University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
John Speraw address his U.S. Men's National Team in between sets.
Photo by: Courtesy of USA Volleyball
Coach Speraw's U.S. National Team Goes Unbeaten in Pool Play
September 18, 2018 | Men's Volleyball
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.ย โ The U.S. Men's National Team finished the first round of pool play undefeated as it beat Tunisia on Tuesday, 25-12, 25-18, 25-13 at the FIVB World Championship in Bari, Italy. As the winner of Pool C, the U.S. Men (5-0) will travel to Sofia, Bulgaria for the second round of competition, which begins Sept. 21. They will share the second-round pool with Iran (4-1), Bulgaria (3-2) and Canada (3-2). Serbia, Russia and Australia will also advance from Pool C while Cameroon (1-4) and Tunisia (0-5) have finished the tournament.
U.S. Head Coach John Speraw said the U.S. Men discussed staying focused before the match against winless Tunisia. "I think you always have to respect the game and respect the process of these tournaments," he said. "I think it's not unusual for a team with nothing to lose to come out and play great volleyball. "Even in between sets, even though we won pretty handily, we would talk about, 'We could be a little bit better in transition. We could be a little bit better about how we are communicating some of those sets.'"
The U.S. Men's serving was on fire as they led in aces, 17-2. Middle blocker Max Holt had a match-high six aces, including four in a row at the beginning of the third set. Outside hitter Taylor Sander had four aces and setter Micah Christenson scored on three. "We talked about individual goals that we would have during this match," Speraw said. "One of them was service runs. We wanted to see if a few of our guys could go on some good service runs. We obviously saw that."
The U.S. Men also led in kills (38-20) and blocks (7-2). Sander led all scorers with 13 points, including a match-high nine kills, and Holt added 12. Outside hitter Aaron Russell scored 10 points. Christenson and middle blocker David Smith, who returned to the starting lineup, each finished with seven points.
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U.S. Head Coach John Speraw said the U.S. Men discussed staying focused before the match against winless Tunisia. "I think you always have to respect the game and respect the process of these tournaments," he said. "I think it's not unusual for a team with nothing to lose to come out and play great volleyball. "Even in between sets, even though we won pretty handily, we would talk about, 'We could be a little bit better in transition. We could be a little bit better about how we are communicating some of those sets.'"
The U.S. Men's serving was on fire as they led in aces, 17-2. Middle blocker Max Holt had a match-high six aces, including four in a row at the beginning of the third set. Outside hitter Taylor Sander had four aces and setter Micah Christenson scored on three. "We talked about individual goals that we would have during this match," Speraw said. "One of them was service runs. We wanted to see if a few of our guys could go on some good service runs. We obviously saw that."
The U.S. Men also led in kills (38-20) and blocks (7-2). Sander led all scorers with 13 points, including a match-high nine kills, and Holt added 12. Outside hitter Aaron Russell scored 10 points. Christenson and middle blocker David Smith, who returned to the starting lineup, each finished with seven points.
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