The Olympics provide some of the greatest triumphs in sports, but they can also provide some of the greatest heartbreak. After an incredible match against top-ranked Poland, Team USA men’s volleyball finds itself on the wrong end of the incredible emotions these 17 days provide.
Leading two sets to one and having Poland on the ropes, it seemed the U.S. was on its way to its first Olympic final since 2008. Suddenly, it all flipped, and before they could blink the Americans had crashed out of the Olympics in a heart-shattering five-set loss.
Entering as the top-ranked team in the world, Poland was looking to finally overcome the ghosts that have haunted them at the Olympic Games for years. Poland had lost in the quarterfinals of the last five Olympic Games until it beat Slovenia to reach the semifinal stage. Now, they are in the gold medal match, and it took everything they had to get there.
The Polish looked down and out against the United States, but showed the resolve and talent that has made them the top team in the world. Down two sets to one and trailing in the fourth, they picked themselves up off the mat, dusted themselves off and came back to force a decisive final set.
Trailing 14-10 in the fifth, the United States had one last shot back. The Americans scored four straight points and dragged themselves back within one. However, Polish superstar and one of the best players on Earth, Wilfredo Leon, did not let it go any further. Poland took the set from the United States and found its man, who delivered a ferocious strike that went off a body and landed out of bounds to give Poland its biggest win in 48 years.
Leon–as he almost always is–was the star of the night with 26 points on 22/41 swings. Alongside Tomasz Fornal, 13 on 12/20 swings, Leon willed his country back into the match and across the finish line. Poland is now guaranteed its first medal–and only second in history–since it won the gold all the way back in 1976.
The U.S. entered as the most efficient offense left in the tournament, while Poland was the least efficient.
It looked like the complete opposite early as Team USA got off to a very slow start and looked completely out of sorts on offense. Not only were the Americans making errors, they could not put anything on the floor. Torey DeFalco, who has been the Americans’ best hitter in this tournament, did not score on his first seven swings and could not get anything past a staunch Polish defense.
Poland was absolutely dominant offensively behind their superstar, Wilfredo Leon, who had seven points on 6/9 swings in the first set and Norbert Huber who had five points on 4/5 swings and a block. As a team Poland hit 15/30 on swings and even though the Americans got hands on a lot of them, they just could not stop them from getting to the floor.
Heading into set two, the Americans had a lot to clean up.
The Americans had little to no success hitting against Poland’s defense on the outside early, forcing an adjustment in the second set. The Americans started going down the middle of the floor on offense and it worked beautifully. Matt Anderson was on fire to start, killing seven of his first 10 swings, while Taylor Averill and Max Holt were lethal in the middle of the floor. Those three helped the U.S. get out to a 21-18 lead in the second, but Poland erased that quickly, sending the set to overtime. Both DeFalco and Anderson missed swings on set point, but the third time was the charm as Aaron Russell came through with a big swing of his own to get the U.S. back in the match with a 27-25 win.
Team USA’s head coach, John Sparew, made another huge change in the third set, taking DeFalco off the floor in favor of Thomas Jaeschke. DeFalco was completely off his game at just 4/15 on swings through three and Sparew decided it was time for a change. It turned out to be a good one as Jaeschke had an immediate impact with five points on 4/7 swings in the third.
The U.S. held a 13-9 lead in the third set when everything changed in the match. This time it was nothing the U.S. did, but an injury to a Polish player that shook everything up. Poland’s libero, Pawel Zatorski, was down for a while with what looked to be a shoulder injury and it seemed as if his night was over. He was able to continue on but it was clear he was struggling and some of the wind had come out of Poland’s sails. Team USA went on a 12-5 run after the injury and closed out the set 25-14 to put itself on the brink of an appearance in the gold medal match.
At that point it seemed Poland was on the ropes, but they were able to brush themselves off and come back to win a wild fourth set in rollercoaster fashion. The United States held a 21-20 lead late, but Leon would simply not let his country go down without a fight. He brought them back into the set, and put them at set point with an ace to make it 24-22. Through four he had 23 points on a .486 hitting percentage.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.