USA had a tough first set but the pressure motivated them to win 3-0 over Mexico
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 15, 2016 – The United States felt the pressure from Mexico in the opening set, but that helped them to stay focused and claim the 3-0 win in Pool A of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men’s volleyball competition at Maracanazinho on Monday.
John Speraw, Coach of USA:
I am really happy to get this win and move on to the quarterfinals, when early on in this tournament it looked like it was going to be a difficult challenge. We survived and persevered when things weren’t really looking good. We’re proud of the team for the way they have grown in the course of this tournament.
Troy Murphy, Player of USA:
It was a huge win for our team because we needed to advance to the quarterfinals. We did that and we accomplished our goal. In the first set we came a little bit tight. We were a little bit focused on not losing instead of playing to win, but we bounced back after the first set. We got pushed at the end of that first set and we responded well. We played defence, we made some plays and that’s what it takes. It was good for us to feel a little pressure to play at a high level.
Maxwell Holt, Player of USA:
I have a lot of respect for this Mexican team because they came out in the first set and gave us everything they had in their last match in the Olympics. I think we found our rhythm in the next two sets and we stayed aggressive that helped us get the win.
Jorge Azair, Coach of Mexico:
I am still happy for the performance of my team in this Olympic Games. It’s been a long time since Mexico have been in the Olympic Games. We have a good group of players who are experienced and young, so we have a good future.
Daniel Vargas, Player of Mexico:
It’s our last match in this tournament, so we had lost of motivation coming in to this match. We tried to get the best results but unfortunately we had a very good rival, so that was the result that we got. We came in with really high hopes and we tried our best.