24-Nov, start time: 12:30, end time: 13:47 - Attendance: 3,150

USA	3	25	25	25	-	-	75
KOR	0	20	20	17	-	-	57

Match Description:

Impressive America Down Korea
America remain strongly in contention for an Olympic qualifying place after they secured an impressive straight-sets World Cup victory over Korea in their second Round-3 match at Site A in Fukuoka.

The USA, fourth on the World Cup rankings going into the game, improved their win-loss record to 6-1 with a 25-20, 25-20, 25-17 victory, their all-round power and consistency resigning Korea to their fourth loss in seven games.

America certainly looked more settled as the match started and served with far greater authority. Riley Salmon and Clayton Stanley were powerful in their spiking while Thomas Hoff and Ryan Millar patrolled the net effectively. Although America opened a 15-10 lead with a Stanley ace, they were unable to shake off their opponents who battled back to 18-19 down.

But after calling a time-out, America came out and won six of the next eight points, two of which came off a block and spike from Thomas Hoff, as they claimed a one-set lead.

Chang Byung-Chul had more of an impact in the second set with his hammering left arm and Korea attacked with more intent. But superb back-court defense from libero Erik Sullivan and some impressive blocking from Donald Suxho and Millar allowed the Americans to maintain an edge as they built a 17-12 lead. Chang and Yoon Kwan-Yeol tried gamely but were unable to reverse the deficit as the USA went two-up.

America's powerful hitting and service grew more dominant in the third set. The Koreans never gave up but never looked like pulling a set back either as Stanley's height and power troubled them throughout.

Comments:

CHA Joo-Hyun (KOR Head Coach)
" Even though we had prepared our formation well for today's match, the opponent's serves were far better and powerful than our expectation. USA's performance was perfect in terms of both offense and defense. We lacked concentration today."

CHANG Byung-Chul (KOR Player)
" The opponent's powerful serves completely baffled us and messed up our formation, which didn't allow us to play systematic volleyball. Since the opponent's serves were excellent, they were probably able to overwhelm us comfortably"

BEAL Douglas (USA Head Coach)
" We're very happy to win 3 to 0 today. Korea is a very strong team. We didn't know them very well partly because they were loaded with several young players. Our players concentrated and stayed focused on the match much better than usual today, following our plan, even though we didn't have enough time to prepare for the match. Since each game becomes more difficult and important as the tournament proceeds, I'm satisfied with the result of today's match."

STANLEY Clayton (USA Player)
" Our team played very well with a good rhythm and my performance was also very good. I'd like to keep this good form alive for the upcoming matches. My service speed probably exceeded 65 miles today."

Official Result:

Match statistics (P-2) - PDF