TJ DeFalco on USA men’s volleyball: “We’ve got to have a little bit of dog in us”

The USA men’s volleyball team’s go-to offensive weapon is outside hitter TJ DeFalco, the 6-foot-5 product of Long Beach State who just continues to get better and better.

DeFalco, now 27, was a key cog for the USA team in the Tokyo Olympics, and has played professionally in Italy and Poland and next year will play for JTEKT Stings in Japan.

We talked about how things have gone so far this summer and looked ahead to the Paris Olympics that begin in less than three weeks. The USA men open play July 27 against Argentina, face Germany on July 30, and then complete pool play on August 2 against Japan.

The USA men need to bounce back in Paris after having a tough go of it in Volleyball Nations League. DeFalco and his Olympics teammates did not play in the first round and ultimately the squad finished 5-7 and did not qualify for the eight-team finals.

DeFalco was one of the USA’s VNL  bright spots, however. DeFalco played 23 sets in six matches and averaged 16 kills per match, hit .370, and eight aces and seven solo blocks.

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