Americans dominate

IRVINE — A laugher.

That’s the way the U.S. men’s volleyball national team win against Guatemala could have been described in the Americans’ opener of the four-team qualifying tournament for the 2010 World Championships.

At times Jayson Jablonsky nearly had to keep himself from laughing, as Team USA annihilated Guatemala, 25-8, 25-10, 25-6, in front of about 800 at UC Irvine’s Bren Event Center Saturday night.

It was only two years ago that Jablonsky smiled plenty at UCI, then leading the Anteaters to their first national championship.

Could that UCI team take on Guatemala?

“I think so,” said a smiling Jablonsky, the 2006 NCAA Player of the Year and a two-time All-American while at UCI. “I think the result would be about the same.”

Jablonsky, who had seven kills, wasn’t the only former UCI standout contributing to Team USA’s win. David Smith, another All-American on the 2007 UCI NCAA championship team, played too. Smith had three kills and four blocks. Setter Kevin Hansen, who starred at Corona del Mar, also saw plenty of action, adding 14 assists.

Unlike Smith and Jablonsky, Hansen didn’t get into the match until the second set, when the crowd’s cheers grew louder for the backup setter.

The support made him feel good, Hansen said. It helped because the U.S. apparently still had a challenge.

“It’s always difficult to come out and play a team that is not as good as you,” Hansen said. “We want to come to the gym everyday like it’s any other day. I think we executed real well tonight. You always work on something in a match and I think we worked on our offense tonight. We had a lot of opportunities to attack on their block. I though we executed pretty well tonight.”

Pretty well was easily an understatement. The Guatemalans certainly didn’t stand a chance against the Americans and that appeared evident from the start. It took only 57 minutes for Team USA to pull out the win, the third set taking just 17 minutes.

Of course Jablonsky and Smith left happy. The quick win left them plenty of time to mingle on this makeshift reunion, as they signed for autographs afterward.

American Evan Patak ended up being a fan favorite, especially after what he accomplished in the third set.

Patak, who led the U.S. men’s team with 10 kills and 10 aces, served for 16 straight points, helping a 3-1 lead balloon to a 20-1 advantage.

Andy Alexis Leonardo Blanco put an end to the run with an emphatic spike for Guatemala. The volleyball fans at the Bren applauded loudly for the point.

But the rest of the love was all for the Americans.

Even though there’s not much left on this U.S. roster from its gold-medal winning squad in the Beijing Olympics, this American team appeared just as golden even just for a night.

Smith certainly felt good, especially winning in familiar surroundings.

“I never thought I would be back in the Bren Center again,” he said. “So it’s nice to have a familiar feeling again. Obviously, the crowd is different, the purpose is different but it felt really good to be back.”

Team USA will face Panama today at 7:30 p.m.

The Dominican Republic swept Panama, 25-19, 25-22, 25-22, Saturday.

The world qualifier at UCI ends on Monday, when the U.S. plays against the Dominican Republic at 7:30 p.m.