The USA ladies are in.
Can the USA males observe swimsuit at their Olympic qualifying match?
Coach John Speraw’s squad is in Tokyo for the Street to Paris Volleyball Qualifier and, over the course of 9 days, will play Egypt, Finland, Türkiye, Tunisia, Slovenia, Serbia and Japan.
“It’s actually difficult bodily and emotionally,” Speraw mentioned. “Definitely we might want to bodily handle the gamers and certain make the most of the whole thing of our roster to make this a profitable match.”
Success, in fact, means ending within the high two at Yoyogi Nationwide Stadium, as a result of the highest two groups will get berths within the 12-country 2024 Paris Olympics.
The USA roster is a battle-tested group of veterans.
“I anticipate everybody to have a job,” Speraw mentioned.
That features two setters, Micah Christenson and Micah Ma’a.
Matt Anderson and Kyle Ensing are the 2 opposites.
The middles are Jeff Jendryk, Max Holt, Taylor Averill and David Smith.
The skin hitters are Aaron Russell, TJ DeFalco, Thomas Jaeschke and Garrett Muagututia.
Erik Shoji and Kyle Dagostino are the liberos.
Sixteeen gamers traveled to Tokyo, however solely 14 will play within the match. The 2 not collaborating are setter Josh Tuaniga and reverse Jake Hanes.
“As a result of that is such a bodily grueling match, depth will matter for all of the groups and I really feel like that’s a bonus for us,” Speraw mentioned. “We’re not as younger as we had been once we received the 2015 World Cup with 11 matches in 15 days, however I do assume we’re skilled within the format, and, with the event of our bench and our depth, I’ve a whole lot of confidence going to them if we have to all through the course of the match.”
Earlier this summer time, the USA males competed in Volleyball Nations League after which the NORCECA Continental Championship. At VNL, they misplaced within the closing to Poland. Within the NORCECA, the People received for the primary time since 2017, beating Canada within the closing.
“I’m undecided the informal followers perceive all of the tournaments we’ve in the summertime, so I feel it’s vital to say that VNL occurs on the entrance finish of the summer time yearly, each couple of years we’ve our (NORCECA) zone tournaments, which we simply full, and on the again finish is a significant worldwide match. Final 12 months it was World Championships, this 12 months it’s the Olympic qualifier. And subsequent 12 months is the Olympic Video games.
“So that is our third and arguably crucial of the summer time as a result of an Olympic bid is on the road.”
There are additionally eight-team qualifiers on the identical time in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, and Xi’an, China.
The USA is Pool B. Pool A in Brazil contains the host nation, Cuba, Czechia, Germany, Iran, Italy, Qatar and Ukraine. Pool C in China contains the host nation, Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Mexico, Netherlands and Poland.
France, the defending Tokyo Olympics champion, will get an computerized bid because the host nation.
FIVB Street To Paris Olympic Qualifier in Tokyo
(All occasions Jap)
Saturday, September 30, vs. Egypt, 3 a.m.
Sunday, October 1, vs. Finland, 3 a.m.
Tuesday, October 3, vs. Türkiye, 3 a.m.
Wednesday, October 4, vs. Tunisia, 3 a.m.
Friday, October 6, vs. Slovenia, 3 a.m.
Saturday, October 7, vs. Serbia, 3 a.m.
Sunday, October 8, vs. Japan, 6:25 a.m.
All matches could be seen on Volleyball World TV. Use “VOLLEYBALLMAG” for a reduction.