Greg Vernovage is a volleyball player and coach who is traveling as the Team Leader with the U.S. Men’s National Team that is competing at the FIVB World Championships in Italy.

In front of a great crowd, the USA team came back after going down 2-0.

Game 1 was a sideout battle most of the way with Mexico edging Team USA out 22-25. With a game one victory and momentum on their side, Mexico jumped out and dominated most of the second set. Momentum is the key word. Set 2 went Mexico's way with a 19-25 win. The score does not look good however by the end of that set, we saw a shift in the momentum. The team held their heads high and played with an obviously different mood.

Sean Rooney played hard. Added to that, Clay Stanley found his rhythm from the end line and opened things up. With a 25-18 win, and the momentum, USA added more pressure.

Set 4 turned into a battle and we saw a very good Mexico team. They stayed with it, serving tough and mixing it up at the net. Rooney was to much once again and Clay continued to put them on their heels in Serve receive. USA wins set 4 by the score of 25-22.

Into set 5, Team USA is passing the ball with high efficiency thanks to Rich Lambourne, Paul Lotman and Sean. Clay is bombing his serve and Russell and big Dave Lee came up with some crunch time blocking. Teams suit up 12 guys and tonight, we needed many of them.

USA takes set 5/ 15-11. Good Team Volleyball. Mexico played very well and tested us.

Time to sit back and enjoy the victory? I don't think so. Straight back to the hotel and shift gears for Venezuela. We play again the next day (tomorrow for some, today for us as it is just after midnight. Same time, 9 pm start.

Go USA!