By T.J. Brinkerhoff
tj@newsroom.byu.edu
Update on athletes from the state of Utah and BYU competing in the Olympic games:
Through Tuesday the USA women's volleyball team (2-0) was ranked second in pool play behind Brazil.
The U.S. team put itself into this position with a win on the first night of pool play against a formidable China squad. In upset fashion the team won in four sets (25-21, 25-12, 26-24) after losing the first set 19-25. It then went on to defeat a sub-par Kenyan team Monday night in straight sets 25-16, 25-6, 25-16.
In the victories the U.S. team earned a No. 2 ranking in team blocking, averaging four blocks per set. It also has a 40.53 success percentage in the team spiking category, ranking the women sixth among all competing nations.
Playing a major role in team USA's success was outside hitter, Utah native Logan Tom. Competing in her first Olympic Games, she has been dubbed the future of U.S. women's volleyball, and hasn't disappointed.
Tom logged in a 34.29 attacking percentage and a 1.50 blocking average per set in the U.S. match against China.
Her consistent play carried over into the match with Kenya where she turned in a 38.46 attacking percentage.
Charlene Johnson Tagaloa, a former Cougar, is also competing on the volleyball team, but is seeing limited action. She competed in the match against Kenya in the third set.
The women meet up in a match of undefeated teams Sept. 20 at 12 a.m. on NBC.
In men's volleyball the results have not been what the U.S. would have expected. After being upset by Argentina in four sets 26-24, 23-25, 21-25, 18-25, the U.S. team went on to lose to a strong Russian team 18-25, 23-25, 25-21, 17-25.
The men are in last place in its pool of six teams with an 0-2 record.
Ryan Millar, former BYU standout, also participating in his first Olympics, played an exceptional game in the U.S. match against Argentina delivering a phenomenal 65 attacking percentage in the match.
His performance tapered off in the U.S. match versus Russia, turning in a 25 attacking percentage.
Team USA needs to bounce back with strong performances in its next three matches in order to have any chance of advancing to the medal rounds.
The men will get the opportunity to turn things around Thursday, Sept. 21, at midnight when they face Yugoslavia.
Arunas Savikas, enrolled at BYU, is competing for Lithuania in swimming.
He has already competed in two qualifying heats in the men's 4x100m relay, and the men's 200m freestyle.
His 4x100 team failed to qualify for the medal round with a time of 3:23.68, eight seconds off of the U.S. qualifying time of 3:15.43.
He also narrowly missed qualifying for the men's 200m freestyle, turning in a time of 1:52.02, just over one second shy of qualification.
He will have one other chance to qualify for medal race when he races in the heats for the 200m backstroke this morning.