Hi, middle blockers Aaron Russell from Ellicott City, Maryland and NIkola Antonijevic from Buffalo Grove, Illinois here.

We woke up this morning tired from the five-set match played the night before but spirits were high as we left for breakfast and then to practice. During the 45-minute ride, all of the players dozed off for a little, wishing they were still in their beds but soon woke up excited because they knew it was time to train.

Practice was a basic pre game session. We started off with some ball control followed by some back row threes (anything goes) and then moved into some serve and pass with quick attack reps working on their cut back arm swing. Coaches Dan Friend, Rob Neilson aka Sergio, and Jonah Carson worked their way into the back row three games and showed us a little of their crafty side as they tipped, rolled and occasionally swung at ball after ball. At the end, we cooled down and made our way back to the buses to grab some lunch at the hotel.

Following lunch we had a film session that disrupted our ritual of midday naptime but was very useful in our strategy against Korea.

After the film session, we headed up to our rooms to get dressed and ready for our upcoming match. We left the hotel and walked three blocks to catch our bus. To our surprise, Korea joined us for the ride. The trip was shorter than usual and quiet as most teammates were napping or listening to music.

Upon our arrival, we followed our coaches and team doctor into the locker room and prepared for the crucial match that was just moments away.

The match was a close one that we controlled but let slip away as Korea, after losing two straight sets, won sets four and five and the match. Through this, we learned to finish a team when they are on the ropes, rather than cruising through and letting them inch their way back in. Although we lost, we still had a chance to make it into the top single elimination bracket for the bottom eight pools. To move on and play Brazil in the semi finals, we needed Iran to win in 3=three. If Iran won in four, Russia would move on to play Brazil. All hopes were with Iran on the bus ride to the hotel and our way to and from McDonalds for dinner. Towards the end of the walk, people began to loosen up from the loss by cracking jokes and messing around each other and became confident when word spread that Iran was beating Russia 2-0.

As we got up to our rooms we were relieved to see that a printed schedule for tomorrow was lying outside our door that said “Semifinal 1 USA vs Brazil”!

One great way to improve is through loss. Today we were able to do so without necessarily having consequences. This will be big in the next couple days as we rest tomorrow morning and bring the tournament to a close.

Thank you for all of your support and we hope that you continue to follow us as we play Brazil tomorrow and either Iran or Egypt.

Thanks again,
#13 Aaron Russell
#1 Nikola Antonijevic