Team USA gives fans reason to cheer with first VNL win

The US got back on track in style after trumping Brazil 25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-9, much to the delight of the Philippine fans in the Volleyball Men’s Nations League ( VNL) from 2024 in Manila. Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Less than 24 hours after being on the wrong end of a five-set series against Iran, the Americans powered their way to No. 1 in their Philippine debut thanks to TJ Defalco’s 21 points, built on 18 attacks and three aces.

Fan-favorite team captain Micah Christenson also rose to the occasion with 41 excellent sets and three markers to keep USA’s quarter-final hopes alive as they moved to 11th place with a 4-6 card.

PHOTO: Sherwin Vardeleon

“(We feel) a lot better than what we felt last night. I think we had a handful of hard conversations and, man, a lot of credit to this team for the resilience and the response we showed tonight against a really good team from Brazil,” Christenson said.

“Tonight was a good step in the right direction. We are not where we want to be, but it is the first building block of where we want to go,” he added.

READ: Iran upsets Team USA crashing into VNL Manila

Scoring wasn’t a problem across the board this time, as Maxwell Holt (16 points), Matt Anderson (12 points) and Taylor Averill (11 points) gave life to the American attack.

Despite splitting their first two assignments, Brazil are still in fourth place as they inch closer to a play-off berth.

Alan Souza led the first defeat of the Manila leg for the South American side with 26 points on 23 attacks, two aces and one block.

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