Friday, May 15, 1998
U.S. sweeps China
Led by ex-Rainbow star
By Cindy Luis
Jason Ring, Team USA opens its
volleyball tour with
an easy win
Star-BulletinNot bad for a rookie.
Jason Ring's debut on the U.S. national volleyball team was the stuff -- and stuffs -- dreams are made of. But even in his wildest dreams, the former University of Hawaii player never imagined that he would:
Put down his first five attempts for kills.
"It was so much fun out there," Ring said after Team USA opened its tour against China with a 15-12, 15-6, 15-7 victory last night at the Blaisdell Arena. "I couldn't ask for a better game. It was like a dream."
Team USA's serving caught the visibly tired Chinese napping with six aces. What China did dig left setter Wang Hebing with few options.
When the passes were good, Wang was able to set his middle attackers and his opposite, Lu Weizhong, with good results. When Lu couldn't, the U.S. roofing company was there for 16 team blocks.
"I thought we did a pretty good job on blocking," U.S. coach Doug Beal said. "You always want to win the first match of a tour. They're a good team and I'm pretty happy with the way we played, considering it was our first match since January.
"And I'm happy for the three local players. Curt (Vaughan) did some nice things. (Mike) Lambert looked very comfortable and poised out there. And Ring was just dynamic."
Vaughan, the former Rainbow setter, was the first to get into the match, playing sparingly as the "libro" -- a back-row specialist used in international play. Ring joined him late in Game 2. Lambert, a Punahou School product who had been playing in Italy the past few months, finally got in with the U.S. trailing, 5-3, in Game 3.
"Yeah, I was wondering if I'd get to play," said Lambert, who put down his first three swings and finished with four kills. "I hadn't seen these guys (Team USA) in a while, but as a team, we had a good game plan and we executed it.
"We had an easy time siding out. Easier than I expected. And we put up a big block. Plus, this guy (Ring) energized the team. He was hammering out there. I don't remember him bringing the heat when he was playing (for UH)."
Ring, whose admitted weakness is passing, got hit for an ace by An Jiajie. But he had a tougher time tuning out the crowd. Many spectators came just to see the two former Rainbows.
The pair didn't disappoint the 2,258 fans. Vaughan's most spectacular contribution came in Game 3, when he flipped a backset from the back left corner diagonally across the court to a flying Ring on the right front.
China couldn't return Ring's hit, giving the U.S. its first lead of Game 3 (6-5). The Americans went on a 9-2 tear over the next 10 minutes to close out the match in less than two hours.
"It was a little surprising that we won in three," Beal said. "But expect them to be better (tonight at 7 p.m. at the Lahaina Civic Center) and in Washington next week.."
Box Score
g k e at pct. bs ba d Xu 3 9 4 24 .208 0 1 5 Zheng 3 11 2 23 .391 0 5 0 Lu 3 24 5 40 .475 1 3 5 H.Wang 3 0 1 2 -.500 0 2 1 Zhang 3 18 8 36 .278 0 3 5 Zhu 3 12 1 17 .647 1 2 0 Guo 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Y.Wang 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 An 2 0 2 2 -1.00 0 0 0 Li 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 11 Totals 3 74 23 144 .354 2 16 27
g k e at pct. bs ba d Ball 3 3 0 4 .750 1 2 9 Sullivan 3 11 2 20 .450 0 2 5 Sinclair 2 13 2 17 .647 0 1 3 Hoff 3 21 2 26 .731 0 9 6 Nygaard 3 13 2 17 .647 0 4 5 Barnett 3 12 4 26 .308 0 3 9 Vaughan 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Ring 2 9 2 14 .500 1 4 2 Lambert 1 4 1 6 .500 1 1 3 Totals 3 86 15 130 .546 3 26 43Key: g-games. k-kills. e-hitting errors. at-attempts. pct.-hitting percentage. bs-block solos. ba-block assists. d-digs.Aces--USA (6): Barnett 3, Ball 2, Ring 1. TC (5): Lu 2, Xu 1, Zheng 1, An 1. Assists--USA (81): Ball 75, Sullivan 2, Hoff 1, Vaughan 1. TC (70): Wang 69, Xu 1.
A--2,258. T--1:30 (est). Officials: Ken Taylor, Wayne Lee.
