U.S. Men’s Sitting Team falls to Brazil in Parapan American Games
he U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball Team couldn’t quite reach its goal of qualifying for the 2012 Paralympic Games when it fell to Brazil 20-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-15 in front of a packed house on Nov. 18 in the fi nal of the 2011 Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. “The guys played their hearts out. We just couldn’t sus- tain our consistency of play,” U.S. Men’s Sitting Team Head Coach Bill Hamiter said. “The team will now have to refocus and set our sights on qualifying at the 2012 Intercontinental Cup in March.” In the fi nal, Brazil out-attacked the U.S. 51-38 and delivered seven aces while the U.S. charted two. Both teams posted nine blocks.
T The U.S. defeated
Brazil in the fi rst match of the tourna- ment and entered the championship match with a 6-0 record. The other
victories were posted against Mexico (3-0), Canada (3-1), Costa Rica (3-0) and Co- lumbia twice (both 3-0 set scores).
U.S. Men’s Sitting
Volleyball Team 2011 Parapan American Games Roster Name (Hometown) Eric Duda (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Roderick Green (West Monroe, La.) Edgardo Laforest (San Juan, Puerto Rico) J. Dee Marinko (Newcastle, Okla.) Ed O’Neil (Amherst, Mass.) Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.) Dan Regan (St. Louis, Mo.) James Stuck (New Kensington, Pa.) Hugo Storer (Greensboro, N.C.) Charlie Swearingen (Gulfport, Miss.)
Head Coach: Bill Hamiter (Bethany, Okla.) Assistant Coach: Dixie Collins (Marshall, Va.)
The second victory against Columbia was in the tourna-
ment’s semifi nals and the U.S. won easily by scores of 25-12, 25-12, 25-13. Team captain Brent Rasmussen led the U.S. men in the gold-medal match with 13 points from 10 kills and three blocks while Eric Duda posted nine points off of eight kills and one service ace. Rasmussen also charted a team-high 14 digs.
“No one wants to come in second place,” Duda said. “But we will get back to training and get ready for our next tournament.”
“Brazil is defi nitely a rival of ours,” added Army veteran James Stuck. “We beat them in round-robin play, and we re- ally wanted to beat them again for gold.”
Roderick Green contributed nine points from six kills and three blocks, while Daniel Regan connected on six kills for six points and Stuck secured fi ve points from fi ve kills. Stuck also posted a team-high four assists and 10 excellent receptions. J. Dee Marinko contributed four points off of two kills, one block and one service ace, while Ed Laforest posted two blocks.
Libero Ed O’Neil led the team with four digs.
USAVOLLEYBALL.ORG | 19
USAVOLLEYBALL.ORG | 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64