The U.S. Olympic men’s indoor volleyball team is headlined by Reid Priddy, who at 38 will become the oldest U.S. Olympic men’s indoor player ever, according to sports-reference.com.
Priddy joined the retired Lloy Ball as the only U.S. men’s indoor volleyball players to make four Olympic teams.
“It would be the most significant of them all because of the mountains that had to be climbed,” Priddy said recently, according to Flovolleyball.
Priddy came back from suffering a torn ACL during a match in June 2014, his right knee buckling on a landing from a kill attempt. Priddy fell to the court and writhed, causing a mid-point play stoppage (video here). He got injured again in 2015 and didn’t return in full to the national team until this spring.
Priddy will be joined in Rio by a squad including four-time reigning U.S. Player of the Year Matt Anderson, who goes to his second Olympics after being the youngest member of the London 2012 team that lost in the quarterfinals.
Plus 2014 and 2015 collegiate Players of the Year Taylor Sander and Thomas Jaeschke. Jaeschke, 22, is the youngest U.S. Olympic men’s indoor player since 2000.
Priddy and David Lee are the only returning members from the 2008 Beijing Olympic team that took gold.
The U.S. men were ranked No. 5 in the world as of last October. They were seventh at the 2014 World Championship, took bronze in the 2015 World League and won the 2015 World Cup against a field that did not include world No. 1 Brazil.
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Follow @nzaccardi2016 U.S. Olympic men’s volleyball team
Matt Anderson — 2012
Micah Christenson
Max Holt
Tom Jaeschke
David Lee — 2008, 2012
Reid Priddy — 2004, 2008, 2012
Aaron Russell
Taylor Sander
Erik Shoji
Kawika Shoji
David Smith — 2012
Murphy Troy
