VTAM in Their First Olympic Win

[img_assist|fid=1592|thumb=0|alt=Nathan Jakavicus setting to Dan Howard(Credit: FIVB)|class=image-legacy] The Australian men's volleyball team made their own history tonight with their first ever Olympic victory, downing Spain in 4 sets.

The first set saw the Australians make far too many errors and the Spanish side took early control. In the second set, a great serving run by Ben Hardy brought the crowd into the match as Australia took the lead. The vocal crowd seemed to unsteady the Spanish team who proceeded to make error after error with Dan Howard like a wall at the net.

The referees had their say in the match as well with calls going against both sides, but particularly the Spanish on crucial points.

In the end, Spain let themselves down with too many attacking mistakes, but all credit to the Australians with some excellent blocking especially.

[img_assist|fid=1595|thumb=0|alt=Cuba verses Russian women during the preliminary rounds (credit: David Martin)|class=image-legacy]

Cuba verses Russian women during the preliminary rounds.

In the first match of the evening, an unexpectedly one sided affair saw Brasil defeat The Netherlands in straight sets. The Dutch had shown some great form in the their first two matches, but Brasil's pressure, especially from Dante, proved too much.