The men’s US indoor volleyball team continued the run to gold with a win over Tunisia. The US indoor volleyball team is now 2-1 in preliminary play. Brazil is up next for them.
Set One
Maxwell Holt got off to a stellar start by hammering a kill and getting a key block. Quickly after, another US point made it a 3-0 run to start. Holt got another kill to make it 4-1. TJ Defalco didn’t want to be left out, so he got in on the fun too. The US came out on fire against Tunisia, and that forced a timeout with a score of 6-1. Tunisia looked out of sorts against the shut down American defense and lightning-quick offense. Matt Anderson made his presence felt after the timeout. The American team continued with the rocket balls and expanded on the lead. Tunisia tried to get in a groove, but the US wouldn’t allow it to happen. It was 13-4 and the Americans didn’t look back.
Tunisia was able to get some points back. Just as momentum seemed to be shifting, the US hit the gas pedal again. A delay in play due to a challenge stalled the game. But, it didn’t stall the power from the US men. Holt did it again to set up the first opportunity for the Americans for a set point. An out-of-bounds swing by Tunisia gave the victory to the USA by a score of 25-14.
Set 2
Team USA struck first again and took an early 5-1 lead. Tunisia tried to stop the bleeding with a timeout. The gap then closed to 10-8 as Tunisia roared back. Micah Christenson got a key block to try to sway the momentum back. Tunisia was all over the United States as the set became tied at 15 and 17. The shell-shocked American team took a time out after falling behind 19-18. Holt got back to his scoring ways to tie it at 20. However, Tunisia again jumped to a 23-21 lead. Crazy bounces off rallies helped tie the game at 23. Tunisia stunned the Americans 25-23 to take the second set.
Set Three
After a surprising set loss, team USA took a 5-2 lead. Mitch Stahl made it a 7-3 lead and Tunisia called for time. The US looked like themselves again as they took an 11-5 lead off the combo block. Holt said don’t forget about me again and helped get the score to 14-6. The score shifted to 19-9 thanks to Matt Anderson. DeFalco got on the score sheet again as victory approached. The victory was secured in the set 25-14.
Set Four
With one set left to go until another US victory, Tunisia still had some fight left. They showed that with the set tied at 5. So did Matt Anderson as he crushed another one. Tunisia’s blockers made some great players and kept them alive, and kept the momentum from going from fully going over to the Americans.
There was a swing as the Americans took a 14-11 lead. Holt continued his streak of being in the right place at the right time and helped get the United States to a 20-15 lead. After some good play and service errors on both sides, Tunisia brought it back within one. Tunisia made another key block as it became 24-23. Finally, the United States took it 25-23 to win the match three sets to one.
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