Turin, Italy, September 27, 2018 - Team USA knew they would need wings to get past the massive Russian block: therefore it's no surprise that the big win they achieved in straight sets against Russia saw Taylor Sander and Aaron Russell as the protagonists. On the other side of the net, the reigning European champions are eliminated from the competition and will need to regroup on the road to Tokyo 2020.
Aaron Russell, USA outside hitter: "We were able to keep a very high level of play for the whole tournament and we want to keep it this way. Russia was a formidable opponent but we know it's gonna get harder and harder to win our next matches".
Taylor Sander, USA outside hitter: "The Russians are big athletes and their blocking line is impressive: I'm a small guy, so I need to work on the ball against them. It worked out and we are very happy and eager to meet Brazil to test our strength."
Maxim Mikhaylov, Russia opposite: "It is always difficult to speak after such a loss. I think that today we played better than we did yesterday in many ways, yet this was not enough to win the match against USA. It is obviously a big disappointment to finish the season with such a loss – but we will have to regroup and will start working ahead of the Olympic Games."