8/4 1 2 3 4 5 USA 29 25 24 16 8 RUS 27 19 26 25 15 U.S. Men Fall to Russia for First Olympic Loss in 2012 LONDON (Aug. 4, 2012) – The U.S. Olympic Men’s Volleyball Team lost to No. 2 Russia 27-29, 19-25, 26-24, 25-16, 15-8 on Aug. 4 after it held a match point in the third set in a Pool B match during the Olympic Games at London’s Earls Court. The U.S., which had its 11-match Olympic Games win streak dating back to the 2008 Beijing Games snapped, still led the group standing despite the loss.
Team USA and Russia lineup for the team introductions. (FIVB Photo)
“The good thing is we can learn from this,” U.S. Olympic Men’s Volleyball Team Head Coach Alan Knipe said. “There’s a lot of things that we know on our side of the net we can do better. We also get a point. We wanted to win, but we do get a point and stay in the driver’s seat in the pool.” The U.S. rallied from a 19-14 deficit in the opening set to win 29-27 on its fifth set point opportunity as Russia committed 15 errors. The Americans broke a 12-all tie in the second set with a 4-0 run, then tallied five of the final six points to capture a 25-19 victory with its seventh block of the set. Russia battled back from a 22-19 deficit in the third set, and after saving one match point, closed out the set 26-24 with an ace to extend the match. Russia built a 12-4 lead in the fourth set and withstood a Team USA challenge that narrowed the gap to 13-11, then controlled the rest of the set for a 25-16 win. Russia raced out to a 6-2 lead in the tiebreaker and continued to build its advantage to a 15-8 final. Matt Anderson topped the U.S. in scoring with 16 kills on 32 attacks, one block and one ace for 18 points. Clay Stanley added 14 points via 12 kills on 37 swings and two blocks. David Lee charted 12 points on eight kills on 12 attacks and four blocks. Reid Priddy chipped in five kills, four blocks and two aces for 11 points. Sean Rooney came off the bench to score five kills and two blocks for seven points. Russell Holmes tallied five points and David McKienzie scored three aces on 10 serves as a serving sub.
Russell Holmes blasts a spike through the Russia block with Rich Lambourne in the background ready for the cover. (FIVB Photo)
Rich Lambourne totaled a team-high nine digs, while Anderson contributed 25 excellent receptions on 40 errorless attempts. Donald Suxho provided 44 running sets as the U.S. offense converted 37.7 percent of its attacks with a .169 hitting efficiency (49-27-130). “I think (Russia) made some changes to their personnel and they started to serve really aggressively,” Lee said. “They put us in a bad position where we couldn’t side out and we couldn’t run our offense.” Knipe started Priddy and Anderson at outside hitter, Lee and Holmes at middle blocker, Stanley at opposite and Suxho at setter. Lambourne is the U.S. designated libero for the Olympic Games. McKienzie was a serving sub in all five sets, while Rooney came on as a sub in the fourth set for Priddy and started the fifth set. David Smith (Saugus, Calif.) was a sub in the first, third and fourth sets. Paul Lotman (Lakewookd, Calif.) was a sub in the first and third sets. Russia used a formidable block to rally with nine blocks in the final three sets to take a 16-15 block advantage. Russia also held margins of 8-6 in aces and 67-49 in kills. Russia overcame 15 errors in the first set with just 17 the rest of the match. Russia converted 48.2 percent of its attacks with a .309 hitting efficiency (67-24-139) to make up for 20 service errors.
(Left) David Lee wins a joust against Russia. (Right) David Lee attacks against Russia without a blocker above the net. (FIVB photo)
“I thought Russia made some good adjustments,” Holmes said. “They brought guys in and we didn’t adjust well and adapt well to the changes they were making.” Maxim Mikhaylov led Russia with 27 points on 23 kills, two blocks and two aces. Sergey Tetyukhin added 21 points with 17 kills, two blocks and two aces.
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Matt Anderson hits above the Russia triple block. (FIVB photo)