PARIS >> Through two sets on Tuesday, it looked like Team USA was going to cruise to another easy win in men’s Olympic volleyball.

Three days after sweeping past Argentina in a little over an hour, the team took a 25-21, 25-17 lead against the upstart, world No. 11 Germans, who had saved a match point in upsetting second-ranked Japan to start their tournament.

With plenty of bold serving, much like they did against Japan, the Europeans changed the momentum dramatically in the third, and rode it through the fourth, taking those sets 25-17 and 25-20.

But it was the Americans’ turn to seize the momentum back in their favor when it mattered most, breaking open a 5-5 tie in the fifth set with five straight points, which included two aces and two blocks, on the way to a 15-11 final tally in the decider.

“We know Germany is a really strong team,” explained 34-year-old libero Erik Shoji, whose legendary father, Dave, coached at the University of Hawaii for more than 40 years.

“Obviously, everyone can see that they serve hard, and they spike really hard. I think they were just a little bit off, and we were crushing it the first two sets. They made a change at setter, which is always difficult for a team to adjust to, and I think they ramped things up a little bit and we just didn’t deal with it. We figured it out in the fifth and came up clutch with some huge serves, so that was nice to see.”

This is the third time Shoji has appeared at the Games. The last time, in Tokyo, the team also experienced an easy victory to kick things off, but finished poorly to miss the quarterfinals. So this time, he was relieved to see the team take care of business so well in the fifth set, resulting in a very high probability of making the quarterfinals, regardless what happens in the squad’s final group game Friday against Japan.

“It would have been nice to finish it off in three, but a little adversity never hurts,” said the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist. “We’re now going to talk about the adversity that we faced and move ahead 100% focused on Japan. We want to be the first-place team in the pool. We’ve already started studying them, and it’s going to be an amazing match. We really haven’t played their best team in a really long time. So it’ll be a lot of fun.”

As for his personal role on the veteran-laden team, the national team member since 2013 said he has been working hard on his communication and reception.

“I think if we can receive even halfway decent, then we’re tough to beat. So, my job is obviously, the skills involved as being a libero, but also just stepping up the communication and being really aggressive with the guys. We have a unique formula, the way that we pass. So, it’s a lot of work, but we’ve done so much work that we deserve to feel confident in key moments, and in that fifth set, I think we did a pretty good job.”

In contrast to Shoji, another Punahou alum, Micah Ma’a of Kaneohe, is an Olympian for the first time. He is a backup who spends most of the game cheering on his teammates. He made it onto the court for what he describes as a “one-and-done” single point in the Germany game, marking his first-ever taste of Olympic competition.

“You’re just kind of focused on what your job is, and trying to keep it so simple that you don’t really take in the moment that much,” explained the 27-year-old, 6-foot-3 setter, who made his senior debut in 2018 and has played professionally in France, Poland and Turkey.

“I was just focusing on some small cues. You just have to go out and execute it. It’s a difficult job, coming in and out. You don’t get the luxury of being able to take in the emotions because you’re only out there for one point.”

He added that he actually sees the lack of playing time as a positive in terms of the big picture.

“Typically, our role on the bench is to come in when they (the starters) are not playing well,” said the two-time AVCA first team All-American at UCLA under Olympic team head coach John Speraw. “We (he and fellow sub Garrett Muagututia) usually go in once a set, but these two games, everyone’s been rolling, so we’ve just been hanging out, which is good news for the team.”