The American Men Are Hunting Redemption In Ottawa

During their week in Ottawa, Canada, the U.S. Men's National Team will face No. 10 Germany, No. 16 Australia, and No. 6 Canada.

Jun 7, 2018 by Kolby Paxton

The American Men Are Hunting Redemption In Ottawa

By Megan Kaplon

For the U.S. Men’s National Team, a trio of Volleyball Nations League matches in Ottawa, Canada, this week represents a chance at redemption after Team USA suffered its first loss of the tournament to conclude last week’s pool.

The Americans let a 2-0 lead slip away versus Brazil, and the subsequent loss relegated the team to third place in the standings, trailing Brazil and Poland, heading into Week 3.

During their week in Ottawa, Canada, the U.S. men will face No. 10 Germany, No. 16 Australia, and No. 6 Canada.

Here’s what to expect from this week’s matches:

Team USA

Although Week 2 ended with a very disappointing loss, Team USA has had a fantastic showing so far in the VNL tournament. Young talent has stepped up, with Ben Patch, Taylor Averill, TJ DeFalco and Jeff Jendryk playing key roles for the team.

Veterans Aaron Russell, Matt Anderson and Micah Christenson joined the roster for Week 2, and now that they’ve had time to be worked into the system and get some touches in with their teammates, things should flow more smoothly.

Head coach John Speraw almost has too much talent to work with—especially at the outside hitter position. Taylor Sander is tied with Thomas Jaeschke for the second-most points on the team, despite not traveling to Brazil for Week 2.

The outside hitter depth chart also includes Olympian Aaron Russell (33 total points), young rockstar DeFalco (28 total points), and 6-10 former BYU stud Jake Langlois (15 total points). Speraw even stuck Anderson, who typically plays opposite for the national team, on the left pin in the fifth set versus Brazil. The lineup combinations with this group are practically infinite.

As of this writing, USA Volleyball has not released the roster for this week’s matches in Ottawa, but we suspect Speraw won’t make many changes. Sander and his wife Rachel’s first child is due any day now, so he will likely stay home again, allowing some of the other outsides to continue to prove themselves.

We would love to see Speraw give the lineup with Anderson on the left and Patch at opposite another try. Patch leads the team in points so far this tournament, but Anderson is one of the best in the world and the most experienced player on the team. It can only benefit the team to have them both on the floor at the same time, instead of competing with each other for playing time.

Germany | Friday, June 8, 3:40 PM CT

The No. 10-ranked Germans had been plodding along as expected in the VNL competition, losing to its higher-ranked opponents and scoring its first win in the tournament over world No. 20 China.

But then, on Sunday, Germany shocked the volleyball world with a huge upset of Poland, which at the time was undefeated and the top team in the standings. Although the single victory didn’t do much to move the Germans up in the standings—at 2-4, they’re 12th—but it could make them confident, and therefore dangerous, heading into Friday’s matchup with Team USA.

Germany has only been to two Olympic Games, but in 2012, the team qualified for the playoff rounds in London, ultimately finishing fifth. In 2014, the Germans won a bronze medal at the FIVB World Championship, and last year they won a silver medal at the 2017 European Championship.

The youngest team in the tournament with an average age of 23, Germany is led by captain Christian Fromm, a 6-8 outside hitter and the team’s top kill-contributor, as well as points leader Simon Hirsch and setter Lukas Kampa. Against Poland, 23-year-old Moritz Reichert, who also has also competed for Germany on the beach, contributed 12 points, with 11 kills and one ace.

Australia | Saturday, June 9, 3:10 PM CT

Australia, one of four challenger teams in the Nations League event, is 1-5 and ranked 15th in the tournament standings. The Volleyroos have never finished higher than eighth in a major international tournament; however, they did win the Asian Championship in 2007.

Their sole victory in VNL was a sweep of Bulgaria—the first time the Australians have ever beaten Bulgaria.

Six-foot-seven opposite Lincoln Alexander Williams had 15 points against Bulgaria and leads Australia with 81 total points so far in the tournament, more than twice as many as any other player on the team.

“The 3-0 win against Bulgaria means a lot to us,” Williams said. “Many teams did not take us seriously but we showed the world we can play good volleyball and we can compete with every team.”

“This win means we are improving,” Australia head coach Mark Lebedew said. “We started very bad in the first weekend, so this was a big jump for some of the players and in our expectations. If we continue playing like this in the next three weeks, I’m sure we’ll have enough points to stay in the tournament.”

Fans of men’s college volleyball might recognize a few names on the Australian roster--three Volleyroos played NCAA ball. Outside hitter Gerrard Lipscombe played four years at Grand Canyon; team captain Paul Carroll, a 6-9 opposite, was a key player for Pepperdine from 2006 to 2009; and Thomas Hodges lettered at both Pacific (2014) and UC Irvine (2015-2017).

Canada | Sunday, June 10, 3:10 PM CT

For much of the history of its men’s national team, Canada lived in the shadow of the United States. But as of late, our neighbors to the north have come out on top of head-to-head matchups more times than not.

Just last year, in the World League bronze medal match, Canada took defeated the United States in four sets to keep Team USA off the podium. The Americans also lost to Canada in pool play of that event.

Team USA won the most recent matchup between the two countries (the semifinal of the NORCECA Continental Championship last September), but in the past three seasons, Canada holds a significant 2-7 lead in the series.

So far in VNL, the Canadians boast a 4-2 record and rank sixth in the standings, with wins over Korea, Italy, Argentina, and Iran.

Canada handed Italy it’s first loss of the tournament--a 3-1 victory in which Graham Vigrass, a middle blocker who plays pro ball for Berlin Recycling Volley in Germany, led the team with 17 points. Twenty-three-year-old outside Stephen Timothy Maar added 11 kills and a match-high four blocks. He leads the team in points so far in the tournament, with 79.