Matt Anderson on U.S. volleyball's redemption road: 'There's a quiet confidence about this team'
The three-time Olympian says the American men are aiming for gold at Paris 2024. But they have to qualify first - and are playing a new brand of high-level volleyball: 'We've changed our attitudes.'
As the U.S. men’s volleyball team looks to lock in its spot for the Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024, they’ve used a tool close to home to ready for the best teams in the world: The in-house competitiveness of their own practice gym.
“In our gym, you can't have an off day,” said three-time Olympian Matt Anderson in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com. “You can't have a bad day and expect to keep your spot.”
In a team that is a mix of Olympic veterans and up-and-comers, the 36-year-old Anderson explains that said cut-throat nature – combined with a unique cohesiveness – is what is buoying Team USA after a disappointing showing at the Tokyo Olympics, when the squad failed to get out of the group play stage.
“I just think there's a quiet confidence about this team that when we step in the gym, we like our chances against anybody in the world,” Anderson said.
This week, that "gym" is the Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo for the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier, where the top two finishers in the eight-team Pool B (one of three pools in action) will secure their spots for next summer’s Games.
“Part of our job is to bounce back in these big moments, because in order to accomplish something great, you have to risk losing,” Anderson said of the team’s lingering Olympic disappointment from 2021.
“[Those] massive disappointments, you [have to] manage expectations after the fact,” he added. “I naturally turn that into energy and motivation because I know what that feeling is like and it's really uncomfortable and it hurts and it's painful, it's sad, and sometimes overwhelming and frustrating. And I don't ever want to feel that way.”
Matt Anderson on Team USA: 'We can feed off each other'
Anderson made his Olympic debut at London 2012, and four years later at Rio 2016 helped lead the U.S. men to the bronze medal, its first podium finish since winning gold at Beijing 2008.
Anderson is joined by nine other Olympic veterans on Team USA this week in Tokyo, including seven that played for bronze in Rio.
“We have a lot of older dudes... I call them daddies,” joked middle blocker Taylor Averill with a smile ahead of the team’s play at the Qualifier.
It’s that mix of veteran talent with youthful energy that Anderson said he believes can be a dangerous recipe for whoever the Americans come up against across the net.
“All that experience, we can draw from that in the big moments in these big tournaments,” Anderson said of himself along with fellow 30-somethings David Smith and Max Holt.
“As we progress through this tournament and things become more stressful, we're able to not only showcase for the younger players [our experience], but also give them some energy when they're feeling a little negative,” he said. “Give them positivity to feed off of. And then they give it back to us [when] we're a little bit tired, just because of our age.”
“We can feed off each other in different ways.”
Anderson also said that the team has evolved the way it approaches the game versus what the U.S. men have traditionally been known for.
“I can honestly say the last couple of years we've made some really big strides in different aspects of our game that aren't traditionally associated with USA volleyball,” he said.
He continued: “You know, we're typically a big powerhouse team, serving hard, attacking, hard blocking. We've really changed some of our attitudes towards the way we play defense, in blocking defense and in our system. I think it's a testament to the level of play that our players can have as we come forward in trying to compete against the best teams in the world.”
ANAHEIM, CA - MAY 24: Matt Anderson of the USA men's indoor volleyball team poses for a portrait at the American Sports Center on May 24, 2016 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
On tattoos, family and going for gold at Paris 2024
Anderson’s left upper arm up to his shoulder is covered with a sprawling, black-ink tattoo: It’s a twisting tree, its roots extending down to his elbow. It’s symbolic of his family (he has many tattoos for them, in fact), whom he has spent much of the past 15 years apart from as he’s traveled with the U.S. team as well as playing in professional leagues abroad.
“I have a compass to help me always find my way back home,” Anderson explained, then showing off his tattoos for his wife (mama bear) and children (“my son is a wolf cub and my daughter is a fox”).
They are constant – permanent – reminders for Anderson of what he plays for, including as he readies for another international season, this time in Ankara, Turkey, later this year before he’ll rejoin the U.S. team (he hopes) ahead of Paris 2024.
“I don't have a plan for after that right now,” smiled Anderson, noting that it will be a busy few months leading up to what would be his fourth Olympic experience.
But in his mind, this week marks the first step on what he and his team would like to be not only a return to the Olympic podium – but a quest for gold, the ultimate prize in Paris.
“I'm extremely confident,” he said. “I'm confident because of what we've done in the past and how we've trained these last few months this summer, how we've competed, and how much I trust my teammates – and I believe they trust in me, too, to win. The pressure's on to make the right decision, to make the smart decision for our team and to put our team first [In Tokyo] we have to be 100 percent in for each other and for what our team needs to do, playing selfless volleyball for the team.”
Then he added: “We have a really good chance to make that big first step in our goal of winning a gold medal in the Olympics. We have to qualify first.”