MATSUMOTO (Japan), Nov 18: William Priddy scored 16 points Sunday to lead the United States to an upset victory over Olympic champion Brazil on the opening day of the men’s Volleyball World Cup.

Priddy spiked for 15 points and scored another serving as the Americans downed Brazil 28-26, 30-28, 25-20 in a match that lasted 1 hour, 33 minutes.

“Brazil is always a challenging team to play,” said U.S. coach Hugh McCutcheon. “We’re happy to win but we still have many matches to go, so it is a short time to enjoy this win.”

The top three teams in the 12-nation tournament will qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

In other matches, Bulgaria beat Spain 25-21, 19-25, 25-20, 25-17 while Russia blanked Argentina 25-16, 25-22, 25-17.

Puerto Rico defeated Egypt 25-17, 25-19, 25-17 while Australia edged South Korea 22-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 29-27.

Tunisia downed host Japan 22-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-22, 16-14.—AP