Photo of Lee courtesy Rob Grabowski of FIVB

Italy used strong offense from Cristian Savani and Michal Lasko as it defeated the United States, 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 26-24) on Friday in an FIVB World League match before 4,310 at the Sears Centre.  Both teams now have records of 6-3; however Team USA maintains its lead in Pool A with a point lead of 18-17. The two teams will play again at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Sears Centre.

Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawai’i) paced Team USA with 16 points on 15 kills and one ace while Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.) added 15 on 14 kills and one block. Long Beach State alum David Lee scored 14 points on 10 kills and a match-high four blocks.

“Italy passed better and the definitely served better,” said U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe, who’s currently on leave from Long Beach State. “When you control passing and serving you are probably going to win the game.”

 “I’m disappointed with the result, obviously,” Lee said. “This was a chance for us to secure the lead in Pool A… I thought we had a lot of mistakes, especially toward the end.”

2009 U.S. World League Roster for July 10-11

2 Sean Rooney (OH, 6-9, Wheaton, Ill., Pepperdine)

3 Evan Patak (Opp, 6-8, Pleasanton, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)

4 David Lee (MB, 6-8, Alpine, Calif., Long Beach State)

5 Rich Lambourne (L, 6-3, Tustin, Calif., BYU)

6 Paul Lotman (OH, 6-7, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)

7 Donald Suxho (S, 6-5, Korce, Albania, USC)

8 Andrew Hein (MB, 6-11, Carol Stream, Ill., Pepperdine)

13 Clay Stanley (Opp, 6-9, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Hawai’i)

14 Kevin Hansen (S, 6-5, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford)

15 Russell Holmes (MB, 6-8, Fountain Valley, Calif., BYU)

16 Jayson Jablonsky (OH, 6-5, Yorba Linda, Calif., UC Irvine)

18 Scott Touzinsky (OH, 6-6, St. Louis, Mo., Long Beach State)