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Aug. 18, 2007
USA vs. Italy Box Score Courtesy of B.J. Evans, USA Volleyball Bangkok, Thailand - The U.S. Men ended their trip to the World University Games on a high note on Sunday as they trounced Italy 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-16) to win the bronze medal in Bangkok, Thailand. The U.S. Men finished with a 7-1 record. Their only loss came to defending champion Turkey in the semifinals. Turkey went on to win the gold medal with a 3-1 (25-11, 23-25, 25-16, 25-21) victory over Canada. The United States also won a bronze medal at the 2003 World University Games. IPFW Head Coach Arnie Ball was a part of that 2003 team. "We have a lot of respect for Italian volleyball, and we knew we were going to have to play well to beat them," U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe (Long Beach State) said. "Once we got out to a really good start, and we were playing that well, it was hard for them to get going. The other thing I like about today's match is that we didn't ease up, we didn't let them back in, and that shows some nice maturity and experience kicking in as the tournament went on. These guys are really happy with the fact that they got a medal." Evan Patak (Pleasanton, Calif./UC Santa Barbara) once again led the U.S. with 14 points on 10 kills and four aces. Robert Tarr Cape Canaveral, Fla./Long Beach State) added nine points on six kills, two blocks and one ace. Paul Lotman (Lakewood, Calif./Long Beach State) scored eight points on six kills and two aces. David Smith (Saugus Calif., UC Irvine) totaled six points on four kills and two blocks and Andew Hein (Carol Stream, Ill./Pepperdine) tallied five points on four kills and one block. "We know we're a really good team, and we could very easily be competing for the gold right now," Patak said. "But, getting a medal at these games is great - bronze, silver, gold - whatever color, it is a great accomplishment and we're proud of it. We had a great run, this is a great group of guys, and it was a lot of fun." Knipe started Lotman and Tarr at outside hitter, Hein and Smith at middle blocker, Patak at opposite and Winder at setter. Alfred Reft (Oxnard, Calif./Hawai'i) continued to play libero. All other players saw time in the match as substitutes. The U.S. Men took a 3-0 lead to start the first set, including a big scoring block from Tarr, and never allowed Italy to take an advantage. Patak recorded four consecutive aces to secure the set victory. Italy held 5-3, second-set lead when the United States tied the score at 5-5 and took control of the remainder of the game. Team USA won the second 25-22, and led by as many as 11 points in the third set before winning 25-16. Italy was charged with 30 errors while the United States had 16. Simone Pirodi was Italy's leading scorer with 15 points on 14 kills and one block. "We got to the medal round and we lost to a really good team in the semis. The thing that I'm most proud of is the guys didn't hang their head about that," Knipe said. "They responded like they did the whole tournament and we played our best match today." IPFW senior outside hitter C.J. Macias was used in a reserve roll in the Bronze medal match. With this international playing experience under his belt, Macias will return to the Mastodons to try to lead them to a third straight appearance in the NCAA National Championships. IPFW was defeated by eventual champion UCLA in the 2006 semifinals and lost to UC-Irvine in the 2007 finals. This year's tournament will be hosted by UC-Irvine. 2007 World University Games Gold Medal: Turkey def. Canada, 3-1 (25-11, 23-25, 25-16, 25-21) ~Dons~
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