AMERICAN VOLLEYBALL TEAM GETS THE BEST OF BRAZIL AGAIN
By Ed Byrne Fri 06-Aug-1999
Post-Crescent staff writer

ASHWAUBENON - Maybe it was only a fluke. You had to consider that possibility when the USA women's national volleyball team beat Brazil 3-1 at the University of Wisconsin Stout on Tuesday night.

After all, the Brazilians hadn't lost to the United States since 1996.

But Thursday night's Wisconsin Tour rematch at the Brown County Arena, where the USA won 3-2, points away from any fluke and toward the success American coach Mick Haley is having rebuilding the U.S. national team.

For the USA, the dominance of 6-foot-3 middle blocker Danielle Scott was the decisive factor.

Brazil is tall and experienced, but had no answer for Scott's perfectly-timed blocks at the net.

"I'm just happy to be in the game, but I love the opportunity to block and to hit the ball," Scott said. "That's one of the more aggressive parts of the game."

There is no doubt that the tall Baton Rouge, La., native loves to dominate play.

"The more energy, the better it is, and if it's after a great dig by Stacy (Sykora), that's great," Scott said.

Sykora, the USA's defensive specialist, was stellar in keeping the ball in play, diving to keep a hard kill shot from scoring, then setting up a front-line scoring opportunity.

The American win was a dig-deep comeback.

The USA had taken the first game 27-25, the game point coming from Mickisha Hurley's service ace.

Brazil charged back to win the second and third games, 25-21 and 25-23, forcing the Americans to win game four and go for the tiebreaker.

The fourth and fifth games were a duel between the two most dominating players - Scott for the USA and Brazil's hitter, Leila Barros.

In the fourth game, Brazil had gone up 21-18 on a high-flying kill shot to the back row by Barros, but the USA caught up and tied the game at 21 when Scott and Alison Weston blocked a Barros spike and scored.

A spike kill by Scott made it 23-22, and Scott killed another ball for a commanding 24-22 lead.

The Americans won it 25-23, then took the 15-point tiebreaker 15-12 for the final victory.

Haley was glad to see his team fight from behind to win.

"We lost game two and game three on ace serves. You can't afford to do that," Haley said. "Our players could have felt bad for themselves, they could have pouted, but they didn't."

He singled out the play of hitter Demetria Sance down the stretch. Sance scored two key tiebreaking points to give the Americans leads in the tiebreaker.

On the other side of the net, the acrobatic play of Barros was spectacular and effective, earning polite applause from the partisan, pro-American crowd.

"She has been absolutely a wonderful player, and they have to be careful that they don't go to her every time," Haley said. "Some of their other kids have to carry some loads."

No chairs kicked: Brazilian coach Bernardo Rezende is as colorful and as loud as Bobby Knight, yelling at his players after good and bad decisions.

In the fourth game, he was just as vocal in berating the officials after what he felt was a bad call. Luckily, none of the media, nor most of the 2,699 spectators, understood Portuguese.

Good crowd: Haley is glad that USA Volleyball chose Wisconsin as the venue for the exhibition tour the week after the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where Brazil took the gold medal and the USA the bronze.

Thursday's game followed a Tuesday sellout in Menomonie, and Haley was happy with the partisanship of both crowds.

"We should do tours only in Wisconsin," Haley said, tongue only half in cheek.

Wide eyes: The crowd at the Arena was not eager to leave after more than two hours of volleyball.

Susan Arndt, a volleyball player and 1999 graduate of Tigerton High School, stayed around after the meet.

"They play a lot harder than in high school. Some of the hits, you can't believe," Arndt said.

She was most impressed with Scott's blocks and overall play at the net, and didn't pay much attention to the Brazilian stars.

"I'm glad that (the Americans) are finally moving up and beating some of the top teams," Arndt said.

The event drew hundreds of high school players looking forward to the fall season.

Haley Malke and two friends drove an hour from Peshtigo to learn.

"Maybe to learn some new techniques - and just watch them play. They're all my idols," Malke said.