The U.S. men fell in three games to both Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday. They bounced back with a 3-0 victory over Brazil on Tuesday morning, before falling to Russia in three games on Tuesday afternoon.

The U.S. women defeated Ukraine 3-1 to open the tournament on Monday and followed with a 3-0 victory over Brazil on Tuesday.

“The win against the Ukraine was exactly what we needed with half of our squad having never competed in international competition,” U.S. women’s team member Lori Daniels (Roanoke, Texas) said in an e-mail. “And the other half of us not having played an official match since our bronze medal win at the 2004 Paralympics.”

The U.S. women outscored Ukraine 25-13 in the first set. After dropping the second set 23-25, the team rallied with 25-18 and 25-17 wins in the third and fourth games. Newcomer Katie Holloway (Lake Stevens, Wash.) led the team with 21 points on 17 kills and four blocks. Kendra Lancaster (Sheridan, Ind.) added 16 points (6 kills, 9 aces, 1 block) while Brenda Maymon (Sellersburg, Ind.) added 11 (5 kills, 3 aces, 3 blocks) and Lora Webster (Cave Creek, Ariz.) had 10 (8 kills, 1 ace, 1 block).

The Americans continued their winning ways by handing a three-game loss to Brazil on Tuesday. In the first set, Kendra Lancaster (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored eight straight service points to help the United States clinch a 25-14 victory. Tatiana Rivera (Puerto Rico) led the team to a 25-14 victory in the second match with six aces. Team USA claimed the third match 25-14. Holloway contributed nine points to the match victory.

The women face the undefeated Netherlands – the 2004 Paralympic Games silver medalists – on Wednesday.

“They are the toughest team in our pool,” Daniels said. “But I believe that we have strong hitters, great servers, consistent setters and confident passers. We can get the job done.”

In the men’s Monday morning match, the U.S. team lost 9-25, 15-25, 13-25 to Croatia, then dropped three close games – 18-25, 20-25 and 15-25 – to 2004 Paralympic gold medalist Bosnia-Herzegovina in the afternoon.

“Our match against Croatia was a tough one for us,” U.S. Team Captain Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.) said via e-mail. “We came out really excited to play and I believe the excitement got the most of us.

“But our second match was the complete opposite. We came out relaxed and played the way we know how and played the No. 1 team in the world, Bosnia, very close. We gave them a real run. We did lose in three, but it was definitely a moral win for our confidence.”

The Americans outscored Brazil 25-14, 15-16, 27-25 to claim their first victory on Tuesday morning. But in the afternoon, the squad dropped three games, 18-25, 12-15 and 16-25, to Russia.

“While our players continue to demonstrate improvement, we were outmatched,” U.S. Assistant Coach Edgar Mirkau (Oklahoma City, Okla.) said after the Tuesday afternoon loss.

The team hopes to improve its 1-3 record with a win against Germany on Wednesday.

The men’s and women’s quarterfinals are Thursday, the semifinals, fifth-place and seventh-place matches are Friday, and the medal matches are Saturday.

For complete women’s tournament results, go to http://spgn.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=87&lang=en

For complete men’s tournament results, go to http://spgn.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=88&lang=en