Goiania, Brazil, June 1, 2018 – USA coach John Speraw praised the team’s resilience with their come-from-behind win against Japan at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League on Friday.
USA coach John Speraw: “Some of our guys that played at the Champions League haven’t had much time to practice. So we had three guys on court that haven’t had much time to connect with the rest of the team offensively. We missed too many services in the first two sets, but the guys who came off the bench stepped up. It is our second time to come from behind after being down 2-0, so I am proud of our resilience.”
USA player Aaron Russell: “The guys who came in were able to give us a lot of energy, stay positive all the time and help us after the hard second set. Every team needs to stay together. Volleyball is a team sport and we showed it today. You win or lose as a team.”
Japan player Tatsuya Fukuzawa: “We started really well, but after the second set USA were really consistent with their service. We couldn’t find a way out. We had our chances but we lost them. We are proud of this point – we didn’t beat USA in the last 25 years, but today we showed that we can face them and we can win.”