USA teams had a big Thursday at the four-star FIVB Warsaw as pool play began.
The men went 3-0 as fourth-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena beat 29th-seeded Argentinians Julian Azaad and Nicolas Capogrosso 21-17, 21-19.
Also, Theo Brunner and Reid Priddy, seeded 18th, beat 15th-seeded Latvians Martins Plavins and Edgars Tocs 19-21, 21-16, 15-9, and 10th-seeded Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb beat Austria’s Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst, the 23rd seed, 25-23, 21-14.
The women’s results were nearly as impressive. Kelley Larsen and Emily Stockman, who won two country-quota matches and then got through the qualifier Wednesday, won twice, including winning a set 31-29.
The 11th-seed Larsen and Stockman beat 22nd-seeded Joy Stubbe and Marleen Van Iersel of the Netherlands 21-18, 21-7, and then beat Latvians Tina Graudina and Anatasija Kravcenoka, the 22nd seed, 31-29, 21-17.
Third-seeded April Ross and Alix Klineman were hitting on all cylinders and won twice, whipping 30th-seeded Aline Chamereau and Alexandra Jupiter of France 21-14, 21-14, and then the 19th-seeded Swiss pair of Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli 21-15, 21-12.
Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil, seeded ninth, also won twice, beating Xinxin Wang and Chen Xue of China, the 24th seed, 21-13, 21-16, and then eighth-seeded Katarzyna Kociolek and Kinga Wojtasik of Poland 24-22, 15-21, 15-11.
The only American team to lose was Sara Hughes and Summer Ross, the 12th seed, who fell to 21st-seeded Russians Svetlana Kholomina and Nadezda Makroguzova 16-21, 21-19, 15-10, but bounced back with a 21-14, 17-21, 15-9 victory over 28th-seeded Germans Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider.
Click here for the complete men’s results and schedule, and click here for the women’s.
