for her is the women’s individual all-around final Thursday. Kocian’s lone individual final will be the uneven bars Sunday.

Written by Hanson Wang, assistant Sports editor.

Women’s water polo:

USA vs. Spain

Team USA capitalized on early opportunities and played sturdy defense to capture a convincing 11-4 victory against Spain in the first match of the group stage.

It took just 25 seconds for Stanford alumna Kiley Neushul to notch the first goal of the game and from there on out, it was smooth sailing for the Americans, who owned a 7-2 lead at halftime.

Several current and former UCLA women’s water polo players contributed to the victory, primarily on the offensive end.

Courtney Mathewson, the oldest American on the squad and 2008 UCLA graduate, led the group with two goals. Incoming freshman Maddie Musselman and alumnae KK Clark and Rachel Fattal each added a goal of their own.

It was an uplifting victory for a team that is still grieving a tragic loss.

Adam Krikorian, Team USA’s head coach and former co-head coach of UCLA women’s water polo team, left Rio last week to be with his family following the death of his older brother, Blake. He returned to the country Tuesday just in time to be with his team for the opening match.

Both Krikorians played water polo at UCLA – Blake from 1986-89 and Adam from 1992-95.

The younger Krikorian has compiled an impressive resume very few could match. As a head coach, he’s led the Bruins to 11 national titles, including UCLA’s 100th NCAA championship in 2007.

The reigning gold medalists face the Chinese in their next group stage match Thursday at 6:20 a.m. PST. China was edged out by Hungary 13-11 in its opening game.

Written by Kyle Cardoza, Daily Bruin reporter.

Men’s volleyball:

USA vs. Italy

After being swept by its northern neighbors, Team USA only fared marginally better against Italy.cq

The reigning bronze medal winners defeated the United States in four sets as the teams traded sets until Italy pulled away with two 25-23 victories.cq

Eight of the 12 athletes on Team USA are first-time Olympians while UCLA’s own John Speraw is a first-time Olympic head coach.

It would appear that the United States’ schedule becomes easier after this as the men’s volleyball team matches up against Brazil, France and Mexico – the three teams with the worst records in group A, other than the United States.

Written by Grant Sugimura, assistant Sports editor.

Women’s soccer:

Canada vs. Germany

No. 10 Canada defeated No. 2 Germany in a 2-1 upset in its final match of the first stage on Tuesday. The victory clinched Canada’s first place slot in Group F heading into the quarterfinals.

Although Canada took early leads in both of its previous matches, Germany struck first on a penalty shot from Melanie Behringer in the 13th minute. Canada’s captain Melissa Tancredi answered the goal with one of her own, a low shot across the box, in the 26th minute. Tancredi then broke the tie 15 minutes into the second half with the seventh Olympic goal of her career.

Incoming UCLA freshman Jessie Fleming, who helped secure Canada’s win over Zimbabwe on Saturday, was not impactful against the experienced German team. The midfielder was subbed out for Ashley Lawrence at the start of the second half.

Despite Canada’s timely scoring, the Germans dominated the pitch for the majority of the game. They maintained ball possession for two-thirds of the match, and outshot Canada 22-6.

Canada is the only team in the Games to win all three of its group-stage matches. It will face France in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Written by Dylan Sanders, Daily Bruin reporter.

USA vs. Colombia

Team USA clinched the top spot in Group G, albeit after a disappointing 2-2 draw against Colombia. The Americans entered the game as heavy favorites because they had won all five of the teams’ prior meetings and the Colombians had not managed to score a single goal.

That changed on the strength of two well-struck free kicks and two rare errors from USA goalkeeper Hope Solo.

Although the result was not up to expectations, the Americans can still take positives from the game as they head into the knockout rounds.

The biggest mark came from the team’s youngest player, incoming UCLA freshman Mallory Pugh. With the score tied at one in the second half, she collected a cross at the back post and dribbled into the center of the box before carefully slipping the ball into the net. Pugh’s goal made her the youngest-ever goal-scorer in Olympic history.

After making history in both a positive and negative fashion, Pugh and Team USA return to the pitch Friday for the quarterfinals against Sweden.

Written by Winston Bribach, Daily Bruin reporter.

New Zealand vs. France

Louisa Cadamuro’s two goals helped France defeat New Zealand 3-0 and become the second team to advance to the quarterfinal stage from Group G. The United States claimed the first spot with its win over France on Saturday.

New Zealand and France both had three points heading into Tuesday’s match, each team having previously defeated Colombia and lost to the U.S.

France scored its first goal off a shot from Eugenie Le Sommer in the 38th minute. Cadamuro struck again for the French team with a header in the 63rd minute to give the team a 2-0 lead.

UCLA graduate and New Zealand striker Rosie White subbed into the game in the 71st minute, but the change, among others, was not enough to stop Cadamuro from scoring her second goal of the night on a penalty kick in extra time.

Written by Dylan Sanders, Daily Bruin reporter.

Brazil vs. South Africa

Aline Reis’ national team debut ended with a clean sheet as Brazil’s bout with South Africa resulted in a scoreless draw.

The Brazilians dominated ball possession and outshot the South Africans 25-4, but the highlight of the match – for the Brazilians at least – belonged to Reis, UCLA’s volunteer goalkeeper coach. In the 70th minute, South Africa’s Thembi Kgatlana took a shot against the run of play from just outside the 18-yard box. Reis backpedaled towards the end line and tipped the ball just over the crossbar.

Both teams increased their offensive pressure during the last 10 minutes of the match, and the South Americans barely missed a goal several times. Settling for the tie, however, still guaranteed a first-place finish in Group E and a matchup with Australia in the quarterfinals Friday.

Written by Hanson Wang, assistant Sports editor.

Women’s beach volleyball:

Fendrick/Sweat (USA) vs. Larissa/Talita (BRA)

The Americans put up a fight, but the top-seeded Brazilians were too strong for Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat.

Team USA fell in straight sets (16-21, 13-21) in their second match, dropping to 0-2 in group play. Fendrick had 11 kills on 24 attempts, three blocks and two digs.

The UCLA alumna and her partner will have one more match in group play Thursday against Team Russia, who is also seeking its first win of the 2016 Olympics. The winner of the matchup will receive a lucky loser spot and compete against the other groups’ third-ranked teams for a chance to enter the knockout stage.

Written by TuAnh Dam, Sports editor.