The U.S. Men’s National Team did not have an easy go of things in its most recent Volleyball Nations League pool. 

First, an upset in three at the hands of Germany. Next, a first set loss to Australia, a team that was then winless in the tournament. Finally, Team USA capped the week with a solid four-set victory over Canada.

On the upside, the challenges the U.S. men faced in Ottawa last week should help them jump into this week’s trio of matches a little more prepared and battle-tested.

This week’s schedule, which will be played on U.S. soil in Hoffman Estates, Ill., features No. 11 Serbia, No. 3 Poland, and No. 8 Iran—a tough slate, but one that, with some solid all-around play, could help improve upon the USA’s current ranking of fourth in the VNL standings. 

Here’s what to expect from this week’s matches.

Team USA

Matt Anderson started the last two matches as an outside hitter, a change-up from opposite where he has played for Team USA since 2013. Anderson made that move to the right side five years ago in response to the retirement of three-time Olympian opposite Clay Stanley. 

Now, with Ben Patch demonstrating his ability to play at the highest level—he currently leads the team with 100 total points and is the 13th best scorer in the entire tournament—Anderson has the opportunity to move back to his comfort zone on the outside.

With Anderson on the left, the fight for the OH2 spot just got even more competitive. Right now, Aaron Russell leads the conversation, especially after his inspired performance against Australia that launched the USA’s comeback in the second set and prevented the team from losing to the Aussies for the first time in history. Of course, there’s also Thomas Jaeschke, Jake Langlois, and the current college senior T.J. DeFalco.

All that said, things might look a little different this week. Speraw has made a tweak to his 14-player roster for the matches in Hoffman Estates. Current Long Beach State senior Kyle Ensing made the trip in place of Ben Patch. That means we’ll either see Ensing earning his first starts of the tournament, or Anderson will move back to the right side.

Too much talent is a good problem for Speraw to have, but shifting lineups has an effect on team chemistry and rhythm, and the sooner the Americans figure out their ideal lineup, the better results we’re likely to see on the world stage.

The Competition

Serbia | Friday, June 15, 8 PM CT

With a 6-3 record and a ranking of sixth in the VNL standings, Serbia is so-far outperforming its world ranking of 11th. The Serbs have knocked off higher-ranked Russia and Argentina, and this week’s matches against the USA, Poland, and Iran—all ranked in the top 10—will be key benchmarks for the team.

Drazen Luburic leads the 2016 World League gold medalists so far in this tournament, contributing 110 total points. The 24-year-old 6-foot-8 opposite is assisted by Uros Kovacevic and Marko Ivovic with 78 total points each, while Nikola Jovovic quarterbacks the Serbian offense.

“Our goal in the beginning was to be in the Final 6 after five weeks of competition,” libero Neven Majstorovic said after the win over Russia. “We did not start well by losing two home matches, but we showed we are back in the game here in Sofia. We will fight until the end to be in the finals.”

Poland | Saturday, June 16, 7:30 PM CT

Poland currently leads the VNL standings, tied with Brazil with an 8-1 record and 23 total points. The team’s only loss came at the hands of Germany—Poland was the first of three much-higher ranked opponents that Germany has toppled in the last two weeks’ pools. 

“Anyone who thinks that we could win 15 matches in the Volleyball Nations League is wrong,” Polish head coach Vital Heynen said. “Of course we would prefer to have six wins in six matches, but at this moment we have five wins out of six matches and it’s not a bad result. We can learn much more from these tight matches because they teach us a lot on how to play, on where we make a lot of mistakes and on what we can do about it.”

Since that loss to Germany, Poland has snuck away with a five-set victory over Italy, crushed Japan 3-0, and defeated Bulgaria in four. This week, playing just outside of Chicago, the Poles will be in an environment that feels a lot like a home match. 

It’s often said that Chicago has the largest populations of Poles and people of Polish descent outside of Poland, and while this article by Chicago’s public radio station WBEZ debunked that particular rumor, it did point out that a whopping 20 percent of Chicagoans have Polish ancestry and the Greater Chicago area boasts just under 900,000 people of Polish descent.

In other words, don’t be surprised when you see droves of passionate red and white clad fans waving Polish eagle flags pack the stadium in Hoffman Estates this week. You can also expect this match to be one of the most challenging for the Americans in this particular pool.

Poland doesn’t have just one star player, which makes them particularly dangerous. Six players have tallied more than 40 points so far in the tournament. Artur Szalpuk, a 23-year-old outside hitter, leads the way with 69 total points, but top offensive contributors also include Michael Kubiak, Dawid Konarski, Piotr Nowakowski, Jakub Kochanowski and Bartosz Kwolek.

Iran | Sunday, June 17, 5:30 PM CT

Iran has established itself as a force in the men’s volleyball world and is not a team that the USA should or will take lightly. 

In 2014, Iran made its first appearance in the World League Final Round and finished fourth. Then, in 2016, in their Olympic debut, the Iranians took a fifth-place finish in Rio.

On the other hand, 2017 was a mixed bag for Iran. In World League, the team went 3-6 and did not make the final round, finishing 11th. Two months later, however, it won bronze in the Grand Champions Cup, defeating France in a dramatic five-set tiebreaker.

Six-foot-eight opposite hitter Amir Ghafour led Iran with 21 points in that victory over France, In the VNL, he is once against Iran’s star player. The 27-year-old has 126 total points in nine matches—116 kills, nine blocks, and an ace. Milad Ebadipour Ghara has also been quite effective for Iran tallying 90 total points. 

Head coach Igor Kolakovic is only in his second season as Iran’s head coach, taking the job when former Iranian head coach Raul Lozano left to head up the Argentina men’s national team. Kolakovic, a native of Montenegro, previously coached Serbia’s men’s team and a variety of professional teams in Serbia, Slovenia and France.

Non-USA Matches in Hoffman Estates

Poland vs. Iran | Friday, June 15, 5:30 PM CT

Iran vs. Serbia | Saturday, June 16, 2 PM CT

Poland vs. Serbia | Sunday, June 17, 12 PM CT