John Speraw said he was happy with how his side reacted after Australia challenged them in the opening set
Hiroshima, Japan, September 8, 2015 - USA coach John Speraw praised Micah Christenson's performance at the base line after his side clinched an opening win over Australia at the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup Japan 2015 on Tuesday.
USA coach John Speraw: "I thought Australia played great in the first set. Their digging and passing were good. We scored some points late in the first set on our float serve and that was key. We played nice from that point. Micah Christenson served well. We made good adjustments and hopefully can continue to for the rest of the tournament. This is Christenson's third year with the national team. He is a nice young player. He has a lot of responsibility with the offense with distribution."
Australia coach Roberto Santilli: "This game was not easy for us. There are two levels of teams here - those competing for the Olympic berths and those trying to gain experience. We expected to have difficulty with serve reception because USA is good at serves. I'm sorry for my young players because they played against a tough team."
USA captain David Lee: "I'm happy with the win. We started slow. Our service game made the difference in our victory tonight. We have a great history. This is one of the most talented team I have seen. I try to give knowledge from my experience to our younger players. Our objective is to qualify for the Olympics and win the tournamen.t
Australia captain Thomas Edgar: This match was played in two parts. We started strong but made crucial errors at the end of the first set. We were playing ball for ball with them before that. They are a top-class team. The have deep technical skill and are one of the best serving teams. We hope to improve game-by-game. We are the youngest team at the tournament. This is a good experience for our younger players.