U.S. Men's national team handles Japan at Long Beach - Articles

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Thomas Jaeschke and Reid Priddy, both bouncing back from injuries, made strong showings on Wednesday as the U.S. National Team beat Japan, 25-18, 25-21, 25-21 in the USAV Cup at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach. The U.S. men split the two-match friendly series and will return to training until June 2, when they will travel to Cuba for friendly matches on June 4 and 6. American players used the matches to work their way back from their overseas club teams and also to start making their cases for a spot on the roster for the 2016 Olympic Games. Priddy, a three-time Olympian and 2008 gold medalist, ruptured his ACL during a World League match early in the 2014 season. He returned to play in an intra-squad scrimmage at the start of 2015, only to injure himself again. He did a stint at libero for the World League squad early in 2015 before focusing full time on rehabilitation. Priddy played for an Italian professional team at the start of 2016 before returning to the U.S. He finished Wednesday’s match with nine points on nine kills and was also credited with 16 receptions, 69 percent positive. “I feel like the last two years, for me personally, have been working toward this moment,” Priddy said. “I don’t have any more things I have to do. I just get to work hard on this team with these guys. It’s really exciting.” Jaeschke, the former Loyola NCAA champion who left school a year early to turn...

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