John Speraw at the USA v SRB post-match press conference
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 21, 2016 – United States coach John Speraw utilised his reserved players to turn things around against a tough Russian squad, they succeeded in five sets to earn the bronze medal.
John Speraw, Coach of USA:
“It really took us so much to come back and play after the disappointment of the Italy match. I can understand, I was watching our guys for the first two sets and I could empathise with where they were. So I had a suspicion that we would have to go to our bench.
“I definitely know that Reid (Priddy) and David (Lee) contribute so much and when you’re coaching in this level and these guys have played for so long, it’s really high-level conversation.”
David Lee, Captain of USA:
“What an amazing match. It kind of sums up our entire tournament. We’ve been down in pool play 0-2, then we won the next three to stay alive. And today we did the exact same thing against a very good Russian team. I felt we started off a bit slow and didn’t pass really well, but we made some changes especially with the addition of Reid Priddy. I think that was one of the main reasons why won this match.
Vladimir Alekno, Coach of Russia:
“It’s always an emotional thing to discuss right now. You can always say if ‘I could go back and change things it would have been different’. But it doesn’t work that way.
“I don’t have any regrets. And going back to what Tetykhin said, since January the guys have been working non stop, they’re a good team and they trained and trained and trained. Certainly when we were coming here on the bus, we were coming for a medal. Obviously that did not happen and this is what happens in sports.”
Sergey Tetyukhin, Captain of Russia:
“It hurts, it hurts, and it hurts in a major way. We almost had it. Today we played much better than we played Brazil. Incidentally, we played better until the end, but the results didn't go to our favour. Although there is no one in my team that I could criticise, they did everything they could. I want to thank my team. They are an excellent team and they will have an excellent future.”