By Jon Ackerman

The U.S. men's national volleyball team didn't find itself in the medal mix at the 2012 Olympics, but did find a new leader: Matt Anderson. The youngest player on that squad at 25 years old, he led the Americans in scoring and went on to collect USA Volleyball Male Indoor Player of the Year honors.

Anderson then earned that award again in 2013, and 2014, and 2015. Four straight doesn't happen often, but shouldn't come as a surprise. The 6-foot-9 Anderson has led the U.S. men in scoring every season since 2011.

He was huge in the Americans qualifying for the 2016 Olympics. Anderson was the 2015 World Cup MVP as the U.S. won the quadrennial event, thus booking its berth in the Rio Games.

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Anderson's rise to prominence didn't follow the typical path. He grew up outside Buffalo, N.Y., and then attended Penn State University. That makes him one of a very few in the U.S. program who didn't grow up or play collegiately in California.

Then he left college early, after a junior year which saw him earn AVCA Co-Player of the Year honors, lead Penn State to the national title, and take the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. The time was ripe to turn pro, so he signed a contract in South Korea.

Anderson now stars for Russia's Zenit Kazan, and was the Russian League MVP in 2014. He's also competed professionally in Italy.

But Anderson has really made his mark on the U.S. senior team. He first suited up in 2008, but developed a case of pneumonia in the summer of 2009 that put him in a hospital for two weeks. Then in January 2010, his father died in his sleep due to a massive heart attack after battling kidney cancer and blood clots. 

Anderson's grief led him to focus more intensely on volleyball. He's since become one of the premier players in the world.