United States defeats Brazil in men’s volleyball, advances to semifinal in Paris 2024 Olympics

The United States volleyball team defeated Brazil (26-24, 28-30, 25-19, 25-19) in four sets during the quarterfinals of the men’s tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Tied 1-1, the United States rattled off consecutive set wins to finish off the Brazilian national team to advance to the tournament’s semifinals.

The American team won the opening set 26-24. Brazil took a 13-8 lead before Team USA came back to keep the set neck-and-neck for the remainder of the period. The first American lead came late with a 22-21 score before they took the final two points after breaking a 24-24 tie.

A fast 7-3 start for the United States led Brazil to take a timeout, it seemed as though the Americans would run away with the second set. Team USA even led by a score of 21-16 late in the period before the Brazilians came roaring back to win the second set 30-28 and tie the game.

Set three was Team USA’s to win nearly the entire way. Brazil took an early 4-3 lead but the United States rallied back to lead by as many as six points and even lead 24-18 late in the set. The United States would end the set in winning fashion from Maxwell Holt on the set point. He scored 13 points during the contest.

Arguably the most intense set of the match, the fourth point never saw either team break free of the other. The United States would break free toward the end, however, and scored the final few points in quick succession to win the set and match, sending USA to the semifinals.

Coming into the quarterfinal, the United State made it through Group C of pool play at the Olympics with eight points. For Brazil, they finished third in the same group with four points of their own. Coming into Paris, Brazil had been the five-straight Olympic semifinals in the event dating back to 2004.

For Team USA, it’s their seventh appearance in the semifinals in Olympics history. It’s also a bit of a redemtion story for the United States, as they failed to make it out of pool play during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Now, the United States will face Poland in the semifinals. The Polish Olympic team are coming off a 3-1 quarterfinal win of their own against Slovenia. The winner of Wednesday’s semifinal battle between USA vs. Poland will play for a gold medal.