U.S. Men at Work in Win over Australia - Articles

Article by B.J. Hoeptner Evans/USA Volleyball The U.S. Men’s National Team played like a team determined to go to the FIVB World League Final Round as it beat Australia 25-14, 26-24, 25-15 on Saturday before a crowd of more than 7,000 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Arena in Dallas, Texas. The victory improves the United States to 7-1 in FIVB World League pool play and moves it into second place behind Brazil. The U.S. will play Russia (5-3) at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday in a match that will be shown live on NBC. The top five teams in pool play advance to the World League Final Round in Krakow, Poland on July 13-17 and will play for a winning prize of $1 million. Australia falls to 0-8 and will look for its first victory against Bulgaria (0-8) on Sunday. Both the U.S. and Australia started some of their backup players on Saturday to give veterans a rest and help the youngsters gain experience. The United States led in blocking (11-1), aces (10-4) and spikes (38-30). U.S. middle blocker Max Holt (Cincinnati), playing in his first match since being injured during the first round of pool play in Rio de Janeiro, finished with 14 points, including a match-high four blocks and a match-high three aces. “It felt great,” Holt said. “I missed competing so much and it’s just great to be out there with the team. “(The round in) Italy was tough because I played in Italy for four years and I wanted to be...

from Articles - Volleyball Magazine http://ift.tt/29eRhWJ