PARIS - After a heart-breaking five-set loss in the semifinals, the United States men's volleyball team, featuring Stanford alum Erik Shoji (’12) and assistant coach Matt Fuerbringer ('97), swept Italy (25-23, 30-18, 26-24) to win the bronze medal in Paris.
“It means everything,” said Shoji following the match. “We wanted gold and to be in that final tomorrow, but bronze is important. To be able to come back after some adversity and show some character is huge.
“It was really hard to come back after that game against Poland - physically, mentally, emotionally. I don't even know if I was ready until right when the first point started. I think we all just wanted to battle as hard as we can. And this group has been together a long time. So we wanted to finish on a high and that's what we did. It was a little stressful, but we got it done.”
Shoji, who now boasts two Olympic bronze medals, joins Scott Fortune (1988 & 1992) as the only two-time Olympic medalists in program history. It marks the sixth time the U.S. has medaled in men's volleyball, winning gold in 1984, 1988 and 2008, and bronze in 1992 and 2016.
“I don't know if it is going to sink in,” added Shoji, who led all players with 12 digs. “It's pretty cool to have two medals, especially in men's volleyball. It is such a deep competition. We're really proud of ourselves. We earned this.”
Shoji, who helped the Cardinal win its second national title in 2010, is just the second three-time Olympian in program history. He became the first four-time AVCA First Team All-American in the history of the honors in 2012.
Fuerbringer once again served as an assistant coach on USA head coach John Speraw's staff. He was a four-time All-American for Stanford from 1994-97, capping his career by guiding the Cardinal to the program's first national title.
A school-record 59 Stanford-affiliated athletes qualified to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The Cardinal’s 59 Olympians (20 male, 39 female) hail from 14 nations and feature representation across 20 varsity sports. For the third consecutive edition of the Games, Stanford boasts more Team USA selections (37) than any other school.