U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team Routs Japan Quickly, but Quietly

Showtime left the Forum with the Lakers’ second straight National Basketball Assn. championship that was won there Tuesday night, which was unfortunate for the U.S. national men’s volleyball team. The United States, temporary hosts in Inglewood, could have used the excitement.

In search of a repeat championship of their own--a second straight Olympic title--the United States opened the Stubbies USA Cup with a 15-10, 15-1, 15-3 victory over Japan Wednesday night in front of 2,517.

They just didn’t win with much spark.

“We’re used to playing the later match,” U.S. Coach Marv Dunphy said. “This time, we were the early. It wasn’t Showtime. It was quiet, and that is not one of our characteristics.”

The competition’s second match belonged to the Soviet Union and France, who gave a much closer competition. The Soviet Union, ranked No. 2 in the world, beat No. 4 France, 14-16, 15-7, 16-14, 15-4.

The United States, the world’s No. 1-ranked team, will not throw this one back, however. For one thing, Japan is ranked No. 6. For another, the United States will open the Seoul Olympics in September against Japan.

But because of injuries, Japan played without two of its regular starters--Eizaburo Mitsuhashi (ankle) and Akihiro Iwashima (knee). “They didn’t have their best lineup out there, so we should have beat them like we did in the second game,” U.S. captain Karch Kiraly said. “ . . . They didn’t challenge us like we had hoped.”

The match belonged to the United States from the start, although Japan used its only comeback to make game one interesting. The United States built an 8-1 lead but Japan rallied to 10-6 and then 14-10. Craig Buck’s ace ended the game with a 15-10 victory.

The second game was more to the United States’ liking: 6-0, 11-0, 14-1, and, finally, 15-1. The third had a similar result with the United States taking a 13-2 lead and winning, 15-3.

Steve Timmons, the most valuable player at the 1984 Olympics and star of the recent four-match sweep of the Soviet Union during a tour of the East Coast, led the United States with 22 kills. Jon Root had 18 and Bob Ctvrtlik 11.

The round-robin competition will resume Friday with the No. 1 United States playing the No. 2 Soviet Union at 7 p.m.