2018 FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League – Week 3 / Pool 9
- June 8-10, 2018
- TD Place Arena; Ottawa, Canada
- Time Zone: UTC – 4 (ET)
- World Rankings: No. 2 USA, No. 6 Canada, No. 10 Germany, No. 16 Australia
- Preview
- Schedule/Results
Germany def. United States 3-0
- Germany defeated United States 25-19, 25-22, 25-13
- Germany moved to 3-4 (9 points); United States moved to 5-2 (14 points)
After upsetting No. 3 Poland to wrap up Week 2, the Germans rode that confidence to a surprise sweep of World No. 2 United States on Friday. Meanwhile, the Americans seemed stuck after giving up a 2-0 lead to Brazil to wrap up Week 2.
USA coach John Speraw opted for a new lineup in the match, sitting out top scorer Ben Patch and going with 2016 Olympians in Aaron Russell, Micah Christenson, Matt Anderson and Max Holt alongside Daniel McDonnell and youngest Jake Langlois.
The Americans committed 21 errors in the match and gave up 12 aces. Germany bested Team USA in kills (35-32), blocks (7-4) and aces (12-4), while limiting its own miscues to 13.
In addition to strong serving, Germany utilized a balanced offensive attack to come out on top. Moritz Reichert and David Sossenheimer tallied 12 points apiece, including 11 and 10 kills respectively to lead the way. Simon Hirsch chipped in nine points with seven putaways, while Tobias Krick added six kills and a team-best three blocks for nine points. Noah Baxpohler and Jan Zimmermann were the X-factors in the match with five and four aces respectively.
Langlois led the Americans with 12 points (9 kills, 2 aces, 1 block), while Russell added 10 (9 points, 1 ace). Anderson added four putaway and Holt and McDonnell chipped in three apiece.
The USA did not grab its first lead until Set 2, but even then, the team was out of sorts.
After two sets, Anderson and Holt were out and David Smith, Ben Patch and Kawika Shoji were in, but that did not stop the bleeding as the USA went on to fall 25-13. Baxpohler served up his fifth ace to give Germany a 22-10 lead and a service error left the United States stunned on the wrong end of a sweep.
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