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Welcome back to the Olympics, Aaron Russell.
Russell had a match-high 13 kills on a .600 attack percentage as the United States swept Argentina 25-20, 25-19, 25-16 in its pool-play opener on Saturday in Paris.
This was the first Olympic match for the former Penn State All-American since helping the United States win a bronze medal at the 2016 games. Russell was sidelined with an injury for the 2020 Olympics – the same games when the United States lost to Argentina in pool-play to be eliminated for medal contention.
Russell committed one attack error the entire match and led the United States with five kills in both the second and third game of the sweep. The outside attacker also contributed three aces against Argentina.
Setter Micah Christenson guided the offense to out-hit Argentina .500 to .285, including the United States having a match-best.632 attack percentage in the final game.
Along with Russell, former Long Beach State outside attacker TJ DeFalco finished with nine kills on a .667 attack percentage. Former Hawai’i middle attacker Taylor Averill in his Olympic debut contributed six kills and zero errors on a perfect 1.000 attack percentage.
DeFalco also had a match-high four aces with three of those aces coming in the third game.
The United States finished with eight aces and limited Argentina to zero aces.
Russell led all players with 12 excellent service receptions. Pin-hitter Matt Anderson and libero Erik Shoji each added eight excellent service receptions against Argentina.
The United States had a 10-3 run midway through the third game to take a nine-point lead. In addition, the United States committed a match-low one attack error to complete the sweep.
Argentina led 9-7 in the second game before the United States went on an 8-2 run that featured three consecutive aces from Russia. DeFalco delivered a game-winning ace as the United States finished with four aces en route to taking a two-game lead.
The United States had a .455 attack percentage and committed two attack errors in the five-point game-one win. In addition, DeFalco led all players with five kills, while Holt and Russell each had three kills
The United States with this victory moves into first place in the four-team Pool C. Germany upset Japan in five games in the other Pool C match on Saturday to move into second place.
Both the United States and Germany will play each other on Tuesday. The winner of this match will clinch a quarterfinals berth.
The top-two teams in each of the three pools will be assured sports in the quarterfinals, while the two best third-place teams will also advance to the quarterfinals.