Rio Olympics Roundup: Two former Anteaters part of U.S. men’s volleyball reaching semis

John Speraw, the former UC Irvine men’s volleyball coach, guided the U.S. men’s volleyball team to a 25-23, 25-22, 25-20 quarterfinal sweep of Poland, which went into the Olympics ranked No. 2 in the world, at Maracanazinho Arena on Wednesday.

The fifth-ranked Americans, who also feature former Anteater David Smith, face Italy in the semifinals on Friday at 9 a.m. PDT. The Italians swept Iran, 31-29, 25-19, 25-17, in the quarterfinals on Wednesday to advance.

The U.S., which is in position to medal, has won four straight matches since opening the Olympics with two losses. One of those setbacks was a four-set loss to Italy in pool-play action.

Italy also eliminated the U.S. in the quarterfinals of the London Games in 2012. Four members of that U.S. team are on the current roster, including Smith, a 6-foot-7 middle blocker who played for Speraw at UCI, helping the Anteaters win their first NCAA title in 2007.

One of Speraw’s assistants is Matt Fuerbringer, a former Estancia High standout.

“I had a hunch that if this team — as young as they are and as inexperienced as they are, without tons of adversity — if we were going to reach our very best, it was going to take some adversity within this tournament,” Speraw told The Associated Press. “I don’t think any of us expected to come into this volleyball match against Poland, as good as they are and as well as they were playing, and come away with a 3-0 win. It’s really remarkable. We demonstrated an incredible amount of poise.”

NAC’s Hogan misses kayak semis

Maggie Hogan, who trains at Newport Aquatic Center, finished 22nd in the preliminaries of the women’s 500-meter single kayak event on Wednesday, failing to advance to the semifinals.

Hogan, a Huntington Beach resident, took sixth in heat No. 3 with a time of 1 minute, 58.97 seconds. The top five performers in Hogan’s heat, as well as in heats No. 1 and 2, reached the semifinals, while the top six in heat No. 4 made the semis.

This marked Hogan’s first Olympics.

Hogan competed for the first time in Rio Monday in the Canoe sprint Kayak single 200 meters. She turned in a time of 44.66 seconds and finished 27th.

Former Eagle to run in Rio

Estancia High product Persis William-Mensah will compete for her native country Ghana in the women’s track and field 4x100-meter relay event at Olympic Stadium on Thursday at 7:20 a.m. PDT.

William-Mensah, who is going into her junior year at UC Irvine, and her Ghana teammates are running in the first heat and in lane No. 2. Heat No. 1 has eight teams, as does the second heat. The top eight teams qualify for the finals, set for Friday at 6:15 p.m. PDT.

— From staff reports

— From staff reports