US volleyball players ready for Paris: ‘I want them to finish on top’

Rested and ready.

“This year, we’ve been focused on being at our best when we step on the court in Paris,” said John Speraw, coach of the U.S. Olympic men’s volleyball team. “They’re an experienced team and they need to feel rested, strong and healthy. And that’s been a challenge for us. It’s not been the easiest summer in that regard, but we’re starting to get healthy and we’ve had some good practices.”

As a result, the U.S. men’s team took advantage of a less-than-stellar performance in the Volleyball Nations League to take some time off to practice and recharge.

That’s why Speraw didn’t care that his team didn’t reach the last eight and qualify for the VNL quarter-finals.

Besides, if the United States had qualified, the Olympic team would not have been in Lodz, Poland. Speraw, as he did in the first round of the VNL, would have sent a team that did not include any of the players who would be heading to Paris for next week’s Olympics.

“We had already made the decision when we were in the Philippines (for the third round) that even if we qualified for the finals, we were going to send the best guys home and send a second group to the finals,” Speraw said. “We knew what we had to do, which was go home, get fit and train.

“And I think that was a unanimous feeling among all.”

As he waited to board a plane last week, first to train in Poland and then to Paris, Speraw was brimming with optimism.

“I’m ready to go. I can’t tell you how excited I am to get to Poland, ready to commit, ready to overcome some of the distractions of Olympic preparation that are inevitable part of the process. I’ve got to get to a hotel and watch a ton of video, get ready for these games and be locked in with our guys.

“I’m excited to do this and I know this group of guys has been together for a long time. In a lot of ways, it’s the end of an era. I know a number of these guys will be coming back, but this group of this iteration of USA Volleyball has had a great decade.

“And I want them to finish on top.”

Three years later

In a nutshell, here we are three years after Tokyo, when the American men opened the 2021 Olympics by sweeping France. France won the gold medal; the United States failed to advance from the group stage.

In 2022, the United States won silver in the VNL, losing in five games to that same French team. Later that summer, the Americans won bronze at the NORCECA Pan American Cup, then finished the year in sixth place at the FIVB World Championship.

Last year, the United States lost the VNL gold medal match to Poland, finished fifth at the NORCECA Pan American Cup, won the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship, won the NORCECA Men’s Pan American Cup Final Six, and then clinched their spot in Paris with a 7-0 performance at the FIVB Road to Paris Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Also, this team has been around for a long time, with a few modifications. They are a group of seasoned veterans.

And while they weren’t going to Poland for the VNL final, they were there last week to play a few friendlies, acclimatise to the time zone and hopefully be at their best when the Olympics start next week.

The United States will begin its match on Saturday against Argentina at 9 p.m. local time.

“This isn’t going to be a game where I have to go into the locker room and give a pep talk,” Speraw said. “They’re ready to play and I’m ready to compete with them.”

After two days of rest, the Americans will face Germany at 1 p.m. and then finish their group stage on Friday, August 2, at 9 p.m., against Japan. Paris is six hours ahead of Eastern Time and nine hours ahead of Pacific Time.

The top two teams from each of the three groups advance to the quarter-finals, as do the third-highest ranked teams.

The United States finished 2-1 against its three VNL group stage opponents and will most likely have to do so again.

In the Volleyball Nations League, the United States swept Argentina to start week two in Ottawa, Canada. Aaron Russell led the way with 12 kills and a block. TJ DeFalco had 10 kills, two blocks and an ace, and Matt Anderson had 10 kills and two blocks.

The United States beat Germany in four sets on June 21, with Anderson having 20 kills and three aces. DeFalco had 18 kills, one block and one ace. Jeff Jendryk had six kills and four blocks and David Smith had five kills and four blocks.

Two days later, the USA was swept by Japan to end the VNL. Kyle Ensing, an official alternate and the 13th American player on the Olympic roster, led with 14 kills. Japan then lost to France in the VNL title game.

The Thirty-something Team

Only four of the 13 players are under 30 and all members of the team are at least 27 years old.

Here is the list by position with ages in parentheses:

Outside – TJ DeFalco (27), Thomas Jaeschke (30), Garrett Muagututia (36), Aaron Russell (31)
Midfield — Taylor Averill (32), Max Holt (37), Jeff Jendryk (28), David Smith (39)
Opposite — Matt Anderson (37)
Setters — Micah Christenson (31), Micah Ma’a (27)
Libero — Erik Shoji (34)
Replacement — Kyle Ensing (27)

Anderson and Smith are in their fourth Olympics after competing in London in 2012 and winning bronze in Rio in 2016. Christenson, Holt, Jaeschke and Shoji are in their third Olympics, while DeFalco, Russell and Muagututia are in their second. Russell was part of the 2016 team but didn’t make it to Tokyo.

“Mattie is in very good form and playing well. David was a little injured but he is coming back and we hope he will be available for us from the first ball,” Speraw said.

Christenson and Shoji joined the national team in Speraw’s first year as head coach, in 2013. Holt was already in the program and Russell and Jaeschke joined the team the following year.

“There’s a lot of experience here,” Speraw said.

The likely starters are Anderson, Christenson, DeFalco, Russell, Holt, Smith and Shoji.

The focus will be on DeFalco, who stands at 6’5″ and has established himself as one of the best players in the world.

“He’s a very dynamic athlete with an incredible arm that creates a lot of stress,” Speraw said. “And he has the ability to come back and be our best server in terms of the speed he can bring and the pressure he can put on the setters. I hope he has a great serving tournament.”

(We interviewed DeFalco earlier this month. Click here to watch the video.)

Jendryk is probably the first player off the bench and Jaeschke, a powerful passer, can lift a team from the service line.

“I have a couple of options on the bench, if we need a spark or a player needs a break or a restart,” Speraw said. “I can make some different moves.”

Speraw has only taken one opponent, but he also has a choice. DeFalco, the team’s best hitter, moves comfortably to the right side. Jaeschke can play there, as can Russell.

“We have versatile forwards,” Speraw said. “Sometimes you have outside forwards who can only play off the setter, but we have a group of guys who can play off the setter and hit right.”

Ensing, a 2021 Olympian, is also the opposite, which creates an interesting scenario.

“He’s a very versatile, very complete volleyball player,” Speraw said.

Originally, the FIVB had placed the 13th player as a one-time substitute and once that player was added to the 12-team roster, the player he replaced was no longer eligible to return. But that has changed and Speraw admitted he is unsure to what extent he and other coaches can use that to their advantage.

“We’ll see how that’s enforced. I mean, it’s potentially a real alternative… I don’t know how they’re going to enforce that by just being an easy in and out. I like the idea of ​​having more players on the roster,” Speraw said.

“We all know it’s been a challenge over the years to go from 14 players in every tournament you play in the entire quadrennial to 12 (for the Olympics).

“However they implement it or whatever the final decision is on how it works, I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

There is also a 14th player who is not eligible to compete no matter what, but in an effort to have seven players per team for practice, libero Kyle Dagostino is with the team.

“We have the ability to bring in additional players for practice,” Speraw said. “So we always look at that based on the health of our players. If we need to bring in more players, we can.”

Three tough matches ahead

Going from two pools of six teams each – with the top four from each side qualifying – to three pools of four creates a different set of pressures, especially early on.

“There seems to be little margin for error early on,” Speraw said. “In recent Olympics, you’ve seen teams start off slow and come back and finish really strong. We were one of them in Rio. In Tokyo, it was France. If France had started like that in a three-team pool, it would have been over.”

Indeed, after losing to the USA, France beat Tunisia but then lost in five matches to Argentina. A 1-2 draw in the group stage will not allow you to qualify for Paris.

“There’s more pressure in these games. With our current team, having two days off between games, I think it’s beneficial for this group,” Speraw said. “For us, this time around, I like it. But I’m a little skeptical about how it’s all going to play out with the points ratio.”

In the current world rankings, Poland is No. 1, followed by Japan, Italy, France and Slovenia. The United States is No. 6, Brazil No. 7 and Argentina No. 8. Germany is No. 11, but Speraw said his team is better than that with the return of 39-year-old György Grozer.

“When they get on the pitch, Germany becomes a top team. They beat Italy and Brazil in the (Olympic) qualifiers last year. Japan are undoubtedly the team that has progressed the most in the four-peat, and Argentina are always very competitive.”

Speraw stopped.

“I think it’s a really tough group.”

Pools A, B, C

The United States is in Group C.

Group A includes Canada, France, Slovenia and Serbia.

Group B includes Brazil, Egypt, Italy and Poland.

The quarterfinals will be played on Monday, August 5. The semifinals will be played on Wednesday, August 7, the bronze medal match on Friday, August 9 and the gold medal match on Saturday, August 10.