THERE'S no place like home, but fan favorite setter-captain Micah Christenson and Team USA would beg to differ even after just three days into their first-ever trip to the Philippines for the 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL).
Since the VNL first reached local shores in 2022, there has been fervent demand from Filipino fans to have the Americans’ prestige and star power in the country — one that even members of Team USA themselves have felt through social media.
Two years later and two games in, it’s safe to say that the rousing welcome from Filipino fans hasn't disappointed.
READ: Team USA gives Filipino fans reason to cheer with first VNL Manila win
It has even come to a point that the Philippine crowd feels more like home as back in the US, American fans would be outnumbered more often than not.
“We play in certain areas where other teams’ fans fill the gym a little bit more. So, this feels like a pretty true home game for us and we’re very grateful for that,” the USA captain said.
“I can’t say enough about the support. It’s something that I’ve talked about it before, but we felt it a lot (given how we’ve) never even been here in the Philippines. Now we’re finally here and we get to feel it in the stadium. It’s something really, really special and we can’t thank the fans enough for being here and supporting us.”
Proving his point exactly, just as Christenson was delving further into what has been an awe-inspiring level of support for Team USA, a Filipino fan outside the VNL interview area screamed the setter’s name.
“We knew we were gonna get a lot of support, or at least thought that we were…
Then came a loud “Micah!” cheer.
“…just like that! We feel it (the support) all over social media. To finally be here and experience it was something really special,” he said.
Team USA’s dagger of a defeat
With the crowd behind them last Wednesday, USA’s five-set loss to Iran was nothing short of a shocker and an upset of epic proportions.
Such a seismic stunner also came after the cellar-dwelling Asian side was previously winless in their last eight prelims matches.
From a late dugout pep talk to a steady shift in mindset, however, Christenson was glad to share how the Americans took their latest loss on the chin and regrouped straight away to a five-set win over Brazil less than 24 hours later.
“We stayed in the locker room last night and we talked for a little while. I think we had to figure some things out but at the same time, we trust in our process," he said.
Christenson added: “We were talking about just trying to be a little bit better yesterday. That’s what we talked about before the game and I think we did that.”
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