USA will be defending the World League title in 2015
Colorado Springs, USA, February 7, 2015 – David Smith may have helped the USA to the 2014 FIVB World League, but he hopes to continue to help his team build on their success in the coming year.
John Speraw’s side defeated Brazil in the final, but were unable to make it past the quarterfinals at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship later in the year. This year they take on Olympic champions Russia, world champions Poland and the ever-improving Iran in their opening World League pool.
“I think it was a great summer of growth for us as a team,” Smith said. “We had some new guys in the gym and we had a couple injuries that required some other guys to step up and prove themselves and they did.
“We laid a good foundation for the next couple summers and we showed that we are capable of playing at a high level so that is exciting. But just the same, we still have lots to work on as we head into this summer and continue our path to toward Rio.”
The 29-year-old Smith has been based in France since 2012 where he plays for Tours. He helped them to the league title for the past two seasons, but in the current campaign the defending champions are struggling.
Smith plays alongside compatriot and middle blocker Dan McDonnell for Tours, while team USA libero Dustin Watten plays for the Corsican side Ajaccio.
“It's been a rough start for us in Tours this season,” Smith said. “We had a couple of freak injuries to key players and it hurt us in how we developed as a team and in points. Now we are all back and trying to find a way to play as a unit.
“Unfortunately we are out of Champions League but we are still in contention for the French Cup and the Championship. The French League is pretty solid from top to bottom so we have our work cut out for us but we are moving in the right direction so hopefully we can finish the season strong.”