Ningbo, China, May 26, 2018 – The United States showed great team spirit to beat Bulgaria in a tough 3-1 battle in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League on Saturday.
USA coach John Speraw: “This is a tough match and you can see how hard both sides fought particularly in the fourth set. We have another match tomorrow and we need to do it better. I would like to watch the second set because we were up 16-14 and we lost that set. I think this is a good match. Taylor Sander, Thomas Jaeschke didn’t serve very well but they redeemed themselves in the end.”
USA captain David Smith: “I am very happy we got another win today. I think we achieved our goal by getting better from yesterday’s match. We showed our spirit even when our opponents played well in the fourth set.”
USA player Erik Shoji: “It was a very tough game. Bulgaria are a strong team so we have to come out and play strong, and finish the match like we did. They were serving really hard and we had to fight it off and be patient with our system. We came back with such strong serves ourselves.
“We are a great team and we love playing together. We had a lot of fun out there. Our serves were not going great at the beginning and coach wanted us to help out. I think our servers were great in the fourth set and they helped us win the match.”
Bulgaria coach Plamen Konstantinov: “It was a difficult game. I think what made the difference is USA’s service. Both teams served well, but they kept their strong serve. We lost our focus when the score was tied at 18-all in the fourth set. I am happy for my team because even in difficult situations, we fought and we tried to come back.”