The home cooking was good for the U.S. Men’s National Team.

With an unbeaten record inside the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., during Week 4 of the Volleyball Nations League, Team USA rocketed from fourth-place to second-place in the tournament standings. A 10-2 record and 39 total points places the team behind only France, which has a 10-2 record and 40 points.

But on Friday, the first night of competition, with the Americans leading Serbia two sets to none, outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke went down with a knee injury, dampening the weekend’s atmosphere of celebration.

“Thomas had a real significant knee injury,” head coach John Speraw said. “He’s going to be out for quite a while. We’re heartbroken for him and I know he’s been playing great volleyball and has become such a great leader on our team. It hurts us. But I’m really pleased with the way guys have stepped up when he’s been out.”

With Jaeschke sidelined, current Long Beach State senior T.J. DeFalco had to rise to the occassion, and he appeared to be up to the challenge. Playing in only part of the third set versus Serbia, DeFalco tallied three kills and two blocks, and then started both of the remaining matches—collecting nine points versus Poland and 10 points versus Iran.

The team’s other starting pin hitters, Aaron Russell on the left and Matt Anderson on the right, shouldered more of the offensive load after Jaeschke’s injury. On Saturday versus Poland, Russell led the way with 14 points—11 kills and three aces—and the next day against Iran, Anderson topped the stats sheet with 18 points on 13 kills, two blocks, and three aces.

Opposite Ben Patch, who is the third-best scorer for the Americans so far in the tournament behind Anderson and Russell, was left off the roster this week due to injury, although it’s unclear how serious it is or when he’ll be back. 

Assuming he remains out of commission for the final week of VNL preliminary play, however, Speraw will have to keep Anderson on the right, and Russell and DeFalco will likely continue to earn the starting nod on the left, with Jaeschke injured and Taylor Sander awaiting the birth of his first child. 

Jake Langlois traveled with the team to Hoffman Estates, but we could also see Speraw call up Taylor Sander’s younger brother Brenden Sander to add depth at outside hitter.

Luckily, the Americans have been getting some excellent play from setter Micah Christenson, libero Erik Shoji, and middles David Smith, Max Holt, Jeff Jendryk and Dan Mcdonnell. Sometimes these players’ contributions can be harder to see in the stat sheet, but their defensive abilities and leadership played no small part in the team’s trio of sweeps in Hoffman Estates. 

Coming up later this week, Team USA faces another tough group of opponents: Russia and Italy, which are currently tied for fourth in the world rankings, along with ninth-ranked France.. So far in VNL action, however, the French are the team to beat, with Russia entering Week 5 in third-place in the standings, and Italy checking in at seventh.

The Americans appear to be in a good spot heading into the last week of preliminary play, but a lot can happen to the makeup of the standings in three matches, so the USA needs to maintain its high level of play. 

Five teams and the host country France will make it to the Final Round, July 4-8.