U.S. men win volleyball bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, beating Italy in straight sets

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PARIS (AP) — As of this moment, Matt Anderson is planning to make another go at an Olympic gold medal in men’s volleyball four years from now.

At age 41. If his body holds up. If his young family is all in on the idea.

Four-time U.S. Olympians Anderson and David Smith are medalists once more — even if it’s not the gold one they are still chasing.

They came back for this chance, along with so many others on a team with something to prove in Paris after leaving Tokyo empty-handed. This close-knit group has become one big family. With kids in tow, too.

“I’m tentatively signing on for LA ’28, but taking it year by year,” Anderson said. “Taking it year by year personally how I’m doing, physically, mentally, how my family’s doing, because as always they’re first. I won’t let volleyball take away from them.”

Smith isn’t ready to say he’s done, either.

The Americans are thrilled to be taking home men’s volleyball hardware from the Paris Olympics, outlasting Italy in a wild, back-and-forth battle for bronze on Friday.

It went 25-23, 30-28 — a sensational second set in which each country had multiple chances — and 26-24 at a rocking South Paris Arena.

The Americans had to regroup in a hurry from the heartbreak of a five-set loss to No. 1 Poland two days earlier. And this was a long time coming after they failed to even advance from group play in Tokyo three years ago.

“I’m really proud of them, it’s taken a lot of time. Time builds trust, and there’s a lot of trust in one another to go out there and perform in these moments,” coach John Speraw said.

“They went out and they played for their families, they played for each other. I think the amount of time that they’ve spent together over the years is meaningful for all of us.”

Once TJ DeFalco’s clincher point was scored, longtime libero Erik Shoji’s arms shot into the air in triumph as others fell to their knees. Then after shaking hands with Italy, they all took turns giving long hugs to the coaches and support staff.

Catch up on the latest from Day 14 of the 2024 Paris Olympics:

• Boxing: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif will win either a gold or a silver medal when she fights Yang Liu of China in the final of the women’s welterweight division.
• Relay: 100-meter silver medalist Sha’Carri Richardson will lead the U.S. women’s relay team in 4x100-meter final.
• Soccer: France will face Spain in the final of the men’s soccer tournament, meaning there’ll be a European gold medalist at the Olympics for the first time in 32 years.
• Keep up: Follow along with our Olympics medal tracker and list of winners.

• Olympic schedule of events.

No doubt, No. 4 Italy vs. the fifth-ranked U.S. made for quite a matchup.

Facing a match point, Italy tied it at 24 in the third after a long rally during which both teams made great plays to keep it going. Then, after a service error by Italy, the Americans closed it out on their next chance.

Both teams were vying for their first medal in eight years, since the Rio de Janeiro Olympics where the Americans also took home bronze and Italy lost to Brazil in the championship.

One of the youngest teams in Brazil, a handful of the U.S. players decided to return for another run and stick together after their early exit in Japan.

“I think that was kind of the mantra of everything, especially yesterday and today was sticking together,” setter Micah Christenson said. “We’ve been through so many experiences together, ups and downs. There’s such a feeling of family on this team and we wanted to do that for ourselves. We wanted to come back and strap on our boots for this very tough game, it’s one of the toughest games in my opinion in volleyball.”

OLYMPIC PHOTOS: See AP’s top photos from the 2024 Paris games

Italy led 21-20 in the opening set, and the U.S. needed two set points to close it out after being up 24-22.

Then the Americans led 20-17 in the second set before Italy rallied to go ahead 21-20. Italy had a 24-23 lead but Roberto Russo’s serve sailed long, only for Taylor Averill to also miss his serve.

France will face top-ranked Poland in Saturday’s gold-medal match.

The Americans won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and then finished fifth in London before the bronze in Rio.

Anderson and Smith led an experienced group on the Olympic stage, and that alone was special.

“In a weird way I feel like we’re more prepared than any team in the world to fight for a bronze medal, we’ve done it so many times throughout our careers together,” Smith said. “Obviously not the medal you want to be fighting for when you start the tournament but I’m proud of the guys the way we were able to reset yesterday. We have to compartmentalize a lot of our emotions and look past that. We were able to do that today.”

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