Press release

London, Great Britain, July 29, 2012 – US American coach Alan Knipe was evidently happy with the 3-0 win claimed by his guys in their Olympic debut against 2011 European gold medalists Serbia. “It was a well-played match and it was probably more the mindset of the players that got them through. We did a really good job to maintain our composure when we were down in the second set”. Knipe singles out William Priddy and Matthew Anderson as the players who made the difference for his side on Sunday afternoon. “The best thing about Anderson is that he isn’t fazed by the lights and the big court, he just gets down to the game. Priddy was in a lot of ways the driving force to us. He did a lot of the little things for us”. Questioned about the quality of the teams assigned to Pool B, Knipe states: “It’s the pool we have and it’s going to force us play some high level volleyball early in the tournament”.

Team captain Clayton Stanley, one of the gold medalists from the previous Games, was also in a good mood: “It was a really great start. Always great to come out first and especially with younger guys, it is their first Olympics. We played really well all round and we are really happy”. As for the next rounds of action in the group, Stanley says he will take one match at a time. “It is going to be game by game. We'll go and watch the videos, see tomorrow what we need to improve on and make those changes for the next match”.
The next opponent for the US Americans will be Germany. “If we can get that match we can secure a cross-over to the next stage which is our goal so that match is important” stresses David Lee.

Serbian spiker Milos Nikic concludes: “USA deserved their victory. They are a quality side with a lot of experience. We didn’t really get into it. We played well in some parts, but we didn’t keep our momentum. We can play better”.


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