How the sport works
The first team to score twenty five points in three sets wins the match. This was still a preliminary round so there were no medals awarded.
I was eager for the Australia-Poland match up. In general, I love the Aussies and am happy to cheer for them, but I'm an even bigger fan of Poland (and their surprisingly peppy national anthem, named “Poland is not yet lost” but I like to call “Three cheers for Poland”). Since I know nothing about what countries are any good at men's volleyball, I was stunned and delighted to learn that Poland was considered a medal favorite and to see that the overwhelming majority of fans were there to support Poland. It was like being in Little Krakow! The crowd was decked out in red and white as they cheered, sang, clapped, and waved their flags.
It was an exciting game and I loved to see the players from both teams generally disregarded their own safety and went for the ball at all costs, even if it meant hurling oneself onto the laptops on the officials' desk or slamming into one of the side barriers at full speed.
In the end, the Aussies pulled off a huge upset, winning 3-1. The Aussies celebrated as if they had just won a medal. If I remember correctly, this win meant there was a possibility of advancing to the quarter finals, depending on the results of the rest of the day's matches. I was fine with the result because it had been a great game and I am a fan of Australia but the Polish fans were pretty shocked. I think Volley Roo was Australia's secret weapon.
Most of the Polish fans stayed to cheer for Serbia as they took on medal favorites Russia. By the end of the morning, the Polish fans were 0 for 2 as Russia clearly dominated Serbia, winning 3-0.
As my brother and I left our seats and looked for the venue's exit, he said something about the Australian volleyball team. Whatever he said didn't register with me because the tallest men on the planet all seemed to be gathering in the lobby. Seriously, they were giants. Then it dawned on me–they were the Australian volleyball team! They greeting fans and having their pictures taken, so I wasn't going to miss out. Did I mention they were really tall??
