Fukuoka, Japan, October 5, 2019 – Maxwell Holt scored 12 points as the United States beat Japan 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-21) at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup on Saturday.
USA coach John Speraw: "I feel like Japan is the most improved team maybe in the world. They have some good young players. They play good defence and hit the ball really hard. They are not the biggest team, but they know how to play their game. We know down the road they are going to be difficult to beat at home.
"Max Holt is having a good tournament. He blocked and served well tonight. This was a productive match for us and we look forward to tomorrow against Tunisia."
USA captain Micah Christenson: "We are very happy with the result. This was not the Japan roster we expected. Some of our players who had not had a chance to play got to tonight and played good volleyball. Japan has made big progress as a team. They are very dangerous with (Yuki) Ishikawa and (Yuji) Nishida."
Japan coach Yuichi Nakagaichi: "This was a complete defeat. They did not have their full team but everybody played at a high level. I changed our members and hoped they would cope better. They took the lead from us at the beginning and pushed us out. I rested (Tatsuya) Fukuzawa and Nishida tonight."
Japan captain Masahiro Yanagida: "Their service pressure bothered us and we could not apply pressure on them with our serve. We were disrupted and our passing was in disarray. They blocked very well."
Japan player Tsubasa Hisahara: "This was my first start. Their service, defence and blocking gave up trouble. We could not play our volleyball. We have to utilise this experience for the next match."
Japan player Kentaro Takahashi: "They blocked and had service aces and quick attacks."
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