Staff USA’s Micah Christenson within the VNL Week 3 in Manila. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.internet
MANILA, Philippines — USA skipper Micah Christenson has accepted they received’t make it to the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Closing Eight regardless of the slim likelihood, however he seems to be to take advantage of their Manila expertise to entertain Filipinos and put together for the Paris Olympics 2024.
Christenson had a playmaking masterpiece of 41 glorious units to deal with the Filipino followers with USA’s 25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-9 win over Brazil on Thursday night at Mall of Asia Area.
The veteran setter, who’s averaging 30.7 glorious units per recreation within the VNL, gave his finest effort to greet and signal autographs of their supporters on the fan zone after their recreation.
READ: VNL 2024: Staff USA overcomes Brazil for first win in Manila
“Again in the USA, we play in sure areas the place different groups’ followers fill the gymnasium slightly bit extra. So, this seems like a fairly true dwelling recreation for us and we’re very grateful for that,” stated Christenson, whose teammates additionally felt at dwelling with the hospitality and power of the Filipinos.
“I can’t say sufficient in regards to the help. We felt it quite a bit, even being right here within the Philippines. So now we’re lastly right here, and we get to really feel it within the stadium, it’s one thing actually actually particular and we will’t say sufficient about it. We are able to’t thank the followers sufficient for being right here and supporting us.”
USA, the runner-up of final yr’s VNL, nonetheless has an opportunity to the Closing Eight with a 4-6 file in eleventh place however Christenson is already shifting their focus to the Olympics.
READ: Staff USA has ‘mountain to climb’ as VNL unfolds in Manila
“We’re in all probability not gonna make the VNL Finals so what we’re gonna do is attempt to construct and work our method in the direction of the Olympic Video games and preparing. Tonight was simply step one, the primary constructing block,” stated Christenson. “Hopefully, for these subsequent two video games, we proceed to get just a bit bit higher.”
“We are able to perform a little bit extra in sure phases of the sport however we’re having that mindset of simply getting slightly bit higher and trusting the method with the constructing blocks that we will construct,” he added.
USA wraps up its VNL marketing campaign towards Germany on Saturday at 11 a.m., earlier than going through fellow crowd-favorite Japan on Sunday at 7 p.m.
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“I believe we’ve proven over time that we’re a really resilient staff. We all know how to reply to quite a lot of troublesome conditions so, we’re gonna repair just a few issues, however on the identical time, we’re gonna belief our course of,” Christenson stated. “I believe, like I stated earlier than, it’s a step in the proper path. It’s not excellent, however it’s a step in the proper path.”
