The US Men’s National Team claimed the FIVB Volleyball gold medal today (Sunday July 20, 2014) with a convincing 3-1 (31-29, 21-25, 25-20, 25-23) win over top ranked Brazil at the Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy. This victory marked the second FIVB gold medal for the US Team, propelling them into elite company with Brazil (9 medals), Italy (8 medals) and Russia (3 medals) as the only teams to win the FIVB gold medal more than once. Host Italy defeated Iran for the bronze medal in straight sets (25-22, 25-18, and 25-22. The US team took home $1,000,000 (Yes, One Million Dollars!) in prize money while the Brazil squad received $500,000 (Yes, One-half Million Dollars!) Not the typical volleyball prize there.
This match marked the first time US and Brazil have met in an FIVB World League Final. The Americans out hit, out blocked, and out dug their opponents and controlled the match throughout the contest. The 2014 “World League Dream Team” and the USA team roster are shown below.
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2014 WORLD LEAGUE DREAM TEAM |
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| PLAYER | POSITION | COUNTRY |
| Taylor Sander | 1st Best Outside Spiker | USA |
| Lucarelli | 2nd Best Outside Spiker | Brazil |
| David Lee | 1st Best Middle Blocker | USA |
| Lucas | 2nd Best Middle Blocker | Brazil |
| Salvatore Rossini | Best Libero | Italy |
| Mir Saeid Marouflakrani | Best Setter | Iran |
| Wallace | Best Opposite Spiker | Brazil |
| Taylor Sander | Most Valuable Player | USA |
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US Men’s Roster at FIVB World League Finals |
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| NAME | POSITION | COLLEGE |
| Matt Anderson | Outside Hitter | Penn State |
| Micah Christensen | Setter | USC |
| Carson Clark | Opposite | UC – Irvine |
| Russell Holmes | Middle Blocker | BYU |
| Max Holt | Middle Blocker | Penn State |
| David Lee | Middle Blocker | Long Beach |
| Paul Lotman | Outside Hitter | Long Beach |
| Garrett Muagututia | Outside Hitter | UCLA |
| Sean Rooney | Outside Hitter | Pepperdine |
| Taylor Sander | Outside Hitter | BYU |
| Erik Shoji | Libero | Stanford |
| Kawika Shoji | Setter | Stanford |
| John Speraw | Head Coach | UCLA |
| Matt Fuerbringer | Assistant Coach | Stanford |
| Mike Wall | Assistant Coach | BYU |
| Al Scates | Consultant Coach | UCLA |
Let’s support this team and these fantastic players any way we can. They deserve it!
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