An old rivalry was something else for the old guy.
Matt Anderson, the 36-year-old USA opposite, led the Americans to a 25-21, 25-18, 17-25, 24-26, 15-9 victory over France on Wednesday in the Volleyball Nations League quarterfinals in Gdansk, Poland.
“We showed really good emotional strength to have a lead, give it up and then come back in the fifth set,” USA coach John Speraw said.
Anderson had 20 kills and two aces to go with seven digs as the USA moved into Saturday’s quarterfinals against Italy, which swept Argentina.
The quarterfinals continue Thursday when Japan plays Slovenia and Poland plays Brazil.
“We started off the first two sets playing fantastic defense,” Speraw said. “I think the combination of our serve and defensive game, we never gave them an opportunity to get into the match.”
Indeed, it was all USA at the beginning against a team it lost to in last year’s VNL final and swept in the first round this year.
“But then in the third set, they started serving better and we weren’t passing quite as well to let our offense to go as well as it had been going. That allowed them to feel a little more confidence and be able to push it to five,” Speraw said.
“I thought at the end of the fourth set we started playing more like our normal side-out rhythm of our offense. In the fifth set we made a series of really good defensive plays, especially on one quick attacks. That got us back in the set and we finished strong.”
The USA (11-2), which lost to France in last year’s VNL final, got 14 kills and two blocks from Thomas Jaeschke, and TJ DeFalco had 10 kills and two blocks.
Max Holt had six kills, two blocks and an ace, Averill Taylor had five kills and a block, and David Smith had two kills, a block and an ace.
Setter Micah Christenson had an ace and a team-high 12 digs. Erik Shoji had 10 digs.
“It got really close during the entire match,” Christenson said. “It went to the tie-breaker and I’m glad we were able to pull away.
“It was huge for us. It was very similar to last season in the sense that the quarterfinals were really tough. To be able to go through a battle like this and move along, it really serves us well. This top eight is probably the best in the history of the VNL. These matchups are…
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