Poland rallies to beat the US in men’s volleyball in fifth set and will play for Olympic gold

PARIS (AP) - Poland will play for a gold medal in men’s volleyball, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to beat the United States in the deciding fifth set of the Paris Olympics’ semifinals on Wednesday.

Poland came back from 20-18 in the third and needed two set points to force it to a deciding fifth, sending the largely pro-Poland crowd at South Paris Arena into a frenzy, with chants of "Polska!" and horns blaring throughout the stadium.

Led by Cuba native outside hitter Wilfredo León in the attack, Poland jumped out to an early lead in the fifth and left the Americans trying to play catch up the rest of the way.

A service ace by Max Holt pulled the Americans within 11-10. León’s spike out of bounds made it 14-13 before his successful point moments later sent the team onto the floor in celebration of the comeback.

León amassed a match-high 26 points to lead the 25-23, 25-27, 14-25, 25-23, 15-13 victory.

Four-time American Olympians Matt Anderson and David Smith were oh-so-close to finally playing for a gold medal. The Americans haven’t been to the Olympic championship since winning it all at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Despite this defeat, getting to the medal round is sweet redemption for a U.S. men’s team that failed to advance out of group stage play in Tokyo three years ago - and it’s a major reason several of the older players on the team returned for one last Olympic hurrah.

The veteran U.S. squad will play for bronze against the loser of the late match Wednesday between Italy and France, while Poland plays for the title Saturday against the winner.

U.S. coach John Speraw guided UCLA to an NCAA title last year and had hoped he could add an Olympic crown in the same calendar year.

For a U.S. men's volleyball team that was among the youngest at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, where they brought home bronze, the Americans are now Olympic veterans - five of them now fathers.

Anderson, Smith, Micah Christenson, three-time Olympic libero Erik Shoji and others returned for another run in Paris after the heartbreak of missing the medal rounds in Tokyo.

The 37-year-old Anderson is a four-time Olympian but second-oldest behind Smith, who is 39. Christenson, Shoji, Holt and Thomas Jaeschke are at their third Olympics.

Certain details show the Americans’ experience in life off the court, too.

Anderson and Christenson walk through the venue after matches with children in their arms. Aaron Russell, who made his Olympic debut to help the U.S. win bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, became a first-time father earlier this year while playing in Japan.

These two teams sure know each other well, too.

The U.S. men stopped in Gdansk to scrimmage Poland on the way to Paris and dropped the exhibition in five sets. In May 2023, the Americans beat Poland 3-0 in the Netherlands during Volleyball Nations League play, then lost 3-1 to Poland in the gold medal match on its home floor at Gdansk almost a month later.

The Americans won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, then finished fifth in London four years later before the bronze in Rio. But the disappointment of how it ended in Tokyo three years ago served as serious fuel.

Poland libero Pawel Zatorski went down in the middle of the third set with the Americans leading 13-9, and the U.S. grabbed momentum. Zatorski got up on his own after several minutes and could be seen stretching out his left shoulder with medical personnel checking on him, then grabbed at his shoulder moments later after a dig.

Poland, which placed fifth in Tokyo, had a 24-20 lead in the initial set before closing it out 25-23.

The Americans needed three set points to close out the second 27-25. They led 22-20 and had a set point at 24-23 when Torey Defalco’s spike went into the net. The Americans committed another attack error at 25-24 as Matt Anderson’s hit sailed long - the U.S. challenged it was a touch but lost. On their third set point at 26-25, Russell’s hit scored a point.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games