U.S. Men Sweep Italy, Improve to 5-1 in World League - Articles

ROME, Italy (June 26, 2016) – In what U.S. Head Coach John Speraw called “our best match of World League so far,” the U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Italy, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23 on Sunday at the Pala Lottomatica in Rome. The victory improved the U.S. record to 5-1 and moved it into third place in Group 1 behind Serbia (6-0) and Brazil (6-0). The top five teams in pool play will advance to the Final Round in Krakow, Poland and a chance to win $1 million. On Monday, the U.S. Men will travel to Dallas, Texas where they will play the final weekend of pool play on July 1-3 against Bulgaria (0-6), Australia (0-6) and Russia (3-3) at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Arena. After losing the first sets of their last four matches, the U.S. Men got off to a strong start against Italy (4-2), taking a 12-5 lead. “I think we came out really strong in the first and second sets, in the first eight points,” U.S. middle blocker David Smith (Saugus, Calif.) said. “I don’t know if they (Italy) were surprised by that. We didn’t start those sets as quickly yesterday or the day before.” U.S. blocking was particularly tough. The U.S. Men led 6-0 in blocks after the first set and 12-4 by the end of the match. Outside hitter Taylor Sander (Huntington Beach, Calif.) led the block party with four. The U.S. serving was also consistent, even though the team only finished with two aces. However they held their errors...

from Articles - Volleyball Magazine http://ift.tt/28X0TSy