U.S. Men's Sitting Team Tops Canada at Worlds

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

EDMOND, Okla. (July 14, 2010) – The U.S. Men’s Sitting Team reached its first goal of the 2010 Sitting Volleyball World Championships on Wednesday when it swept Canada, 25-15, 25-19, 25-15, to advance to the medal bracket at the University of Central Oklahoma.

The U.S. Men’s Sitting Team (2-2) finished third in Pool A and will play Germany, the second-place team from Pool D, at 1 p.m. CT on Thursday on Court 1 for the chance to advance to the quarterfinals. Live video streaming of all matches is available at the 2010 World Championships web site.

Roderick Green (West Monroe, La.) led the U.S. Men’s Sitting Team with 16 points, including a team-high three blocks. Eric Duda (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) finished with 15 points.

Although the United States and Canada have played each other several times over the past two years, Team USA was careful not to go into the match overconfident.

“We have learned from past experience how bad it is to go into a match assuming you are going to win,” said Brad Johnson (Pompano Beach, Fla.). “We were confident in our skills, but there was no arrogance.”

As expected, Canada was led by 7 foot, 2 inch Greg Stewart,  but the U.S. Men were ready to adjust to his size.

“We make him work hard for his blocks, which hurts him offensively,” U.S. Men’s Sitting Team  Head Coach Edgar Miraku (Elbasan, Albania) said. “With his size, it’s not easy for him to move around.”

Miraku started his top team against Canada: Duda, Johnson, Green, James Stuck (New Kensington, Pa.), Edgar Laforest (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.) and Ed O’Neil at libero.

Dan Regan (St. Louis, Mo.), J. Dee Marinko (New Castle, Okla.), Charlie Swearingen (Gulfport, Miss.) and Josh Franklin (Houston, Texas) all played as substitutes.

In the first set, the U.S. held an 8-2 lead at the first technical timeout (TTO) and extended that to 9-2. Canada scored with a  block, but the U.S. scored the next two points on a kill and ace by Brent Rasmussen.  Team USA led 16-10 at the second TTO. Canada came out of the break and scored on a kill, and the U.S. Men scored the next five points behind Duda’s serving. Duda had a kill and an ace in the run. The U.S. reached set point first at 24-13 on Canada’s hitting error. Canada came back to score two points before Laforest ended the set with a kill.

The score was tied 3-3 in the second set when Team USA scored three straight points on Canada’s hitting error, Rasmussen’s block and an ace by Green. The U.S. lead was still three points at the first TTO and had increased to five points at the second TTO, 16-11. With the U.S. leading 17-12, Canada put on a run of three points on two kills and a block, but then served out of bounds to keep the U.S. ahead by three. Team USA came back to score the next five points and put the set out of reach.

The U.S. led 8-4 at the first TTO of the third set, but when it came out of the break it was called with a violation for being out of rotation. Canada was given a point and the ball, but Stuck used a kill to give the serve back to the U.S. Team USA was leading 12-9 when Green scored on a kill and then took the serve. The U.S. Men scored the next seven points, including two Rasmussen attacks, a block by Johnson and four Canada errors. By the end of the run, the U.S. led 20-9 and the set was out of reach.

For more information, visit the 2010 Sitting World Championship web site.

For final pool play standings, click here.

For Sitting Volleyball World Championship photo galleries, click here.

2010 Sitting Volleyball World Championships
July 11-18 in Edmond, Okla.

U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball Team
Number Name (Hometown/Resident athletes at the University of Central Oklahoma are noted)
2 Dan Regan (St. Louis, Mo./Edmond, Okla.)
3 Charlie Swearingen (Gulfport, Miss./Edmond, Okla.)
4 Ed O'Neil (Amherst, Mass./Edmond, Okla.)
5 Eric Duda (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Edmond, Okla.)
7 Brad Johnson (Pompano Beach, Fla.)
8 James Stuck (New Kensington, Pa./Edmond, Okla.)
10 Edgardo Laforest (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
11 Roderick Green (West Monroe, La./Edmond, Okla.)
12 Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.)
13 Josh Franklin (Houston, Texas)
18 J. Dee Marinko (New Castle, Okla.)

Head Coach: Edgar Miraku (Elbasan, Albania)
Assistant Coach: Dixie Collins (Marshall, Va.)
Team Leader:  Kimo Aweau
Athletic Trainer: Akehi Kazuma

U.S. Men’s Pool Play Schedule (all times CT)

July 11: China def. USA, 25-10, 25-23, 25-17
July 12: Bosnia Herzegovina def. USA, 25-15, 25-15, 25-10
July 13: USA def. Libya, 25-19, 25-14, 25-21
July 14: USA def. Canada, 25-15, 25-19, 25-15

Men’s Group A Final Pool Standings
Bosnia 4-0
China 3-1
USA 2-2
Canada 1-3
Libya 0-4

Tags: Brad Johnson, Brent Rasmussen, Central Oklahoma, Charlie Swearingen, Dan Regan, Ed O'Neil, Edgar Miraku, Eric Duda, James Stuck, Josh Franklin, Roderick Green, Sitting Volleyball, Sitting Volleyball World Championships, U.S. Men's Sitting Volleyball Team