VOLLEYBALL MEN TAKE SECOND STRAIGHT WIN IN OLYMPIC QUALIFIER

VOLLEYBALL, JUNE 2, 2012: Volleyball Team Australia (VTAM) has kept their London 2012 campaign very much on track with their second straight victory at the FIVB Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tokyo today.

The Australians effectively ended Puerto Rico’s Olympic dreams with a comprehensive 25-14, 25-19, 25-20 straight sets victory at Tokyo’s Metropolitan Gymnasium.
 
The victory came hot on the heels of Australia’s opening 3-0 win over Venezuela yesterday with captain Igor Yudin singing the praises of his team.
 
 “We knew Puerto Rico would be tough mentally, but today as a team we showed we are ready to make the next step in tough situations,” Yudin said.
 
“We showed we have the ability if we are in trouble, where we can switch on and get ourselves out of tough situations. I’m proud of the way we played.”

Once again it was 212cm Queensland Opposite Thomas Edgar, the star against Venezuela, who led Australia with 19 points, including five blocks and three service points. His fellow Queensland Opposite Adam White had 13.
 
Both teams started the match slowly, but a service ace by Edgar opened up a two-point opening set gap at 5-3.
 
A big Edgar kill widened the gap to three points at the first technical timeout, before Puerto Rico coach Carlos Cardona called a timeout after a netted shot by Lozada Ezquiel Cruz and a block by Edgar on Cruz put Australia 11-6 ahead.
 
A huge spike down the middle and a wide shot by Cruz widened the gap to seven points at the second technical time out (TTO) and the Puerto Ricans never got back into the set.

Five of the last six points were Puerto Rico errors and the final margin was 11 points.
 
Australia coach Jon Uriarte was forced to call a timeout after three straight errors saw his team fall behind 3-6 early in the second set.
 
Three points later and the scores were level before Edgar gave Australia a two-point lead at the first TTO, but they lost their lead at 9-9 after some sloppy play.
 
Good work by Maldonada and improved defence kept Puerto Rico in touch in the middle of the set and they drew level at 16-16.
 
But Australia cranked up the pressure and edged ahead again. White put in some good serves at the end and he finished the set with a cracking smack into the floor.

White continued his good form at the start of the third set and Cardona called a timeout with the score at 1-5.
 
But the Porto Ricans had gone off the boil, while White continued to give them problems.
 
He made a super block on Maldonado and came up with two big hits as Australia opened up a six-point lead.
 
But Uriarte had to call a timeout when that lead was cut in half. A great block by Travis Passier put Australia five points clear at 21-16 and they maintained that to the end.
 
“Puerto Rico is a consistent team with excellent players. For our team, the challenge was to keep to the plan that gave us an advantage where we were stronger,” Uriarte said.

“It was a good day and the team put in a good mental effort. While we kept the keys to the match, sometimes it was clear the mental effort was still a challenge for us sometimes.”
 
Puerto Rico captain Jose Rivera admitted the Australians had their measure.
 
“It’s the second consecutive day we played below the level we needed to play in this tournament,” said Rivera.

“We need to improve in many areas. Australia played very well and we had problems with the block again today. I give them credit; they played much better than us.”
 
The Australians have two rest days tomorrow and Monday, before a crunch game on Tuesday against Asian Champions Iran, who have already accounted for Korea in straight sets.
 
The Australians will then face Serbia, Japan, Korea and China over the round robin tournament which runs through until Sunday, June 10 with the top ranked team and the best placed Asian team qualifying for the 12-team Olympic tournament. If the winner is an Asian team then the next best Asian team will also qualify.

 The Australian Squad:

Aidan Zingel Age: 21 Home: NSW Club: Bluvolley Verona, Italy Position: Middle Height: 207 Weight: 102   Nathan Roberts Age: 26 Home: SA Club: CMC Ravenna, Italy Position: Outside Height: 199 Weight: 90   Travis Passier Age: 23 Home: QLD Club: M. Roma Volley, Italy Position: Middle Height: 205 Weight: 99   Igor Yudin Age: 24 Home: Vic Club: Yaroslavich, Russia Position: Outside Height: 199 Weight: 81   Harrison Peacock Age: 21 Home: SA Club: Linkoping, Volleyball Club, Sweden Position: Setter Height: 192 Weight: 90   Andrew Grant Age: 27 Home: QLD Club: AIS, Australia Position: Middle Height: 206 Weight: 93   Adam White Age: 22 Home: Qld Club: Lang Henkel Volley, Netherlands Position: Outside Height: 203 Weight: 89

Jacques Borgeaud Age: 20 Home: ACT Club: Regina University, Canada Position: Libero Height: 179 Weight: 78   Aden Tutton Age: 27 Home: SA Club: Lang Henkel Volley, Netherlands Position: Libero Height:182 Weight: 81   Grigory Sukochev Age: 24 Home: SA Club: Humene, Slovakia Position: Setter Height: 196 Weight: 86   John Dekker Age: 22 Home: QLD Club: Humene, Slovakia Position: Outside Height: 205 Weight: 83   Luke Smith Age: 21 Home: WA Club: Linkoping, Volleyball Club, Sweden Position:  Outside Height: 200 Weight: 90   Lincoln Williams Age: 18 Home: QLD Club: AIS, Australia Position: Opposite Height: 196 Weight:   Thomas Edgar Age: 22 Home: QLD Club: Caffe Aiello Corigliano, Italy Position: Opposite Height: 212 Weight: 106

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