Sato Helps U.S. Complete Sweep of Sweden

Eric Sato admits that it’s rare to see him standing in the front row during a U.S. men’s volleyball match.

Maybe it’s because he is the only player on the U.S. roster whose height begins with the number 5. That may also help explain his popularity among fans.

In any case, Sato was up to the task Friday night, sparking the Americans to a 15-13, 15-7, 15-10 victory over Sweden at San Diego State’s Peterson Gym.

The victory gave the Americans a sweep of a four-match series against Sweden; they resoundly avenged a loss to the Swedes in May by winning 12 of 13 games on the tour.

The U.S. team leaves for the Soviet Union Tuesday to defend its Savvin Cup title.

Sato helped cap Friday’s match by contributing to the Americans’ final three points of the third game.

The U.S. led, 10-2, in the final game. But Sweden rallied and pulled within 12-10 on a service ace by Tomas Hoszek.

Sato, however, served an ace right back past Hoszek for a 13-10 U.S. lead.

“I got mad because (Hoszek) aced me, so I had to get back at him,” Sato said.

Sato’s next serve was nearly as tough, and Sweden was forced to just put the ball over the net, where Karch Kiraly nailed a kill off the block for a 14-10 lead.

Sato helped put the match away with a long set cross-court in front of Kiraly, who put an off-speed shot off Sweden’s block.

Sato received the biggest rounds of applause from the crowd of 2,000 when he skied for a back-row kill late in the third game and later, when he had three diving saves in a rally. Actually, the crowd cheered most anything Sato did and groaned when one of his serves went into the net.

“I think it’s because I’m 5-11,” Sato said. “But I’ve got a 41-inch vertical jump. It begins in practice when the crowd sees these 6-5 guys pounding the ball, and then all 5-11 of me gets up there to hit the ball.”

Sato entered the match in place of Jon Root, who led all players with 25 kills. Sato finished with 5 kills in 6 attempts for an .833 percentage.