PARIS >> The U.S. men’s volleyball team is just two wins away from ending an Olympic gold medal drought that dates back to 2008 after Monday’s quarterfinal win over Brazil.
The Americans defeated the Brazilians 26-24, 28-30, 25-19, 25-19 in one hour and 54 minutes to advance to the final four. The team will face Poland on Wednesday. The other semifinal will pit the host nation, France, against Italy.
The first two sets were the most topsy-turvy and drawn-out of the Olympics so far for the squad, both going beyond the usual 25 points needed to win. Throw in that it was an elimination game and it could be expected tensions were high. But former Kamehameha volleyball star Micah Christenson, the team’s 6-foot-5 captain and setter, said the team did not find the match particularly stressful.
“I don’t know if stressful is the word for us on the court, because we get to control it a little bit,” explained the 31-year-old who has been on the national team since 2013. “When we have control over how the game goes, I think it’s a little less stress, and a lot more excitement, but man, I’m exhausted. I’m very exhausted. I think we all are.”
Team USA trailed 11-7 in the first set before rallying to win. It led 16-10 and 21-16 in Set 2 but watched Brazil bring the crowd to a crescendo with a big rally while overcoming three service errors. Team USA again led 21-16 in Set 3 but this time held on.
Team USA again held off a Brazil rally in Set 4, but former Hawaii star Taylor Averill finished strong, getting a stuff and ending it with a kill. He had five of his six kills in the final set.
Admitting that in the first set, there were a few “jitters” for the team, Christenson noted that long-time hemispheric rival Brazil — which lost two out of three of its preliminary round matches, squeaking into the quarterfinals as one of the two best third-place teams of the three groups of four – knew how to take full advantage of the situation.
“They’re a very experienced team, as are we, but you could say that they came in as the underdogs, and they just took that role of bombing from the service line, taking big rips early on in the match, and I’m really proud of our patience and resilience,” Christenson said. “We talked about that. Our coaching staff especially, Javier Weber, who’s worked for Brazil for so long (joined Team USA in 2022), he knows how powerful they are, both on the service line and attack, and we just knew we had to be patient, and what great resilience we had in that first set.”
As Team USA head coach John Speraw put it: “Brazil’s ability to change the way they play the game, that created challenges throughout the match. But our guys adapted and we figured out a way to get another point.”
Christenson guided the offense to a .395 hitting percentage against what is considered one of the most physical teams in the world. He also had three kills, including one left-handed, an ace and six digs.
Opposite Matt Anderson hit .536, with a match-high 17 kills. Outside hitter T.J. DeFalco had 15 kills, 11 digs and a block and fellow outside Aaron Russell added 11 kills. Libero Erik Shoji, a Punahou alum, had 14 digs and 13 successful receptions.
The U.S. win capped a wild day of volleyball in Paris. Italy came from two sets down against Japan in the first quarterfinal, while France did the same thing against Germany a few hours later. Like the Americans, Poland won its match in four sets, over Slovenia.
“We saw some incredible quarterfinal matchups,” said Christenson, who is in his third trip to the Olympics, with a bronze medal in 2016 being his highlight so far. “I would say the best in recent history, for sure. So yeah, we expected some high-level volleyball and I think we got it. That was high-level volleyball.”
Now perennial power Poland awaits. But for all of the country’s international success, and with the huge popularity of the sport in the country, its one weakness has been at the Olympic Games. This is the first Polish team to reach an Olympic semifinal since 1980.
While Speraw knows how hungry the Poles will be, he also knows that his team will be ready.
“It’s a big deal to be back in this situation. (Our players) have been here before. For them to have another opportunity at this medal moment, we’re in the semifinals of an Olympic Games, it’s a real special opportunity. I’m just very proud of them.”
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Publish date : 2024-08-05 12:59:00
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