Dec 02

U.S. Men Top Argentina in Five Sets

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B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 2, 2011) – With an Olympic berth out of reach, U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe made some changes to his lineup and came out with a win over Argentina, 27-29, 25-14, 25-17, 20-25, 15-12 on Friday in an FIVB World Cup match in Tokyo.

Despite only getting two points for the five-set win, the U.S. Men (5-4), ranked fourth in the world,  moved ahead of Iran in the World Cup standings into sixth place. Argentina (3-6), ranked ninth in the world, is in eighth. The U.S. Men will complete the World Cup with matches against Cuba (6-3; Dec. 3 at 1:30 a.m.) and Serbia (3-6; Dec. 4 at midnight).

The FIVB World Cup uses a round-robin format resulting in 11 matches over a 15-day period. The three teams reaching the World Cup medal podium on Dec. 4 will earn berths into the 2012 Olympic Games. For the full FIVB World Cup schedule and tournament details, visit the U.S. Men’s tournament event page at http://usavolleyball.org/events/5557.

Knipe (Huntington Beach, Calif.) changed up the starting lineup he has been using for most of the tournament, putting outside hitter Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.) in for Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) and using opposite Evan Patak (Pleasanton, Calif.) in place of Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawaii).

After narrowly losing the first set, the United States came back to dominate the second and third sets. Argentina broke away to win the fourth set. The fifth-set tiebreaker was tied 9-9 when the U.S. won a joust and an Argentina attack went long to give the U.S. a two-point lead. Argentina scored on an attack. The teams traded service errors before the U.S. got a Rooney kill and block from outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) to reach match point at 14-11. Argentina came back with a kill, but middle blocker Russell Holmes (Fountain Valley, Calif.) ended the match with a quick attack.

"Argentina does things with a speedy offense that is different than some other opponents, " Knipe said. "Evan Patak did well in his blocking assignments today. We were better today sticking to blocking and defense. Brian Thornton continued to run a highly efficient offense. We played some guys who haven’t played much, and now we prepare for Cuba."

Anderson earned his second straight Most Impressive Player award, leading all scorers with 25 points on a match-high 20 kills (54.1 kill percent; .486 hitting efficiency), two blocks and a match-high three aces. Rooney added 16 points on 16 attacks (64.0 kill percent; .480 hitting efficiency).

"Argentina played very well in every sense," Anderson said. "But we served well, keeping pressure and keeping our serves in. Brian Thornton did good job of setting, as we have five players in double digits. It didn’t allow them to focus in on one player. I think all around we played really well on a team."

The U.S. out-attacked Argentina 65-57. The North Americans led in blocks 13-7. Argentina led in aces 5-4.

Among other U.S. scorers, Patak scored 14 points on nine attacks and a match-high five blocks. Holmes finished with 13 points on eight attacks, four blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Ryan Millar (Alpine, Utah) totaled 12 points on 10 attacks and two blocks.

Outside hitter Paul Lotman (Lakewood, Calif.) who played as a substitute, score one point with a kill, as did setter Brian Thornton (San Clemente, Calif.). Thornton was credited with 30 assists and set the U.S. to a 56.5 kill percent and a .443 hitting efficiency.

The U.S. Men were credited with 29 digs, led by libero Rich Lambourne (Tustin, Calif.) with 13. Lambourne also had 10 excellent receptions. Anderson led the team in excellent receptions with 13.

Knipe started Anderson and Rooney at outside hitter, Holmes and Millar at middle blocker, Thornton at setter, Patak at opposite and Lambourne at libero. Priddy, Lotman, Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) and David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) all played as substitutes.

Facundo Conte paced Argentina with 18 points on 17 kills and one ace.

" Today Argentina played two games: we played good in the first, fourth, and fifth sets; but were were completely out of it in the second and third sets," Argentina captain Rodrigo Quiroga said. "I don’t know why. If we played the whole match as we played sets one and four it would be better. I think today we played one of the most important teams in the world, the last Olympic champions."

The U.S. Men defeated Argentina at the Pan American Cup earlier this year, although both teams were playing some younger athletes. Both teams were at full strength in 2010 when the U.S. defeated the South Americans, 3-1 at the 2010 World Championship. The U.S. Men are now 41-8 against Argentina since 1981. Argentina, ranked ninth in the world, qualified as the runner-up out of the South American zone championship.

The U.S. took a 5-2 lead in the first set, scoring on three straight kills by Anderson and a Millar block along with Argentina’s service error. The U.S. kept up the pressure at the net to lead 8-5 at the first technical timeout (TTO). Argentina came back with a kill and ace to pull to within one at 8-7.  Team USA led by three again at 13-10 and at 15-12, and each time Argentina would pull back to within one point. The U.S. led by two at 19-17 when Federico Pereyra scored on two straight kills to tie the score. A kill and ace by Anderson put the U.S. up by two at 21-19. The U.S. reached set point on a Holmes attack. Argentina used a kill, an ace and another kill to hold off a loss and take set point at 25-24. Rooney fought it off with a kill and Anderson did the same with Argentina’s next set point at 26-25. With the South American side up 27-26, Patak scored with a kill. But Argentina’s Pereyra used a kill and block to win the set. Anderson had eight points in the set for the U.S. while Pereyra had nine. Argentina led in aces 3-1  and kills 18-17 while the U.S. led in blocks 3-1.

The U.S. took a 6-1 lead in the second set, opening the set with an ace by Anderson and scoring on two Rooney kills, on from Patak and blocks by Millar and Holmes. Argentina scored with a kill to make it 6-2. The U.S. used an Anderson back-row attack and Argentina error to lead 8-2 at the first TTO. The U.S. was leading 10-3 when it scored on kills from Holmes and Millar. Argentina called timeout, but Thornton attacked an overpass to give Team USA the 13-4 lead. Argentina never put together enough offense to threaten and the North American side led 16-7 at the second TTO. Team USA led 21-14 when Lotman scored from the back row. Anderson took the serve and scored with an ace. Lotman followed with a second attack and Argentina ended the set with a hitting errors. Millar had six points for the United States, which led the set 13-8 in attacks, 5-1 in blocks and 2-1 in aces.

The U.S. kept its momentum in the third set, taking a 5-1 lead on two kills from Rooney, one from Anderson and a block by Patak. Argentina scored with a kill, but Team USA used a Patak kill and block and kill by Holmes to lead 8-2 at the first TTO. The U.S. domination continued after the break and it led 16-7 at the second TTO. With Team USA leading 18-10, Argentina called timeout and responded with a 4-0 run, including a kill and block from Pereyra, to pull to within five at 19-14. Team USA called timeout and Anderson came back with a kill. Argentina’s attack made it 21-16. Millar had two straight attacks and an Argentina hitting error gave Team USA set point. Argentina scored on a U.S. serving error, but Rooney ended the set with a kill. Rooney led the U.S. with five points in the set.

The third set opened close, with Argentina taking an 8-7 lead at the first TTO. The teams were tied at 13-13 when Argentina scored on an attack of an overpass, then got two straight kills to lead 16-13 at the second TTO. Anderson scored after the break, but an Argentina attack and U.S. setting error put the South American side ahead 18-14 and the U.S. called timeout. Anderson scored on a right-side attack and Argentina’s next attack went out to pull the U.S. within two. But Argentina came back with a 3-1 run to lead 21-17. Knipe called timeout. Patak scored with a kill and the teams traded points. An Argentina hitting error and Anderson block pulled the U.S. to within three at 23-20. Argentina called timeout and scored with a kill off the block to reach set point. A final kill gave the victory to the South Americans.

The teams were tied 6-6 in the tie-breaking fifth set when Anderson got a kill and Millar added a block to put the U.S. ahead 8-6. Argentina came back to tie the score at 9-9. The U.S. won a joust and Argentina’s attack went out to give the U.S. an 11-9 lead. Argentina scored with a kill. The teams traded serving errors. A Rooney kill and Anderson back-row attack gave the U.S. match point. Argentina came back with an attack before Holmes won it with a kill for the U.S.

FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup 2011
U.S. Men's Roster for Dec. 2
 
No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
1 Matt Anderson (OH, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)
2 Sean Rooney (OH, 6-9, Wheaton, Ill., Pepperdine)
3 Evan Patak (Opp, 6-8, Pleasanton, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
4 David Lee (MB, 6-8, Alpine, Calif., Long Beach State)
5 Rich Lambourne (L, 6-3, Tustin, Calif., BYU)
6 Paul Lotman (OH, 6-7, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)
8 Reid Priddy (OH, 6-5, Richmond, Va., Loyola Marymount)
9 Ryan Millar (MB, 6-8, Alpine, Utah, BYU)
10 Riley Salmon (OH, (L, 6-6, League City, Texas, Pierce College)
12 Russell Holmes (MB, 6-8, Fountain Valley, Calif., BYU)
14 Kevin Hansen (S, 6-5, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford)
15 Brian Thornton (S, 6-3, San Clemente, Calif., UC Irvine)

Head Coach: Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Team Manager: Gary Sato (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: John Speraw (Irvine, Calif.)
Trainer: Ron Larsen (Lafayette, Calif.)
Doctor: Scott Magness and William Stetson
Technical Coordinator: Chris Jackson (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Medical Support: Aaron Brock (Storm Lake, Iowa)
Massage Therapist: Eli Evette
Scout Coach: Frank Ciarelli
Scout Coach: Andy Read

Qualified Teams

Team (Qualification Method, World Ranking as of Jan 15, 2011, Current World Ranking)
Brazil (South America Champion, 1, 1)
Serbia (Europe Champion, 3, 5)
Cuba (NORCECA Champion, 4, 6)
Egypt (Africa Champion, 13, 12)
Iran (Asia Champion, 19, 14)
USA (NORCECA Runner Up, 5, 4)
Italy (Europe Runner Up, 6, 3)
Argentina (South America Runner Up, 8, 9)
China (Asia Runner Up, 11, 10)
Japan (Hosts, 14, 18)
Russia (Wild Card, 2, 2)
Poland (Wild Card, 10, 8)

Tournament Schedule and Results (All times local except for U.S. matches in bold)

1st round
Nagoya (Site A)

Kagoshima (Site B)

2nd round

Osaka (Site A)

Kumamoto (Site B)

3rd round

Fukuoka (Site A)

Hamamatsu (Site B)

4th round

Tokyo (Site A)

Tokyo (Site B)