U.S. Sweeps to Volleyball Victory Over Brazil

It seemed like a long way to come after the last two World League Volleyball seasons, but the United States finally worked its way into the world’s elite--again.

The team that won two consecutive Olympic gold medals--then fell on hard times--qualified Friday night for the World League Final Four in Genoa, Italy, Sept. 4-6. The U.S. men’s national team scored a 15-12, 16-14, 15-9 victory over Brazil in front of 3,741 at the San Diego Sports Arena.

They overcame two critical deficits, 11-7 in Game 1 and 14-9 in Game 2.

The U.S. had lost four of its previous six matches, including two last week to Holland in the first round of the World League playoffs.

The two teams meet again Sunday night at the Forum. At stake will be momentum and an opportunity for the U.S. to work together one more time at the international level before departing for the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.

Another victory would prevent the U.S. from hooking up with World League and world power Italy in the semifinals of the World League tournament. Italy is 7-0 in the playoffs after defeating Holland (3-4) in five games.

The U.S. is 11-4 overall, 4-3 in the playoffs. In the first two years of World League, they were 1-11 and 6-10.

Brazil is 9-6, 2-5, but swept a two-match series against Cuba last week. Like Italy, Cuba is one of the favorites to win the Olympic gold medal based on performance over the past four years.

The U.S. got 25 kills and four blocks from middle blocker Bryan Ivie; opposite hitter Steve Timmons had 21 kills and five blocks.

The U.S. player of the game was outside hitter Bob Ctvrtlik, who had 14 kills, four blocks and 15 digs.

Timmons, who had been day-to-day this week because of a calf injury, did not appear bothered. Neither did Scott Fortune, who also has been bothered by a sore leg.

“It’s getting better,” Timmons said. “It’s a little strain, as opposed to a big strain.”

The match marked the first time the starters had competed together in an international match since a June 6 victory over the Commonwealth of Independent States. Timmons and Doug Partie missed all three legs of a two-continent trip, and setter Jeff Stork missed the first two legs of the trip.

“When you consider everything we’ve gone through, we played real well,” U.S. Coach Fred Sturm said. “This group is very steady. The more time it has together, the higher level they’ll reach.”

Fortune said Partie (6-foot-6) and Timmons (6-5), both former Olympians, add a great deal to the team’s chemistry.

“(Their presence) instills a lot more confidence,” Fortune said. “Steve brings that many more points. That’s why he’s so good, he puts down those points.”

Added Stork: “Both those guys have pretty good serves and bring the level of our block way up. At the end of the first and third games, their hitters got real tentative because we started stuffing them.”

Timmons called the victory against the Brazilians the biggest of the season.

“This is the key match for us as far as World League is concerned,” he said. “We didn’t want to have to wait until Sunday and let (Brazil) adjust to their jet lag. Now we can be more focused toward the Olympics than trying to beat the Brazilians.”

The victory was the U.S. team’s eighth consecutive at home and seventh this year.

Fortune said the game was more important for atmosphere than for qualifying for the World League playoffs.

“We played under a pressure situation against good Olympic-caliber competition,” he said. “It’s a relief World League is over (for all practical purposes); now we’re gearing up for the Olympics.”