New Players Lead U.S. to Victory in Volleyball Opener

The United States national volleyball team, such as it is at the moment, won its opening World League Volleyball match Friday night, defeating Japan, 15-9, 15-13, 12-15, 15-11, in front of 2,805 at UC Irvine’s Bren Center.

The U.S. squad is not the same one that won the gold medal in the 1988 Olympics. All six who started that match--most notably Steve Timmons and Karch Kiraly--are in Europe at the moment earning six figures in countries such as Italy, where the sport is a close second to soccer in popularity.

Last year’s U.S. entrant in the World League, a grouping of the the 10 best teams in the world that offers $2 million in prize money, was 1-11. And the U.S. team finished fourth in the 1990 World Cup and 13th in the 1990 World Championships.

But this current group of players has more than national pride on their minds as they seek a reversal of fortune. They want to prove they can beat the big boys without the big names on the squad. A number of those players are expected to return and join the U.S. team as the season in Europe winds downs over the next couple of months.

“Us doing well is huge, for the team and for me personally, because if and when Steve (Timmons) comes back, it’s my spot (middle blocker) he’d be taking,” said Bob Samuelson, a 25-year-old from Marina del Rey. “We’d really like to show that we can win without those guys.”

Samuelson, who had 18 kills and six blocks, might have made a point Friday night. And the the U.S. team at least took a step in the right direction, but the victory did not come easily. Japan finished 11th at the 1990 World Championships.

“This is our first match in five weeks, so overall, I was pleased with how well we played,” said first-year U.S. Coach Fred Sturm. “I think (setter Javier) Gaspar did an excellent job of running our offense. He mixed up the attack and used our hitters effectively.”

Bryan Ivie, an outside hitter from USC who has been with the team only five days, led the U.S. with 33 kills. Uvaldo Acosta, a 5-foot-11 swing hitter from El Paso, had 24 kills and Laguna Beach’s Scott Fortune had 22.

The U.S. jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the first game and took a 12-8 lead in the second game before hanging on for a 15-13 victory. The U.S. led, 12-10, in the third game but the Japanese came up with two key blocks to win, 15-12. The U.S. grabbed a 5-0 lead in the deciding game and maintained at least a two-point advantage en route to the victory.

The World League is divided into two five-team pools with two in each pool advancing to the World League Championship July 26-28 in Milan, Italy. Japan and the U.S. play again at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the San Diego Sports Arena.