Katowice, Poland, June 15, 2017 - United States claimed the first victory in Poland, after a thrilling end of the third set against Iran. Coach John Speraw was satisfied seeing how USA responded to difficult moments in the third set, turning it back to their advantage.
USA coach, John Speraw - “It was a difficult match, because Iran is such a good team. We got a very nice score and I am proud with the way we responedand came come back in the third set. I don’t feel any stress. We still have an opportunity to make it to the Finals, but the most important thing to this group is to learn and keep getting better with every match. Russia is very big and physical. We played together in France but of course we have a lot of motivation and it will be a very different match.”
USA captain, Kawika Shoji - "I am very happy about our performance. It is not easy to play against Iran. They have a very good team with a different style of volleyball. I think we played really, really well through two and half sets. We didn’t play so well in the third set, but we finished very strong. It’s important to get three points. I just can say that everyone played well in team USA. For this season we really want to get together some young players with some experienced to grow as a team. We want to play good in the World League and we want to keep improving and hopefully we will find our true team in the end of the World League."
USA outside hitter, Taylor Sander - “It was amazing. It was a big fun for us to win. We try to play best volleyball, but we have a young team. No match is easy at this level. We play Russia next – they have a good team, which is also young. We will do our best. I love playing in Poland. Volleyball is one of the most popular sports with the fans and it’s fantastic.”
Iran coach, Igor Kolakovic - “We started this match bad, we didn’t have a good energy at the beginning of the first set. While the second set was full of ups and downs and in the end we didn’t manage to win a set playing this way. The last set was very similar, we also struggled with ups and downs, however, at some point we managed to play our game and what’s even more important, we were able to achieve a good score. We were leading 20-14, but then Americans started to risk a lot with their service and thanks to it they managed to equalize. The set was prolonged, we played point-by-point and it went to their advantage, because we didn’t have enough self-confidence, so we lost a set which we should win.”
Iran captain, Mir Saeid Marouflakrani - “We played just one set. We came back to the game set three, but the moment in the last part was really difficult for us. It’s not about stress before this match, it’s about how we played. If you control the match you can win. About the match with Poland I can speak tomorrow."
Matches on Friday
