USA men hand Japan first World Cup loss
The United States blocked Japan's chances of remaining undefeated at the World Cup. Literally. The USA men's national volleyball team dominated the net to record a match-high 16 blocks as it posted a 3-1 second-round win over Japan at the Hiroshima Green Arena Thursday night (early Thursday morning in the United States).
by Paul Soriano USA Volleyball Manager, Public Relations & Publications
The United States blocked Japan's chances of remaining undefeated at the World Cup. Literally.
The USA men's national volleyball team dominated the net to record a match-high 16 blocks as it posted a 3-1 second-round win over Japan at the Hiroshima Green Arena Thursday night (early Thursday morning in the United States).
Brook Billings (Santa Barbara, Calif.) scored a team-high 19 points on 18 kills and one block in the 19-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-19 victory that improved Team USA's World Cup record to 3-1.
"We did not perform well on our service reception," said Japanese head coach Mikiyasu Tanaka. "But more than that, their strong blocking beat us. Our combination attacking in the middle was caught too easily by the USA blocking. We lost our momentum in the second set and failed to regain it."
As a team, the Americans outblocked Japan, 16-4. Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) led the way with five stuffs, followed Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.) with four, Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.) with three and Gabe Gardner (San Clemente, Calif.) with a pair.
"I knew that Japan could play at a good level and they had a lot of confidence since they won their first three matches," said Team USA head coach Doug Beal. "I'm pretty happy with our blocking performance today."
Beal must also be pleased with his team's balanced scoring. In addition to Billings' 19 points, Gardner scored 14, Salmon added 13, Hoff tallied 11 and Millar chipped in with eight as the Americans improved to 18-4 overall this season.
The United States is now ranked fourth in the standings at the first Olympic qualifier of the quadrennial.
The top three teams at the 12-team, two-week, round-robin tournament earn automatic bids to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Takahiro Yamamoto scored a match-high 22 points and Yoichi Kato added 15 in the loss as Japan suffered its first loss of the tournament to drop to 3-1.
In the final match of the second round tomorrow afternoon the Americans will face Egypt, while in the third round (Nov. 23-25) the United States battles Tunisia, Korea and Venezuela. In the fourth and final round, Team USA squares off against Italy, defending world champion Brazil and France.
In other action on Thursday, Serbia and Montenegro defeated Canada (3-1), China swept Egypt (3-0), Korea surprised France (3-1), Venezuela beat Tunisia (3-0) and Brazil downed Italy (3-1).
2003 Men's World Cup Standings
Serbia and Montenegro (4-0) Brazil (4-0) Italy (3-1) USA (3-1) Japan (3-1) France (2-2) Korea (2-2) Canada (1-3) China (1-3) Venezuela (1-3) Tunisia (0-4) Egypt (0-4)
For more information, go to the USA Volleyball web site.
The United States blocked Japan's chances of remaining undefeated at the World Cup. Literally.
The USA men's national volleyball team dominated the net to record a match-high 16 blocks as it posted a 3-1 second-round win over Japan at the Hiroshima Green Arena Thursday night (early Thursday morning in the United States).
Brook Billings (Santa Barbara, Calif.) scored a team-high 19 points on 18 kills and one block in the 19-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-19 victory that improved Team USA's World Cup record to 3-1.
"We did not perform well on our service reception," said Japanese head coach Mikiyasu Tanaka. "But more than that, their strong blocking beat us. Our combination attacking in the middle was caught too easily by the USA blocking. We lost our momentum in the second set and failed to regain it."
As a team, the Americans outblocked Japan, 16-4. Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) led the way with five stuffs, followed Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.) with four, Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.) with three and Gabe Gardner (San Clemente, Calif.) with a pair.
"I knew that Japan could play at a good level and they had a lot of confidence since they won their first three matches," said Team USA head coach Doug Beal. "I'm pretty happy with our blocking performance today."
Beal must also be pleased with his team's balanced scoring. In addition to Billings' 19 points, Gardner scored 14, Salmon added 13, Hoff tallied 11 and Millar chipped in with eight as the Americans improved to 18-4 overall this season.
The United States is now ranked fourth in the standings at the first Olympic qualifier of the quadrennial.
The top three teams at the 12-team, two-week, round-robin tournament earn automatic bids to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Takahiro Yamamoto scored a match-high 22 points and Yoichi Kato added 15 in the loss as Japan suffered its first loss of the tournament to drop to 3-1.
In the final match of the second round tomorrow afternoon the Americans will face Egypt, while in the third round (Nov. 23-25) the United States battles Tunisia, Korea and Venezuela. In the fourth and final round, Team USA squares off against Italy, defending world champion Brazil and France.
In other action on Thursday, Serbia and Montenegro defeated Canada (3-1), China swept Egypt (3-0), Korea surprised France (3-1), Venezuela beat Tunisia (3-0) and Brazil downed Italy (3-1).
2003 Men's World Cup Standings
Serbia and Montenegro (4-0) Brazil (4-0) Italy (3-1) USA (3-1) Japan (3-1) France (2-2) Korea (2-2) Canada (1-3) China (1-3) Venezuela (1-3) Tunisia (0-4) Egypt (0-4)
For more information, go to the USA Volleyball web site.
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