Annie Drews played like a woman possessed.
And now her USA team — which gold in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics — possesses a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Americans lost the first set Sunday, then Drews entered the match, the they stormed to a 24-26, 25-21, 25-9, 25-16 victory in Lodz, Poland, in the Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier.
Drews had 27 kills as the high-flying left-handed opposite demolished Germany almost single-handedly in the last three sets. She had 11 kills in the second set alone and had only two errors — both coming late — in her 46 attacks. She also had 10 digs.
The victory left the USA 6-1 in the seven-match tournament and guaranteed one of the two spots in this portion of the tournament.
“Annie coming off the bench was exactly what we needed,” said USA veteran Jordan Larson. “We train for this and she showed up and did her job! So proud of her.”
Drews also was a spectacular sub in the Tokyo Olympics, coming in when Jordan Thompson was injured.
“My focus coming into tonight was to just be where my feet were and fill in gaps as needed,” Drews said. “We sometimes talk about how we want to feel after a match is over. We can we truly say we have nothing left in the tank or finished with no regrets. So that was in the back of my mind tonight, playing in a way where I wouldn’t regret anything!”
Larson had 11 kills, two blocks and 16 digs. The other outside, Kelsey Cook, had 12 kills, an ace and 11 digs.
The Americans were coming off their only loss, in four sets Saturday to Poland when a victory would have likely clinched an Olympic berth then.
“Super proud of our team for coming back after a tough loss yesterday,” Larson said. “Credit for Germany coming out strong in the first set, but proud of how we battled and finished strong.”
Chiaka Ogbogu had five kills, five blocks and an ace and Thompson had five kills. Dana Rettke had seven kills, a block and an ace and Ali Frantti had a kill in her only attempt, a late back-row attack it the fourth set. Setter Lauren Carlini had a kill and 12 digs and libero Justine Wong-Orantes has 23 digs.
Germany’s Lina Alsmeier had 15 kills and Kimberly Drewniok had nine.
Later in Pool C, Poland was to play Italy with the winner getting the second spot.
In Pool A, played in Beijing, the Dominican Republic and Serbia got the two Olympic spots.
In Pool B, played in Tokyo, Türkiye and Brazil — which beat Japan for the spot — got the…
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