Redemption tour for USA men's volleyball off to a good start at Paris Olympics

PARIS — Max Holt was on the USA men’s volleyball team that won the bronze medal in 2016. And like most of his current teammates, he was on the team that flopped at the last Olympics.

The Americans failed to make it out of group play in Tokyo, finishing a disappointing 10th.

"Very disappointing," Holt said. "I think everybody kind of had that in the back of their mind. We left a bad taste in our mouth, and absolutely, we're here to prove that we are a contender."

So far, so good.

The U.S. improved to 2-0 at the Paris Games with a tense – and pivotal – five-set victory Tuesday over Germany, seizing control of their pool and all but ensuring that the Americans will move into the quarterfinals, regardless of what happens in their final preliminary match against Japan.

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Their second win of this tournament looked easy for a while. Except then it wasn’t. After dropping the first two sets, Germany rallied to win the next two and force a deciding fifth set. The U.S. prevailed 25-21, 25-17, 17-25, 20-25, 15-11, winning the final set largely because of a 6-0 run that shifted momentum that had built in Germany's favor. That run was ignited by Holt serving consecutive aces.

"I just felt like we needed a little something extra there," he said. " … This was a great test for our team. In big Olympic moments, this was huge to keep that poise, keep that composure."

Big-picture, these two opening victories (the U.S. swept Argentina on Saturday) have indeed been huge for an experienced national team that showed up in Paris with the performance in Tokyo still fresh on minds.

"We wanted to do better," said U.S. coach John Speraw, who has also returned in his role from the Rio and Tokyo Games, "and as I've said in a bunch of interviews, I want that for them. Because they've been so successful. The last Olympics didn't go great, but all these other tournaments that they've been so successful in, I think they wanted to come back and have equal success here. …

"There's bigger things here. When you represent the United States of America, it's not about going out and winning just another volleyball tournament. This isn't just another volleyball tournament."

So how are their chances? Looking better.

Consistency has been an issue of late for this U.S. men’s team. But the Americans are still ranked sixth in the world, viewed as possible contenders in Paris, while not favorites over current powers like Poland, Italy or host France. Even in their preliminary pool, Japan is ranked third ahead of them.

So holding on to beat Germany – which upset Japan in five sets in their Olympic opener – could prove critical. Volleyball changed its format in this Games, putting four teams in three different pools, rather than the previous setup of two six-team groups. While that has meant more rest time between matches, it has also upped the significance of each preliminary match.

Tuesday’s result moved the U.S. atop their pool with five points (a five-set victory is worth two points, as opposed to three for winning in three or four sets). Germany has three. Japan (one) and Argentina (zero) square off Wednesday in the second Olympic match for each.

Ultimately, the top two teams in the pool will advance automatically, while the third-place finisher would have a chance, depending on how it stacks up against the third-place teams in other pools.

Even if it isn’t official yet, the Americans can expect to keep playing into the medal round.

"That was a goal, right?” Speraw said. "But we've got aspirations to do great things in this tournament. Winning matters. Let's keep it going."

While the U.S. women’s volleyball team has medaled in each of the past four Olympics, including a gold in Tokyo, the American men – with notable exceptions of gold in 2008 and bronze in 1992 and 2016 – have slipped a bit since winning back-to-back gold medals in 1984 and 1988.

The goal here in Paris is clear. And it’s closer than it was a few days ago.

"We're here to get gold," Holt said. "That has been our mission."

Reach Gentry Estes at gestes@gannett.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.