USA men stun Russia to win USA Global Challenge Championship

by Paul Soriano USA Volleyball Manager, Media Relations & Publications

The USA men's national volleyball team refused to lose Monday night in the championship match of the inaugural USA Global Challenge.

Reid Priddy and Clay Stanley each scored a team-high 21 points to rally Team USA to a thrilling 3-2 win over Russia at the Delco Activity Center in Austin, Texas.

Priddy (Richmond, Va.) had 14 kills, four blocks and three service aces in the 19-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-10 victory as the Americans came back from two sets down to finish the tournament with a 4-1 record.

"We fought off a lot of tough serves and started getting swings on them instead of giving up aces or near aces," admitted Team USA head coach Doug Beal. "I thought those things were pretty key. The guys hung in there; they scrapped for balls and started digging a few balls."

Stanley ( Honolulu, Hawaii) had 16 kills, four aces and one block as the United States avenged an earlier loss to the Russians in the Global Challenge.

"You've just got to keep playing your system," Beal added. "You've got to keep doing what you're trying to do. Fortunately we played three out of five and that's a long enough time that you can survive the good play of the other team and still have a chance to come back and win."

Russia, the world's fifth-ranked team, defeated the United States, 3-0, on June 30 to start the tournament after taking two out of three matches from sixth-ranked Team USA in a Houston series June 25-28.

"Russia is a very threatening team with their serve all the time," Beal said. "Even in that fourth set they came back near the end and made it close because they got a bunch of service points. This is the first of the matches we have played against Russia that we out-passed and out-served them.

"These matches were great for us," he added. "I would like to have 10 more just like them as we prepare for Athens ."

Kevin Barnett (Naperville, Ill.) and Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.) added seven points apiece, Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.) posted six points and Lloy Ball ( Woodburn, Ind.) chipped in with five points as the men improved to 14-4 overall this season.

Stanislav Dineykin scored a match-high 22 points on 17 kills, four aces and one block as Russia also finished the tournament with a record of 4-1.

Serguei Tetyukin added 15 points on 14 kills and one ace while Alexei Kuleshov registered 11 points on six kills and a match-high five blocks for Russia, the silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

In the night's first match, Santiago Darraidou scored 26 points to lead three players in double-figures as Argentina rebounded from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Tunisia , 3-2, and capture third place.

Darraidou had 24 kills and two service aces in the 25-23, 14-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11 victory as Argentina finished the tournament with a 2-3 record.

Noureddine Hfaiedh scored a team-high 21 points on 18 kills and three blocks as Tunisia finished the tournament winless at 0-5.

USA Global Challenge Final Standings

1. USA 2. Russia 3. Argentina 4. Tunisia

Third-Place Match Argentina def. Tunisia , 3-2 (25-23, 14-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11)

Championship Match USA def. Russia , 3-2 (19-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-10)

For more information, go to the USA Volleyball web site.