Team USA men’s volleyball rolls past Argentina
Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters
Matthew Anderson, Taylor Averill and TJ Defalco of the United States went up for a triple block against Argentina Saturday in the Paris Olympic Games in Paris.
Paris 2024 Olympics - Volleyball - Men’s Preliminary Round - Pool C - United States of America vs Argentina - South Paris Arena 1, Paris, France - July 27, 2024. Matthew Anderson, Taylor Averill and Torey Defalco of United States in action REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
The United States men’s volleyball team rolled in its opening match in the Paris Olympics, crushing Argentina 25-20, 25-19, 25-16 today in a match that lasted 78 minutes.
Setter Micah Christenson (Kamehameha), libero Erik Shoji (Punahou) and middle Tayler Averill (Hawaii) all started and played the entire match for Team USA.
Averill, 32, made his Olympic debut and had six kills in six swings.
Backup setter Micah Ma’a (Punahou) is also on the 12-member team.
Aaron Russell, who missed the Tokyo Olympics with an injury, led Team USA with 13 kills.
“We still got a long competition left to play, lot of matches, against good opponents,” Russell said during a sideline TV interview after the match. “We know how to play hard. We’re an experienced team and we gotta to make sure we bring it every single match.”
Next up in pool play for the United States is Germany on Tuesday at 1 a.m.
