USA Men Open with a Win

[vballmom]

Salmon, Polster Guide USA Men to Season-Opening Win
SPOKANE, Wash. (June 2, 2005) – The USA Men’s National Volleyball Team began the 2005 season with a 3-0 win over the Netherlands Thursday night at the Star Theater at Spokane Arena.

Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) scored a match-high 16 points and Jim Polster (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) added 11 points in the 25-20, 25-18, 28-26 victory for the United States in the first of three matches between the teams.

The match marked the debut of Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) as head coach of the USA Men.

Salmon, a 2004 Olympian, had 12 kills, two blocks and two service aces. Polster, an alternate for Team USA’s Athens Olympic Team, posted nine kills and two blocks in the win.

Middle blocker Phil Eatherton (Glencoe, Mo.), another 2004 Olympian, tallied eight points on seven kills and one block, while Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) chipped in with seven points on six kills and one block.

The series continues on Friday, June 3 at the Bank of America Centre in Boise, Idaho, at 7:30 p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time). Tickets for the match in Boise are available at the Bank of America Centre Box Office, all Select-a-Seat outlets, Idahotickets.com or by calling 208-331-8497.

The series then concludes on Sunday, June 5 with a 4 p.m. (PDT) match at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Ore. Tickets for the series finale can be purchased at the RoseQuarter Box Office, all Ticketmaster Outlets, Ticketmaster.com or by calling 503-224-4400. For group sales call 503-963-4400.

[planetasia01]

What was the starting line-up for both teams?

[Murina]

planetasia01 said:

What was the starting line-up for both teams?

Who is in charge of media at USAV? If you weren't in the gym in Spokane you can't even figure out who played...sad. You can get four of the americans from the article above.

I got the Dutch lineup from their website, but no boxscore.
Van Gendt set with Van Dijk opposite.
Bontje and Kooistra were in the middle.
Van de Loo and Klok on the left.
Rademaker was libero.

From what I can tell, Trommel and Van Tarel also played.

[sistahsledge]

Any volleyball fan will tell you that USA volleyball puts out consistently LOUSY match reports. The article above is typical. A short blurb that mentions the score and a few players and stats. It's the kind of article that a high school sports reporter could probably whip out in 10 minutes without even being at the game. All you have to do is pull some stats and make complete sentences. I used to do it all the time for my high school newspaper. We would be better off if the USAV media person didn't waste his/her time with the useless article and just posted a full stat sheet.

And would it kill one or two of the players to actually post a blog or match report? They don't even have to make it daily. Just after a match or during a tournament. It's not like these guys have jobs. College athletes do it all the time and they have homework to take care of on top of practice and competitions. If the national team wants any kind of fan base, they have to get out there and get creative making themselves marketable and accessible or people will lose interest quickly.

[palo]

sistahsledge said:

And would it kill one or two of the players to actually post a blog or match report? They don't even have to make it daily. Just after a match or during a tournament. It's not like these guys have jobs.quote]

Actually I could see that being problematic. You get the wrong guy to write this stuff and it might seem very one sided. Heck you could have some guy pissed cause he's not in the match or seeing the ball enough and come out with a blurb that is disruptive to the team chemistry. Sometimes its hard to write about yourself also.