U.S. defeats Serbia at World Championships

The U.S. men’s national volleyball team, with two players from Hawaii in the starting lineup, rebounded from a first-set loss to defeat Serbia in Thursday’s pool-play match at the FIVB World Championships in Lodz, Poland.

Setter Micah Christenson (Kamehameha) had 37 assists, two blocks, a kill and an ace, while libero Erik Shoji (Punahou) finished with nine digs in the 23-25, 31-29, 25-17, 25-21 victory at Atlas Arena.

The U.S. (3-1) moved ahead of Serbia into fourth place in Pool E behind France (4-1), Poland (4-1) and Iran (4-1). The top three teams from the pool will advance to the third round.

The Americans play Australia (0-5) Saturday and Argentina (1-4) Sunday.
Also on the U.S. team are setter Kawika Shoji (‘Iolani) and libero Alfee Reft (Hawaii).