Men start third round of Volleyball Nations League; USA plays Cuba Wednesday
The men start the third round of Volleyball Nations League on Tuesday.
The USA men have the Fourth of July off and play on Wednesday against Cuba.
Things get going with Brazil vs. Italy and Japan vs. China in Kasay City, Philipines, before Argentina plays Serbia and Iran plays France in Anaheim, California.
The Americans, who will have a rare chance to compete in the city in which they train, are 7-1, a game behind first-place Japan in the standings.
Coach John Speraw has a familiar-looking 14-player roster.
The setters are Micah Christenson and Micah Ma’a.
The opposites are Matt Anderson and Kyle Ensing.
The outsides are Kyle Russell, Aaron Russell, TJ DeFalco, Garrett Muagututia and Thomas Jaeschke.
At middle are Max Holt, David Smith, Jeff Jendryk and Taylor Averill.
The libero is Erik Shoji.
At stake for the USA is seeding in the quarterfinals, while for teams sitting between No, 6 and 10, there’s a battle to make the final eight.
Here’s how they stand:
Country, match record, sets record
1. Japan, 8-0, 24-7
2. USA, 7-1, 22-4
3. Brazil, 6-2, 22-12
4. Slovenia, 6-2, 22-12
5. Poland, 6-2, 18-16
6. Argentina, 5-3, 20-13
7. Italy, 5-3, 16-11
8. Netherlands, 4-4, 18-14
9. Serbia, 4-4, 15-15
10. France, 3-5, 14-16
11. Iran, 2-6, 10-19
12. Cuba, 2-6, 10-22
13. Canada, 2-6, 9-21
14. China, 2-6, 8-21
15. Bulgaria, 1-7, 10-21
16. Germany, 1-7, 9-22
The USA ended the second round with a sweep of sweep of Poland. Earlier in the tournament the Americans swept Netherlands, swept Italy, swept Canada, and lost in four to Brazil before taking a break. In the second round in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the Americans beat Serbia in four before sweeping China and Iran.
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