Posted on: Tuesday, November 18, 2003

U.S. men dealt first loss in Cup volleyball

Advertiser Staff

The U.S. men's volleyball team lost to Serbia-Montenegro at the World Cup, an Olympic qualifying event in Tokyo yesterday.

The Americans (1-1) were beaten 26-24, 25-21, 25-22 by the 2000 Olympic champions. The top three teams from this 12-nation tournament advance to next year's Athens Games.

The United States, which downed Canada on Sunday, was led by Clay Stanley with 19 points. Ivan Miljkovic had 19 points for the winners.

Stanley is a Kaiser High and University of Hawai'i alum.

"We couldn't be in the right place in blocking, particularly against (Miljkovic)," U.S. coach Douglas Beal said. "They are a good team. Besides that, they didn't make easy mistakes."

Other winners yesterday were Brazil, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Canada.