LONDON >> David McKienzie scored 17 points and the defending champion U.S. men’s volleyball team clinched a top tournament seed at the London Olympics on Monday with a win over Tunisia.

Sean Rooney added 12 points in the 25-15, 25-19, 25-19 win, which set up a quarterfinal against Italy on Wednesday. Tunisia finished the competition at Earls Court without a win.

The United States was coming off a five-set loss to Russia, which ended an 11-match winning streak in Olympic play, dating to the Americans’ undefeated march to the gold medal in the Beijing Games.

The Americans’ preliminary round was highlighted by a four-set win over top-ranked Brazil, a rematch of the Beijing final.

The fifth-ranked Americans weren’t considered among the medal favorites in London, but they claimed silver in the recent World League tournament before opening the Olympics with dominant straight-set victories over Serbia and Germany.

Against No. 20 Tunisia, coach Alan Knipe rested Kaiser and UH alumnus Clay Stanley and fellow veterans Reid Priddy and David Lee. The team didn’t need them, claiming the first set on Matt Anderson’s spike and cruising the rest of the way. David Smith spiked for match point.