PARIS, France, August 7, 2024.- The U.S. Men’s National Team will play for the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics after falling to Poland, 3-2 (25-23, 25-27, 14-25, 25-23, 15-13) in the semifinals on Wednesday. The U.S. (4-1) will meet the loser of the Italy-France match on Friday at 7 a.m. PT. Poland was playing in the semifinals after losing in the quarterfinal round five consecutive times.
“One of the great challenges in this event is when you have hopes for gold, but then you got to regroup mentally and go compete,” Head Coach John Speraw said about being in the bronze medal match.
The U.S. led in kills (68-62) and were even in blocks (4-4). Poland held a slight advantage in aces (6-4). The U.S. scored 32 points off opponent error, while making 29 of its own.
Opposite Matt Anderson continued his incredible Olympics, leading all players with 23 kills and added an ace to finish with 24 points. He hit at a .459 efficiency percentage. Outside hitter Aaron Russell also reached the 20-point plateau with 18 kills and two blocks, hitting .517 for the match. Anderson added eight digs and eight successful receptions, while Russell led the team with 19 successful receptions and recorded six digs.
Libero Erik Shoji played another outstanding match and recorded another double-double with 13 successful receptions and a team-leading 10 digs.
“It’s physically and mentally exhausting,” Shoji said. “We have to come back and play in two days. We want to be fighting for a gold and that sucks, but bronze is important and we’re going to do everything we can to win that one.”
Setter Micah Christenson directed the offense and added seven digs.
Wilfredo Leon of Poland led all players with 26 points on 22 kills, two blocks and two huge aces.
Middle blocker Max Holt contributed 12 points on nine kills with a .750 hitting efficiency percentage without an error in 12 attacks. He also recorded a block, two aces, and four kills. Outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke came off the bench to score 10 points on nine kills and a block. Middle blocker Taylor Averill finished with eight points on five kills in seven attacks, two blocks and an ace.
Poland started fast by scoring five of the first seven points and led by as many as four points on four occasions early in the set. Back-to-back kills by Anderson brought the U.S. started a 5-1 U.S. run that tied the set at 13. Poland responded with a 3-0 run and forced a U.S. timeout.
A third Poland block extended the lead back to four, 19-15. The U.S. was unable to get closer than three points the rest of the set until Anderson’s sixth kill closed the gap to 24-22 on the second set point by Poland. After a hitting error, Poland recorded a kill on its fourth set point. Anderson hit at a .556 clip in the set with six kills and one error in eight attacks. Russell scored three points on a pair of kills and a block.
The U.S. took its first lead of the second set on a Russell block to make it 4-3. A Holt stuff block gave the U.S. its first two-point lead, 6-4. The teams traded the next 12 points before an Averill ace extended the advantage to three points, 13-10 and led to a Poland timeout.
After a hitting error upped the lead to four, 18-14, Leon recorded back-to-back kills to cut the deficit in half. Poland pulled within a point, 21-20, on an ace. The U.S. came out of a timeout and regained the two-point advantage as Russell scored his third point in a row for the U.S. Garrett Muagututia served what the U.S. thought was an ace, which it called for during the play, but upon review, it went off a Poland player’s foot. Poland scored on the replay and scored on an overpass to tie the set at 22.
The U.S. had a swing to take the second set at 24-23 but hit the ball into the net. After Poland’s third consecutive service error, The U.S. had another swing for the set but hit the ball out. Shoji perfectly passed a great serve by Leon to set up an Anderson kill for the lead. The U.S. converted its third set point when Anderson’s dig led to Russell’s fourth kill. Russell finished the set with five points, adding a block. Holt scored four points on three kills and a block, and Anderson scored on all three of his attacks.
Averill earned a kill against a triple block and after Poland hit a ball into the net, the U.S. went out in front 7-4 in the third set. After the lead diminished to a point, a Holt ace and hitting error made it 10-7 and led Poland to take its first timeout. The teams traded the next four points with Anderson recording two more kills. Jaeschke ended a long rally to give the U.S. a four-point lead, 13-9. On the play, the Polish libero Pawel Zatorski collided with setter Marcin Janusz and was on the floor for three minutes before returning to play with an injured left arm.
The U.S. scored the next three points after the delay to stretch the lead to seven, 16-9. Anderson sandwiched a kill in between blocks by Christenson and Averill. The lead grew to 10, 22-12 on a Russell kill and a dig by Jaeschke that went over the net and just caught the back line. Jaeschke gave the U.S. a 24-13 lead on a kill and a Russell tip over the block in the middle gave the U.S. a 2-1 set lead. Jaeschke, playing in his first set in the match, scored five points on four kills and a block. Russell recorded five kills on six attacks and Anderson scored three times on four attacks. The U.S. hit .600 in the set with 14 kills and only two errors in 20 total attacks.
Poland scored two of the first three points of the fourth set, but the U.S. ran off the next to four points to force an early timeout. With the score 3-2, Janusz was feeling the effects of his collision with his libero and came off the court to get treatment on his back. Anderson scored after Shoji made another incredible dig and then served an ace for a 5-2 lead.
A Holt kill gave the U.S. its biggest lead, 9-5. An Anderson kill aided by miscommunication on the Poland side made it 12-9, but Poland went on a 4-1 run to tie the set at 13. The U.S. took two-point leads at 15-13 and 16-14 on Anderson kills, but Poland went ahead with a 3-0 run, culminating with a block. Another block made it 18-17 Poland before the U.S. went on its own 3-0 run. An Anderson kill tied the set and after a hitting error, Holt recorded an ace for a 20-18 lead.
Poland fought back with a 6-2 run, earning its first set point on a Leon ace. Russell scored to defend on set point, but Tomasz Fornal’s fourth kill in five attacks sent the match to a fifth set. Anderson led all players with nine points on eight kills and an ace. Russell recorded four kills.
An Anderson kill started the fifth set, but it was the last U.S. lead of the match. Poland scored the next three points on a kill, ace and block to lead the U.S. to take an early time out. The U.S. appeared to tie the set 4-4, but Poland successfully challenged a block touch for a 5-3 lead. A perfect pass by Shoji led to a Russell kill to cut the lead to one, 6-5, but back-to-back points by Poland made it 8-5 with the side switch.
A Russell kill on an overpass cut the deficit to one, 8-7, but consecutive errors (service and net violation) restored Poland’s three-point advantage. After a Poland service error, Holt served an ace to cut the lead back to one point, 11-10, and lead to a Poland timeout. A kill out of the middle kept Poland ahead and a block made it 13-10.
Leon’s 21st kill of the match gave Poland four match points. Jaeschke and Anderson’s kills extended the match and led to a Poland timeout. A hitting error made it 14-13, but Poland sealed its trip to the gold medal match on another kill by Leon. Holt led the U.S. with three points on two kills and an ace.
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