AUSTRALIANS THUMP IRAN 3-1 IN OLYMPIC QUALIFYING UPSET

VOLLEYBALL, June 5, 2012: Australia has caused a major upset of the FIVB World Olympic Qualification Tournament for Men’s Indoor Volleyball, beating reigning Asian champions Iran three sets to one in Tokyo today.

The win maintains their unbeaten run and sees Australia on top of the ladder after three rounds. The gritty Jon Uriarte coached Aussies fought back to win three straight sets after losing the an error riddled opener 25-17.
 
They fought back to thump the team ranked 15th in the world 25-18, 25-18 in the next two sets before taking a thrilling fourth set 25-23 to wrap up the match at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym.
 
Not only did the Australians win but their 3-1 victory gave them the maximum three points and the Australians have now gained the maximum nine points to lead the tournament going into tomorrow’s crunch game against tournament favourites Serbia.

Iran had trouble defending against Australia's huge front line with Australia’s player of the tournament so far, Queenslander Thomas Edgar sparking  the win with a match-high 24 points with team mate Adam White chiming in with 22 points.

Australia coach Jon Uriarte said Australia’s win started with their service strategy to win several key points.
 
“Iran plays an attack system that has been tough for other teams in this tournament. We were able to work well against it,” Uriarte said.
 
Australia captain, Igor Yudin said: "It was a tough game mentally and physically and we proved again that we are ready to go up to the next level and compete against the top teams.”
 
But it was Iran who raced to a 16-10 at the second Technical Time Out (TTO) and Australia never recovered to go down 25-17.
 
It was a different story in the second set with the Australians jumping to a 5-1 advantage with captain Igor Yudin's block making it 7-3.

An Iran service fault saw Australia lead 8-4 at the first TTO before another Iranian service error saw Australia lead 10-6 before Iran came within two at 12-10.

Australia led 15-12 and a spike by Edgar put Australia in front 16-13 at the second TTO. A service ace by Yudin gave Australia a 19-15 lead and Iran called a timeout. White's spike made it 21-16.

An Edgar spike put Australia within two points of the set at 23-17 and they took the set 25-18 on a reception error.

Yudin drilled a spike to give Australia a 5-3 lead in the third set. Travis Passier's block took the count to 8-6 for Australia at the first TTO.

A Passier spike late in the set gave Australia a 20-16 edge and White made it set point for Australia at 24-18 with a spike. Iran sent a spike wide to give Australia the set at 25-18.

Yudin's spike put Australia up 5-2 in the fourth set. A spike by Thomas made it 7-5 and Australia led 8-7 at the first TTO on a spike by Yudin.

Another Yudin spike made it 10-8 before another spike by Thomas gave Australia a 15-14 edge.

 Thomas added another and Australia was on top 16-14 at the second TTO. Iran moved ahead 18-17 on a spike by Zarini. Thomas evened it at 18-18 with a spike.

White made it 20-19 with a well-placed spike in the corner. Thomas slammed another spike and Australia was two points from the match at 23-21.

Passier's block made it match point at 24-22 and Australia completed the triumph on a Yudin spike.

Australia will battle Serbia tomorrow followed by 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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