The American women swept Brazil on Friday morning – 27-25, 25-18, 25-12 – for the second time in the tournament.

The morning victory advanced the United States to the fifth-place match, where it swept Ukraine on Friday afternoon, improving on its 3-1 win over the Ukranians to open the tournament.

The American women, with a 4-2 record in the competition, finished fifth overall in the World Championships, which were the first international event for the team since their bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.

The men also picked up their third victory by beating Iraq 3-2 in the ninth place match. With the win, the United States improved to 3-4 in the tournament and finished ninth overall.

Team USA saved its best for its last match of the tournament. The U.S. men were underdogs to the well-seasoned and powerful team from Iraq.

The Americans began Set One strong, but faltered at the end losing 22-25. Edgar Laforest (Puerto Rico) was inserted for Jose Zabala (Puerto Rico) in Set Two. The score see-sawed back and forth with the U.S. men finishing with an ace, two blocks and a kill following a great defensive play to win the set 25-21.

“The coaching staff continued to dial in the Iraq offense, which helped the team in blocking, defense and serving,” U.S. Head Coach Bill Hamiter said.

Team USA won the Set Three 25-20. Set Four began with strong hitting from the U.S. squad taking a seven-point lead at the second technical time out. A couple of hitting errors and some scoring mistakes brought Iraq within three points. A frustrated U.S. team battled back against a now very emotional Iraq team. In the end, Iraq won the battle for Set Four 28-30.

The fifth set began with an American lead, which they never relinquished. The huge upset was finished with Team USA winning the fifth set 15-10.

“The win over Iraq is the most significant win for the program to date,” Hamiter said. “Even though the team finished out of the medals, it gained its best World Championship finish ever by placing ninth. The program continues to gain ground on the best teams in the world and will continue its commitment to qualify for Bejing at the Para Pan American Games in 2007.”

The event concludes tomorrow with Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina playing for the gold medal in the men’s competition. Germany will play Egypt for the bronze medal.

In the women’s bracket, China will play the Netherlands for the gold medal and Lithuania will play Slovenia for the bronze.

For complete women’s tournament results, go to http://spgn.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=87&lang=en

For complete men’s tournament results, go to http://spgn.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=88&lang=en