AUSSIE MEN INTO ASIAN VOLLEYBALL SEMIS AND OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT
Volleyball, September 28: Volleyball Team Australia has advanced to the semi-finals of the 16th Asian Senior Men's Volleyball Championships with a three sets to one win over Pakistan in last night's impressive quarter-final win in Tehran, Iran.
The fifth seeded Australians will now play either China in tonight's semi-final after keeping its six-match unbeaten record intact while while the other semi-final will be played between Iran (who defeated Sri Lanka 3-0) and Korea (who defeated Japan 3-2).
Australia started the match with a lot of determination and focus, knowing that a win would not only secure a top four finish and a semi-final opportunity tomorrow, but more importantly a place in the Asian Olympic Qualification tournament to be held June next year in Japan.
Despite a lapse in the third set where the team struggled to control the service reception accurately and made a number of errors in attack which saw Pakistan leading 9-1 and go on to win the set 25-22, the Australians were always in control.
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Again it was Australia's attack that made the difference as they killed the ball at 56 percent, 62 percent 46 percent and 56 percent respectively in each of the four sets.
Australia also served and blocked well, creating five service aces and 14 stuff blocks as the Pakistan team struggled to deal with the big Australian blockers.
RESULT 3:1 (25-16, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15)
SEMI-FINAL: 11pm (AEST Wednesday)
TEAM STATISTICS
SERVE 5 Aces, 9 Errors, Proficiency 1.66
RECEPTION Proficiency 2.14, 48% Perfect, 6 Errors.
ATTACK 5% Kill, 17% Error, 38% Kill Efficiency
BLOCK 14 Stuff Blocks, 16 Control Blocks.
DEFENCE 30 Controlled Digs.