David McKienzie scored 17 points and the defending champion US men’s volleyball team clinched a top seed in the quarterfinals with a three-set win over Tunisia on Monday in London.
Sean Rooney added 12 points in the 25-15, 25-19, 25-19 victory, which set up a Wednesday match against Italy. The fifth-ranked US was coming off a five-set loss to Russia that ended an 11-match winning streak in Olympic play, but still finished ahead of the Russians in their group with a tournament-best 13 points.
Against 20th-ranked Tunisia, coach Alan Knipe rested veterans Clay Stanley, Reid Priddy, and David Lee. The US didn’t need them, claiming the first set on Matt Anderson’s spike and cruising the rest of the way.
Bulgaria’s straight-set victory over Italy secured the top seed in the other group. Poland was in line for the top seed but was upset by 22d-ranked Australia in four sets.
Beach volleyball
Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal were knocked out in the quarterfinals by Latvia’s Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins, 19-21, 21-18, 15-11, leaving the US with no medal contenders on the men’s side.
Latvia will meet the top-seeded Brazilian team of Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego, which escaped a set point in the third to beat Poland’s Mariusz Prudel and Grzegorz Fijalek, 21-17, 16-21, 17-15.
Diving
Ilya Zakharov of Russia (507.65 points) led the men’s 3-meter springboard preliminaries, with defending champion He Chong of China close behind in second during a competition marked by pratfalls.
American Troy Dumais, seeking his first individual medal in his fourth Olympics, was third at 486.60 after rallying in the fourth round. The other US diver, Chris Colwill, ranked seventh.
Water polo
Norbert Hosnyanszky scored three times to power defending champion Hungary to an 11-6 win over the US in the last preliminary-stage game. The Americans finished fourth in their group and will meet Croatia, winner of the opposite group, in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Cycling
Britain’s Victoria Pendleton cruised through the quarterfinals in the women’s sprint event, as did rival Anna Meares of Australia, China’s Guo Shuang, and Germany’s Kristina Vogel. At the midway point of the women’s ominium competition, Britain’s Laura Trott and American Sarah Hammer were tied for the lead with 12 points.
Synchronized swimming
Russia’s Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina (196.800 points) wrapped up the duet preliminaries with such a sizable lead that the other countries are left to compete for silver and bronze in Tuesday’s final. China’s Huang Xuechen and Liu Ou were second (192.810), followed by Spain’s Ona Carbonell and Andrea Fuentes (192.590). Americans Mary Killman and Mariya Koroleva sat 10th.
Equestrian
With the team jumping competition also serving as a qualifier for the individual show jumping event, the top 35 riders out of 75 entries advanced. Britain’s Nick Skelton and Maikel van der Vleuten and Marc Houtzager, both of the Netherlands, are all tied for first with no faults going into Wednesday’s final individual round.
Sailing
The Australian duo of Ian Jensen and Nathan Outteridge finished first and third to build a nearly unassailable lead after 15 races in the 49er class, with the medals race on Wednesday. Australia also leads the men’s 470 class through eight races, with Boston’s Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl ranking 17th.
Canoe/kayak
Canada’s Adam van Koeverden (3:28.209) was the top qualifier in the men’s kayak 1,000-meter singles semifinals, finishing more than a second ahead of the field. Mathieu Goubel of France (3:51.811) was the fastest of the semifinalists in the men’s canoe 1,000-meter singles.
Table tennis
China’s men struggled for the first time in London but defeated Germany, 3-1, in the team event to reach the final against South Korea. China’s women easily beat South Korea, 3-0, to make the gold-medal match as well and will take on Japan.
Field hockey
Having already been knocked out of medal contention, the US finished at the bottom of its group with a 7-0 loss to South Africa. The Americans, who allowed only six goals through their first four matches, will play Belgium for 11th place on Friday.