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Aug. 11, 2008
UC Irvine recap from the first days of competition at the 2008 Olympic Games The men's indoor volleyball team defeated Venezuela, 25-19, 25-18, 22-25, 21-25, 15-10, to open its 2008 Olympic Games campaign at Capital Indoor Stadium, less than 24 hours after learning the father-in-law of its head coach was tragically killed while sightseeing in Beijing. John Speraw was on the bench as an assistant coach for the match and urges everyone to continue sending thoughts and prayers to the Bachman and McCutcheon families. In water polo, the U.S. men topped host China, 8-4. All four Anteaters received playing time, with Jeff Powers recording two steals and a block. On the women's side, the U.S. women snuck by China, 12-11 in their opening game. UCI graduate student Brittany Hayes scored two goals in the win. The 23 goals by both teams was an Olympic record for a match that did not use extra time. In badminton, Eva Lee lost her singles match to Canada's Anna Rice in three sets, but made history as the first American to win a game in Olympic competition. Lee paired with May Mangkalakiri in doubles, but lost to Singapore's Yanmei Jiang and Yujia Li, 0-2. Cyclist Amber Neben finished 33rd in the women's road race. On tap, both the men's water polo and the men's volleyball teams will take on Italy Tuesday, while the women's water polo team battles defending gold medalist Italy on Wednesday. Check out men's water polo player Tim Hutten's blog where he has updated opening ceremony thoughts and photos. |
