PARIS >>So much for feeling nervous at the start of the Olympic Games.
The U.S. men’s volleyball team — led by captain and Kamehameha alum Micah Christenson — kicked off its quest for a gold medal on Saturday night with an opening Pool C match.
The expectation was that the squad, ranked No. 6 in the world, would have a long, tough match against Argentina — ranked just two spots below them. Seven weeks ago, the teams played a very tight match in a Nations League encounter.
This time around, Team USA needed just 70 minutes to register a dominant 25-20, 25-19, 25-16 victory.
Feeling confident and relaxed and clearly having lots of fun on the court, the team played a near flawless match. When asked to explain the performance, Christenson said it reflects how the U.S. has brought one of the world’s most veteran-laden teams to Paris.
“There’s a lot of preparation that goes into it,” said the 31-year-old, who has been on the national team since 2013. “We have a very mature group, and there’s a lot of team talks behind closed doors, both with the coaches and without the coaches. We have a lot of different ways that our people lead. We tried to emphasize that in this first match, and just trusting our training and letting it rip.”
That mental freedom the team demonstrated was reflected by how well Team USA served, firing eight aces compared to none for the South Americans.
“I think that was the biggest advantage for us tonight,” said Christenson, a 6-foot-5 setter who is appearing in his third Olympics. “I think we got them out of their system a lot, and got them a little uncomfortable. And then we were receiving the ball great too. All our guys were just super locked in on the reception, so it made my job a lot easier. It makes it really fun when they’re doing their thing and they’re amazing.”
It was a particularly special night for middle blocker Taylor Averill. The former University of Hawaii standout has been waiting years for this moment.
>> PHOTOS: Saturday’s Olympic highlights
Despite playing professionally over a long career in Italy, France and Poland — and first representing the U.S. internationally 10 years ago — Saturday night in Paris marked the 32-year-old’s Olympic debut.
He seized the opportunity, contributing eight points, while going a perfect 6-for-6 on his attacks.
“I just tried to be quick, baby, because I’m an undersized middle,” said the 6-foot-7 San Jose native, who won a title this year with Projekt Warszawa of the top Polish division. “My job is to touch balls and to be fast offensively. And Micah set me at good times. I think he used me in good positions, and then I scored, and that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Echoing Christenson’s thoughts about the maturity of the group, Averill noted that everyone “was just foaming at the mouth to compete,” and that it was great to see different players “take over the game” in different ways and at different times.
“When you’re playing the best teams in the world, you need those pieces to come together at certain times, and I felt like everyone had their moments. That’s how you win at this level. I’ll be honest, I’m pretty excited.”
Along with Argentina, the Americans are in a group that features Japan, ranked second in the world, and Germany, which has the lowest ranking of the four teams at No. 11. But the Germans turned a lot of heads in the early game Saturday that kicked off Olympic volleyball at these Games, by saving a match point in the fourth set, and then squeaking out an upset win over a Japanese unit that made the Nations League final just last month.
The next game for Team USA is against Germany, on Monday. It’ll then face Japan on Friday to conclude group play. The top two teams in each of the tournament’s three pools of four, along with the two best third-place teams, advance to the quarterfinals.
“We’ve got a very tough group,” Christenson said. “We know how dangerous the Germans are. We played them earlier this summer and we were fortunate to win. Anything can happen in men’s international volleyball, so we’re going to be ready for the challenge.”
