Posted at 9:21 a.m., Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Volleyball: U.S. sweeps Australia at World Cup
Associated Press
OKAYAMA, Japan — The United States defeated Australia in straight sets at the men's volleyball World Cup today, improving its chances of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics.William Priddy scored 13 points for the Americans (6-2), a 25-17, 25-12, 25-19 winner over Australia (3-5).
The top three teams in the 12-nation tournament will qualify for the 2008 Olympics. The United States is in fourth place and will play Japan, Argentina and Russia in the final round that begins on Friday in Tokyo.
Gabe Gardner and Ryan Millar also had strong games for the U.S., scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively.
"We were pretty good in all aspects of the game," said U.S. coach Hugh McCutcheon. "One of our goals coming into this round was stability and we have achieved that."
In other matches, Russia (8-0) defeated Puerto Rico (4-4) 25-22, 25-21, 25-19. Olympic and world champions Brazil improved to 7-1 with a 25-20, 25-17, 25-20 win over South Korea (1-7).
Spain defeated host Japan 24-26, 25-19, 25-18, 25-19 and Argentina got past winless Egypt 25-22, 25-19, 16-25, 25-21. Bulgaria downed Tunisia.
