U.S. Men's Sitting Team Finishes Seventh in Sarajevo

Becky Murdy
Assistant, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: becky.murdy@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 2, 2011) – The U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball Team finished seventh at the 2011 Sarajevo Open, May 28-29 in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“The Sarajevo Open is always a tough competitive tournament,” U.S. Head Coach Edgar Miraku said. “The fact that there are national teams from three different continents participating in it is enough to demonstrate that.”

The steep competition resulted in a tough start for the U.S. Men’s Sitting Team as it finished the tournament with a record of 1-3. The team’s premier match was against host, OKI “Fantomi” Sarajevo, where it fell in two sets, 25-9, 25-23.

In their second match, the U.S. Men’s Sitting Team met up with Bayer 04 of Germany, coming up just short in three sets, 25-10, 23-25, 15-17. In its final match of the first day, the United States had a close battle against the Netherlands, which ended in a Netherlands’ victory, 25-21, 28-26, and placed the U.S. in seventh in the final tournament standings.

The semifinal round, held on May 29, placed the U.S. men against “Start” from Poland. The U.S. defeated the Polish team in three sets 25-14, 15-25, 16-14, placing the seventh in the final tournament standings.

Eight teams competed in the 10th edition of the Sarajevo Open in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Eight players represented the United States in the tournament; Eric Duda (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Edgardo Laforest Betancourt (San Juan, Puerto Rico), J. Dee Marinko (Newcastle, Okla.), Edward O’Neil (Amherst, Mass.), Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.), Daniel Regan (St. Louis, Mo.), James Stuck (New Kensington, Pa.) and Charles Swearingen (Gulfport, Miss.).

“Specific to our team, I felt that we can be right there competing with other teams,” Miraku said. “However, we need to continue working on growing as a team. While we showed that we can compete at a very high level and play well, we also need to show more patience and maturity on tough situations in order to overcome them successfully.”

The U.S. Men’s Sitting Team will compete again in the Continental Cup, July 9-17 in England followed by exhibition matches against Canada, Oct. 21-23 in Kansas City. The team will then attempt to qualify for the 2010 London Paralympic Games at the Parapan American Games on Nov. 10-23 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Tournament Results
1. Oki “Fantomi” Sarajevo
2. Russia (National Team)
3. SDI “Hrabri” (Croatia)
4. TSV “Bayer 04” Leverkusen (Germany)
5. Brazil (National Team)
6. Netherlands (National Team)
7. USA (National Team)
8. “Start” (Poland)

U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball Team
Name (Hometown/Resident athletes at the University of Central Oklahoma are noted) 
Dan Regan (St. Louis, Mo./Edmond, Okla.) 
Charlie Swearingen (Gulfport, Miss./Edmond, Okla.) 
Ed O'Neil (Amherst, Mass./Edmond, Okla.) 
Eric Duda (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Edmond, Okla.) 
James Stuck (New Kensington, Pa./Edmond, Okla.) 
Edgardo Laforest (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 
Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.) 
J. Dee Marinko  (Newcastle, Okla.)

Tags: 2007 Parapan American Games, Brent Rasmussen, Charlie Swearingen, Dan Regan, Ed O'Neil, Edgardo Laforest, Eric Duda, J. Dee Marinko, James Stuck, Sitting Volleyball