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Olympic Volleyball Recaps: 21 July (Day 2)

Men's Volleyball Preliminaries/Pool B

NED vs. TUN; ITA vs. KOR

Medal Favorites Take Different Routes to Victory: Gold medal hopefuls the Netherlands and Italy took very different routes to opening round victories in pool B in men's volleyball competition in the Omni Coliseum on Sunday. The Netherlands overpowered Tunisia 15-4, 15-4, 15-2, while Italy turned away a suprisingly tough challenge from Korea 15-13, 15-12, 15-8. Bas VAN DE GOOR paced a balanced Netherlands attack with 15 kills. Ron ZWERVER had 14 kills and Olof VAN DER MUELEN had 12 kills and 2 service aces. Mohamed BAGHDADI had a match-high 17 kills for Tunisia. Italy entered the competition as a solid medal favorite, while Korea was lightly regarded and not considered to be a medal threat. Instead Italy became the first team in pool B to discover that the Koreans are indeed a medal hopeful. Italy jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the first game before Korea rallied to tie the score at 8-8. The game was tied twice more at 11-11 and 13-13 before Italy scored the final 2 points to capture the game. Korea held an 12-11 lead in game two before Italy rebounded to score the final 4 points to take a 2-0 lead. Despite liberal substitutions, the Italians proved to be more decisive in their game three victory. Lorenzo BERNARDI recorded 27 kills and 2 blocks to lead the way for Italy, while Andrea GIANI added 18 kills and 2 blocks. SHIN Jin-Sik led Korea with 23 kills and 1 service ace. Final Score: NED def. TUN 15-4, 15-4, 15-2; ITA def. KOR 15-13, 15-12, 15-8

"It went quite well today," said Bas VAN DE GOOR (NED). "The Omni is a great place to play and the people are great. The day can't go wrong now, everything is perfect."

"We are pleased because we won 3-0," said Italian head coach Julio VELASCO. "I don't believe that we played at our highest level, but Korea played well."


Men's Volleyball Preliminaries/Pool B; Pool A

RUS vs. YUG; CUB vs. BUL

Russian Federation Is Upset By Yugoslavia While Cuba Rolls: Yugoslavia pulled off the first major upset in men's volleyball as it recorded a stunning 10-15, 15-13, 15-10, 15-11 victory over traditional Olympic Games power the Russian Federation in Athens. Russia appeared on its way to victory after posting a 15-10 win in game one, dropping game two 13-15 and then pulling out to a 10-4 lead in the third game. Yugoslavia then reeled off an 11-0 run to win the game 15-10. Yugoslavia controlled a majority of the action in game four in the 15-11 win. An emotional Vladimir BATEZ led Yugoslavia with 32 kills, while Vladimir GRBIC added 28 kills and 2 blocks. RUS received 31 kills from Stanislav DINEIKIN and 27 from Dmitri FOMEN. In pool A action also in Athens, medal hopeful Cuba breezed to a 15-9, 15-7, 15-7 victory over Bulgaria. Cuba dominated the net with its more athletic and powerful frontcourt players. Final Score: YUG def. RUS 10-15, 15-13, 15-10, 15-11; CUB def. BUL 15-9, 15-7, 15-7

"This was a terrible game for us," said Russian head coach Viatcheslav PLATONOV. "It's painful to see your team up 10-4 and lose the game 10-15."

Yugoslavia's Zoran GAJIC on what the win means: "Nothing if we don't win any more."


Men's Volleyball Preliminaries/Pool A

USA vs. POL; BRA vs. ARG

USA Wins Before Near Record Crowd And Argentina Stuns Brazil: Playing before a crowd of 14,200 the United States shook off a slow start to post a 15-13, 15-6, 15-8 victory over Poland in men's volleyball action at the Omni Coliseum on Sunday. The USA, which competes in pool A, battled back from a 9-6 game one deficit to record a 15-13 win and then settled down to complete the 3-0 sweep. The crowd is the second largest that a USA men's team has ever played in front of, falling just short of the 14,786 that witnessed a USA-Cuba match in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1988. Mike LAMBERT led the USA offensive attack with 24 kills and 5 blocks. Bryan IVIE added 16 kills and 2 blocks for the Americans. Poland was led by Piotr GRUSZKA who had 10 kills. Also in pool A play, Argentina pulled off the upset of the competition thus far with a 9-15, 15-8, 16-14, 15-6 victory over Barcelona Games gold medalist Brazil. Brazil finished third in the 1995 World Cup behind Italy and the Netherlands and is a strong medal contender in Atlanta. Argentina was led by Marcos MILINKOVIC who recorded 37 kills and 2 blocks, while Guillermo QUAINI added 31 kills, 3 service aces and 2 blocks. Brazil, competing without captain Carlos GOUVEIA who suffered a calf injury last month, received 24 kills, 7 blocks and 2 service aces from Giovane GAVIO. Final Score: USA def. POL 15-13, 15-6, 15-8; ARG def. BRA 9-15, 15-8, 16-14, 15-6

Lloy BALL (USA) when asked if he ever dreamed of serving match point at the Olympic Games: "Every day is a dream for me. It's overwhelming to see my family up there in the nosebleed section cheering for me until they can't cheer anymore. It's also great that I can share this with 11 of my best friends."


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium.