UCLA Men's Volleyball: Team USA, Featuring 3 Trojans, Falls To Poland In VNL Gold Medal Game

They had quite the run!

Not everybody can handle the pressure and responsibilities that come with representing one's country for their own respective sports. Even when they aren't playing at the professional levels just yet, performing in front of international crowds is far different than in front of rival universities.

And certain countries are competing to make history and bring home hardware that they never have before. We most recently saw Poland take down the United States in the Volleyball Nations League and win their first VLN title in their nation's history.

Details of the victory were shared by Volleyball World.

"One of the most accomplished national teams in international men’s volleyball, Poland, experienced a unique moment on Sunday, when they got to celebrate their first Volleyball Nations League (VNL) title in front of over 11,000 home fans in Gdansk. The Europeans turned the electric atmosphere of the Ergo Arena into one of absolute joy with a 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-18, 25-18) victory over the United States in the gold medal match of the fifth edition of the tournament that made the crowd erupt in celebration. Poland’s Pawel Zatorski became the first libero in the history of the competition to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP)."

(Via Volleyball World)

It's important to note that a number of members of UCLA's rivals USC Trojans men's volleyball team, including Andrew Rowan and Zach Rama, were on this Team USA squad and even though they couldn't close things off, they still made an amazing run.

Losses on a big stage allow players to grow and come back with a chip on their shoulder so we look forward to that!