Penn State Trio Wins Volleyball Bronze at Paris Olympics

Matt Anderson, Maxwell Holt and Aaron Russell help Team USA men's volleyball to first Olympic medal since 2016.

A general view of the Olympic rings with the Eiffel Tower in the background during the 2024 Paris Olympics. / Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State's Matt Anderson just completed his fourth Olympics run and won his second bronze medal. Afterward, the 16-year member of the U.S. men's volleyball team told NBC Sports that he isn't done yet. Perhaps Anderson can return in 2028 to help lead Team USA to gold in Los Angeles.

Anderson was among three former Nittany Lions who won bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Team USA reset reset after a disappointing semifinal loss to Poland to sweep Italy 25-23, 30-28 and 26-24 for its third Olympic bronze medal and first since 2016. Anderson, Maxwell Holt and Aaron Russell all were part of that team, and all three played key roles for Team USA in Paris.

Russell, an outside hitter, led Team USA with 15 points against Italy, including 11 kills and an ace. He also made three blocks in another superb performance of these Olympics. Anderson made eight kills and six digs, while Holt led Team USA with four blocks.

“They’ve had an exceptional Olympic Games,” Team USA coach John Speraw said of the team, according to USA Volleyball. "Not just any Olympic Games, but especially in context of their past experience, which only added to the pressure of this opportunity. They handled that with total poise. I think that says a lot about their expertise and experience and leadership, their maturity. To have the experience they had 48 hours ago, which was so devastating, because this team had ambitions and knew they were playing good enough volleyball to play the gold medal match. To have it go the way it did, it was just really, really hard.

"We’ll probably think about that match [vs. Poland] the rest of our lives. But to be able to win today and finish on a winning note, which is what this team deserves, and that they can feel the success together on the court one last time.… I think it’s just a really big moment for me.”

On Thursday, Team USA led Poland 2-1 in the best-of-five match and built a 20-18 advantage late in the fourth set. But Poland went on a 7-3 run to force a fifth set. Poland won that set 15-13 to advance to the gold-medal final.

Anderson played a prolific semifinal match, leading with 23 kills and an ace. Russell scored 20 points, making 18 kills. The duo also combined for 14 digs.

Anderson has been a Team USA stalwart since 2008, when he left Penn State after his junior season to begin a professional career. The 6-10 outside hitter helped Penn State to the NCAA title that year. Since then, he has led the U.S. men's team in scoring annually since 2011.

Holt is a three-time Olympian and 2016 bronze medalist. A 15-year veteran of international volleyball, Holt was a two-time, first-team All-American at Penn State and joined Anderson on the 2008 national-championship team. Holt has played professionally in China, Russia and Italy.

An alternate in 2020, Russell returned to the U.S. roster this year for his second Olympics. The 6-9 outside hitter, who was part of the 2016 bronze-medal team in Rio, was a two-time first-team All-American at Penn State. He was named to the NCAA all-tournament team in 2015 and also was a three-time EIVA player of the year.

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