1 2 3 4 5 USA 25 14 25 22 15 CUB 20 25 18 25 10 U.S. Men Battle to Beat Cuba in Five Sets TOKYO, Japan (Dec. 3, 2011) – The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team won its fourth dual of the season against Cuba, 25-20, 14-25, 25-18, 2225, 15-10. The U.S. Men (6-4), ranked fourth in the world, took their second five-set victory of the tournament, but remained in sixth place in the standings while Cuba (6-4), ranked sixth in the world, remained in fifth. Meanwhile, Russia took over the World Cup lead from Poland, which fell to Brazil on Saturday. Russia and Poland will play each other on Sunday for the World Cup title, although both have secured Olympic qualifying slots. The third qualifying slot will come down to Sunday as Brazil and Italy are tied with 21 points each. Outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) led all scorers on Saturday with 25 points on a match-high 22 kills (73.3 kill percent; .733 hitting efficiency), and a team-high three aces. Outside hitter Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) won his second Most Impressive Player award of the tournament with 18 points on 11 kills, a match-high six blocks and one ace. Cuba out-attacked the U.S. 62-50, but the U.S. led in blocks, 14-10 and in aces 7-4. The U.S. Men also took advantage of 30 Cuba team errors while committing only 23. “There was inconsistency at times, for us as well, but I’m still pleased,” U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach, Calif.) said. “It’s late in this tournament, and we’ve had back-to-back five-game matches. Our guys did a good job sticking to the game plan, and in the sets where we were successful, I thought we did good job.”
Matt Anderson (1) goes for the kill against Cuba. (FIVB photo)
The U.S. led 8-4 at the first technical timeout (TTO) of the first set and never looked back as Cuba could not close the gap. Cuba jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the second set and went on to win easily. The third set was tied at 13-13 when Priddy scored on a kill and block. Middle blocker Russell Holmes (Fountain Valley, Calif.) added a block to put the U.S. ahead 16-13 and the U.S. went on to win. The fourth-set score was tied 19-19 when Cuba used a kill and block to take the lead and then held off the U.S. for the victory. The score was tied 10-10 in the fifth-set tiebreaker when the U.S. scored on two straight Cuba hitting errors. An ace from middle blocker Ryan Millar (Alpine, Utah) put the U.S. ahead by three. Cuba came back with a kill, but was called with a net violation to give the U.S. match point. Priddy ended the match with an attack off the block. Among other U.S. scorers, Millar had 12 points on seven attacks, three blocks and two aces. Holmes finished with eight points on four kills and four blocks. Opposite Evan Patak (Pleasanton, Calif.) added eight points on six attacks, one block and one ace. Starting setter Brian Thornton (San Clemente, Calif.) was credited with 48 assists and set the U.S. to a 45.9 kill percent and a hitting efficiency of .312. Libero Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) led the team in digs with 15 as the U.S. was credited with 31 total. Priddy led the team in excellent receptions with 21 while Anderson added 12 and Salmon had nine. Wilfredo Leon and Fernando Hernandez each scored 21 points for Cuba. After the match, Priddy commented on his battle on the left side against Hernandez. “This whole tour our left side blocking was pretty much non-existent,” Priddy said. “I just wanted to be in good spots and be better athletically — and yeah, I think we went back and forth there a bit. [Hernandez] is a fast attacker and a few points went our way.”
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Evan Patak attacks against Cuba. (FIVB photo)