U.S. Block Party Quiets Sokolov and Bulgaria - Articles

Article courtesy of B.j. Hoeptner Evans, USA Volleyball: DALLAS, Texas – The U.S. Men’s National Team’s tough blocking and receiving won out against Bulgaria’s hard hitting as the Americans took a 23-25, 25-21, 27-25, 25-21 victory in FIVB World League pool play on Friday at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Arena. The win improves the U.S. to 6-1 while Bulgaria falls to 0-7. The U.S. Men will play Australia (0-7) at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. Bulgaria will face Russia (4-3) at 5:30 p.m. CT. The U.S. led the European side in blocks 13-5, led by middle blocker David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) with four and outside hitter Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) with three. Team USA’s serving also made a difference as the team led 4-1 in aces. Both teams struggled with errors. Bulgaria scored 33 points on U.S. errors while committing 29. Priddy entered the match in the second set as a substitute for Thomas Jaeschke (Wheaton, Ill.) and made several big play to help steady the U.S. "I think the biggest difference was Reid Priddy," Lee said. "Our oldest veteran player is just stealing the show from our young guys. He’s 38 and playing like he’s 28, he was really impressive tonight and I felt like he was the man of the match." "I thought Reid was one of our best blockers. He’s got some unorthodox blocking that makes it difficult for the opponent." U.S. libero Erik Shoji (Honolulu, Hawaii) kept on his toes returning Bulgaria’s hard hits. "Bulgaria is typically a really good...

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