After 30 years, USA won the FIVB World Cup AGAIN!

We’d like to dedicate this post to the 14 players who represented the team in Japan and brought home the bacon after 3 decades.

Matt Anderson

Jayson Jablonsky

Aaron Russell

Taylor Sander

Kawika Shoji

Micah Christenson

Russell Holmes

Max Holt

Murphy Troy

David Lee

David Smith

Dustin Watten

Paul Lotman

Erik Shoji

Always remember, behind every great team is a great coach AND a great staff.

Coach John Speraw

The Champions In Their Own Words

USA coach John Speraw:“I’m rarely at a loss for words. To do something that hasn’t been done in 30 years. There is not a harder tournament to win. The team kept focus. The challenge of the tournament made us better. This is a team that has tremendous promise. It’s incredible what we could accomplish without players like Russell and Sander having even played a minute of pro volleyball. David Lee has put together a good career. Matt Anderson is stepping into a leadership role. I want to thank USA Volleyball, my staff. I can’t say enough. They were tremendous all the way through. It’s a stressful challenge for any coach to qualify for the Olympics. I thought our serve was good throughout the tournament and our blocking got better as we went along.”

Team Captain David Lee:“We came here to win the tournament. The stars aligned and we were able to take the gold for the first time in 30 years. I can’t say enough now about how the team played and took it one point at a time. It was a great performance.”

Matt Anderson:“It has been quite a whirlwind. Hats off to Italy and Poland. We had a lot of stress to prepare for this tournament. Our team had a goal they wanted to accomplish and that was to win the World Cup. This is my second time to qualify for the Olympics. We had an incredible performance here. I will hold this close to me for the rest of my life.”

(images: FIVB)