The USA men’s national volleyball team began the 2003 season with a 3-2 loss to Korea at Butler-Hancock Hall on the University of Northern Colorado campus Sunday afternoon.

Sun-Ho Shin scored a team-high 18 points and Jin-Wook Suk added 17 in the 25-21, 25-22, 18-25, 23-25, 17-15 win.

The match was the first of a five-match domestic tour in Colorado and Nebraska between the two teams.

Shin had 13 kills and five blocks, while Suk added 11 kills and a match-high six service aces. Dong-Jin Kang and Suk-Bum Son added 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawaii/Hawai’i) led the United States with a match-high 22 points on 16 kills, three blocks and three aces. Reid Priddy (Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola, Marymount) added 14 points on 12 kills and two blocks and Adam Naeve (Westchester, Calif./UCLA) posted 12 points on 10 kills and two blocks.

“I thought we played like it was our first match in the gym,” said Team USA Head Coach Doug Beal. “Korea looked a lot smoother than we did. We just have not played as much as we need to play.”

The two teams combined for 50 service errors in the match: 28 for Korea and 22 for the United States.

“We certainly did not play with the type of energy that we should have,” Beal added. “Our serving was very poor. Hopefully that will improve as the season goes along. Once again it shows the affects that altitude has on that aspect of the game. Korea had problems (serving) as well.”

Two things stuck out in Beal’s mind as the main reasons for the loss.

“First of all, we did not play with a lot of fire, communication and intensity early in the match,” he revealed. “Second, we made a lot of poor decisions in the fifth set that ultimately cost us the match.”

Riley Salmon (League City, Texas/Pierce College) scored seven points for Team USA on five kills, one block and one ace, while Jim Polster (Laguna Nigel, Calif./Long Beach State) chipped in with six points on four kills, one block and one ace. Scott Bunker (Beaver, Utah/BYU) registered four points on three blocks and one ace.

“It felt pretty good to finally be playing but we struggled on serving and service reception,” said Stanley. “We blocked pretty well but we can do a lot better.”

Setter Donald Suxho (Los Angeles, Calif./USC) played the entire match in his first national team action since 2001. Libero Erik Sullivan (Encinitas, Calif./UCLA) had eight digs.

“The first match was a real grind but this tour will be good for us,” said Priddy, who was the leading scorer for Team USA at last year’s World Championships. “We just need to get more game experience. We had our moments but we need to cut down on our unforced errors. All the pieces to the puzzle are here; we just need more experience.”

The second match of the tour is scheduled for Tuesday, June 17 at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff, Neb., at 7 p.m. (MDT). The tour returns to Colorado on Thursday, June 19, with a 7 p.m. (MDT) match at the Bank of Colorado Event Center on the campus of Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo.

The two teams will then return to Nebraska for the final two stops on the tour. On Friday, June 20, the teams will square off at the University of Nebraska at Kearney in Kearney, Neb., at 7 p.m. (CDT). On Sunday, June 22, the tour concludes with a match at North Platte Community College in North Platte, Neb., at 3 p.m. (CDT)