Undefeated Team United States shrugged off a slow start to defeat Slovenia in a battle of heavyweights, 19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20, and surged into the quarterfinals of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on Monday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Ranked No. 4 in the world, the Americans fell behind early, trailing 10-15, and dropped the first set.
They rebounded to win the next three sets for a hard-earned Round of 16 victory over the world No. 6 Slovenians in one hour and 50 minutes, securing a spot in the Last 8.
USA, which finished sixth in the 2022 edition, will face fellow unbeaten Bulgaria on Thursday for a place in the Final Four.
Pool E leader Bulgaria, in an earlier match, defeated Pool D No. 2 seed Portugal, 25-19, 25-23, 25-23, marking its first Top 8 finish in 15 years.
Gabriel Garcia, a 6-foot-6 opposite spiker, dazzled with seven aces and finished with 26 points, including 15 hits and four blocks, along with 11 digs to lead the Americans.
The team had previously dominated Pool D against Portugal, Cuba, and Colombia before continuing their brilliance in the Round of 16.
Ethan Champlin and Jordan Ewert contributed 15 and 14 points, respectively, while middle blockers Jeffrey Jendryk II and Merrick McHenry added eight points each.
Team captain and playmaker Micah Christenson scored three points but was instrumental in orchestrating the USA’s offense, delivering 39 sets. Veteran libero Erik Shoji recorded 11 digs.
“I think we kind of needed that first-set adversity. Slovenia came out serving really well, as many teams tend to do against us. But we knew we could do better, so we increased our service pressure, dialed in our passing, and fought off some big serves,” said Christenson.
“I’ll admit this wasn’t the prettiest volleyball we’ve played, but this team is about surviving, fighting, and doing whatever we can to score more points. We found a way to win today, even if it wasn’t always pretty.”
Riding the momentum from their bronze-medal finish at the Paris Olympics last year and on a mission to end a 39-year world championship title drought, Team USA was initially caught off guard by the determined Slovenians.
However, the Americans, led by Christenson, regained control in the second set, breaking a 13-all deadlock with an 8-1 run capped by Champlin’s thunderous hammer to build a 21-14 lead en route to equalizing at 1-1.
From there, Team USA could not be stopped, keeping Slovenia—a consistent Top 5 finisher in the World Championship, Olympics, and Volleyball Nations League—at bay for a four-set triumph.
No Slovenian player reached double digits, with Nik Mujanovic and Ziga Stern scoring nine and eight points, respectively.
Despite the absence of star spiker Rok Mozic due to a knee injury, Pool E runner-up Slovenia still had a respectable campaign in the 32-team tournament, the largest edition in history, by reaching the Round of 16.
Earlier, Aleksandar Nikolov scored 19 points to lead Bulgaria to its first quarterfinal appearance since 2010, aiming to replicate or surpass the bronze-medal finish of his father Vladimir in the 2006 World Championship in Japan.
Lourenco Martins contributed 10 points for Portugal, which finished second to the USA in Pool D.
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