TEAM USA came up with a strong start in the FIVB Men’s World Championship, defeating Colombia, 25-20, 25- 21, 25-14, on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Outside hitter Henry Champlin led the way with 17 points—12 from attacks, three aces, and two blocks—while Gabriel Garcia added 12 points on eight attacks and four aces.
Coach Karch Kiraly expressed satisfaction with the overall performance of Team USA, world ranked No. 6, but acknowledged areas for improvement in their bid to advance through Pool D to the Round of 16.
World No. 42 Colombia proved a tougher match than expected, and Kiraly noted opposite hitter Miguel Angel Martinez Palacios Amaranto posed a significant challenge.
The 21-year-old Amaranto scored 11 points, all on attacks, accounting for the bulk of Colombia’s 31 attack points against 40 by the US.
“We could have done a better job containing opposite No. 17 from Colombia and so we’ll be watching some film, figure out some way that we can do better,” said Kiraly, an Olympic champion as a member of Team USA in the 1984 LA Games and as coach of the American women’s team in the 2021 Tokyo Games.
“We would have preferred that he (Amaranto) didn’t have that much success offensively against us,” Kiraly added.
Overall, Kiraly was pleased as the younger team members got their feet wet and earned a win.
Everyone in the US team except Micah Christenson, Erik Shoji, Jeffrey Jendryk, Kyle Ensing and Taylor Averill are making their World Championship debut.
“I thought, especially the guys who have never played once in these before did a really nice job,” Kiraly said.
“Maybe they had some nerves inside but it didn’t look like it outside. I thought they handled it really nicely.”
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