The US, ranked No.5 in the world, are aiming for a return to the glory days of the 1980s and 1990s when they won two Olympic gold medals at Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988 and a bronze Atlanta 1992, as well as triumphing at the World Cup in 1985 and the World Championship in 1986. They reclaimed Olympic glory when they defeated Brazil 3-1 to take gold at Beijing 2008, but failed to defend their title in 2012, losing 3-0 to Italy in the quarterfinals for an equal-fifth finish. USA took the 2015 World Cup title, where they got the first Rio 2016 Olympic qualification ticket.
The United States are entering a fourth season under head coach John Speraw. They won bronze at the 2015 World League. In 2014, they defeated arch-rivals Brazil in the World League final in Florence, the second time they have topped the podium at the tournament. However, it was a different story at the 2014 World Championship, where they missed out on the third round by two points and were ranked joint-seventh overall. In 2013 the USA team took the gold medal in the NORCECA Championship, finished 12th in the World League and fifth in the World Grand Champions Cup.