Photo of Lee courtesy FIVB

The Long Beach State alum-laden U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team finds itself in a must-win situation this weekend when it plays Italy at the 2009 FIVB World League matches at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill.  The U.S. Men, No. 2 in the world, lead World League Pool A with a 6-2 record. But No. 6 Italy is hot on its trail at 5-3 having just swept visiting Netherlands twice on July 3 and 5.

“We are definitely looking forward to playing in the U.S. again,” said U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe, who is currently on leave from LBSU. “I know they had great crowds in Hoffman Estates for World League last year, so we are really looking forward to seeing a lot of fans of both the U.S. and Italy.”

Team USA defeated Italy twice when the two teams played in Italy on June 19 and 21. The scores were 3-1 (25-21, 30-28, 21-25, 25-21) and 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-22, 25-20). The United States is now 22-37 against Italy since 1981.

“I think Italy will be much improved from when we faced them,” Knipe said. “We will need to play our best volleyball.”

And they’ll need a lot of help from David Lee, Paul Lotman, and Scott Touzinsky, three of Knipe’s former 49ers, if they want to play at their top level.

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)