2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic GamesAug 12, 2016 by Megan Kaplon
Matt Anderson Leads USA Men's Volleyball to Victory Over Brazil
Matt Anderson Leads USA Men's Volleyball to Victory Over Brazil
The USA men's volleyball team collected its first win of the 2016 Olympics with a 3-1 victory over Brazil.
Tonight, Matt Anderson proved why he's one of the highest-paid men's volleyball players in the world.
The U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team took the court against Brazil this evening after going down 0-2 in pool with losses to Canada and Italy. Leading the team with 23 kills, Anderson helped secure a 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 25-20 victory over the world No. 1 and Olympics host.
Following not too far behind Anderson with 17 kills was Olympic rookie Aaron Russell. The Penn State alum has been one of the most obvious bright spots for this team since the start of the Olympic Games, and finally his teammates have stepped up to join him.
It almost seemed like a totally different group of athletes had come in to replace the squad that dropped the matches to Canada and Italy. Although the core contributors had changed only in mentality, we did see some new faces this match. Opposite hitter Murphy Troy made his Rio debut, serving for middle blocker and team captain David Lee, and outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke came in for the first time for Taylor Sander to contribute in serve receive.
The USA is now 1-2 in Rio with a total of three points (two for the four-set victory and one for a five-set loss). The Americans will take the court again on Saturday versus France, which is currently 2-1 with victories over Canada and Mexico and a loss to Italy.
The U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team took the court against Brazil this evening after going down 0-2 in pool with losses to Canada and Italy. Leading the team with 23 kills, Anderson helped secure a 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 25-20 victory over the world No. 1 and Olympics host.
Following not too far behind Anderson with 17 kills was Olympic rookie Aaron Russell. The Penn State alum has been one of the most obvious bright spots for this team since the start of the Olympic Games, and finally his teammates have stepped up to join him.
It almost seemed like a totally different group of athletes had come in to replace the squad that dropped the matches to Canada and Italy. Although the core contributors had changed only in mentality, we did see some new faces this match. Opposite hitter Murphy Troy made his Rio debut, serving for middle blocker and team captain David Lee, and outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke came in for the first time for Taylor Sander to contribute in serve receive.
The USA is now 1-2 in Rio with a total of three points (two for the four-set victory and one for a five-set loss). The Americans will take the court again on Saturday versus France, which is currently 2-1 with victories over Canada and Mexico and a loss to Italy.