US downs Tunisia
Check this article out from USA Volleyball.
Gabe Gardner helped the U.S. Men’s National Team come back from a first-set scare as Team USA defeated Tunisia, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 on Sunday before 3,000 spectators at the FIVB World Cup in Okayama, Japan.The victory improves the United States’ World Cup record to 4-2. Tunisia, ranked 15th in the world, falls to 1-5. The U.S. Men, ranked fifth, will play No. 19 Korea (1-4) on Monday at 1:05 p.m. local time (8 p.m. Sunday, PST).
The top three World Cup finishers will qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Gardner (San Clemente, Calif.) was named the match’s Most Important Player in leading the U.S. Men with a match-high 20 points on 17 kills, two blocks and one ace. Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) scored 17 points on 14 kills, two aces and one block. Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.) added 11 points on nine kills and two blocks. Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) scored 11 points on 10 kills and one block.
Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.) tallied nine points on six kills and three blocks. Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawai’i) scored four points on two kills and two aces. Lloy Ball (Woodburn, Ind.) scored four points on two kills, one block and one kill. He was credited with 41 running sets and two faults in 92 attempts.
U.S. libero Rich Lambourne had 13 digs and two faults. He was also credited with 15 “excellent” serve receptions with no faults. Priddy led the team in receptions with 22 “excellents” on 24 attempts with no faults.
“I thought the Tunisians played with heart,” U.S. Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) said. “Our team was slow at the start, but once we improved our receiving and serving we got into a good rhythm.”
The United States finished with six total aces and 54 “excellent” receptions in 72 attempts with just two faults. It also had 50 digs as compared to 39 for Tunisia.
Tunisia was paced by Hichem Kaabi, who scored 17 points on 17 kills. Bilel Ben Hassine added 14 points on 11 kills and three blocks. Chokri Jouini and Noureddine Hfaiedh each scored 10 points.
