U.S. men's volleyball team do grieving coach proud

The United States notched up a second win in the men's volleyball preliminaries on Tuesday, beating Italy 3-1 as still-shocked players refused to let the killing of their coach's father-in-law dent their game.

The U.S. team, ranked third in the world, made a sluggish start and lost the first set 24-26 to the Athens silver medalists, but nailed the next three 25-22, 25-15, 25-21, helped by top scorer Clayton Stanley.

Assistant coach Ron Larson took over from Hugh McCutcheon at the weekend so the New Zealander could deal with the murder in Beijing of his wife's father by a Chinese man who stabbed him at a tourist site then committed suicide.

Player Richard Lambourne said the team was "doing its best" in McCutcheon's absence.

"We're pleased, it's the second in a row, and it was against a much-improved Italian team," he said. The game followed the Americans' win against Venezuela on Sunday.

"All we can do is play the way he's taught us to play over the last four years. Morale is OK, but obviously our thoughts are with him and his family. We know he'll return to us when he can, but his family takes precedence," Lambourne said.

Also on Tuesday, 2004 bronze medalists Russia beat Germany 3 sets to 2.

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)