Scenes from the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men's World CupSeptember 24, 2015

USA wins its second title. United States won their first World Cup in 1985. Karch Kiraly, the head coach of the United States women's national volleyball team, was a member of that group. Thirty years is an eternity. Head coach John Speraw admitted there was no harder tournament to win. The World Cup had been a thorn on the American side. (They were third in 1991. They finished fourth in four occasions.) They needed four sets to dispatch Argentina on their final match. The Americans have to go through a qualifier in 2012, two months before the start of the London Games. They can rest a little next year after punching their ticket to Rio.

Italy is the other team to qualify to Rio. Italian head coach Gian Lorenzo Blengini knew what was at stake when Italy would play Poland. The reigning world champion was the only undefeated team, while the Italians have one loss. The winner would go to Rio. Poland beat Italy in the 2014 worlds, but Stephane Antiga's charges faced a different squad. They have trouble with Osmany Juantorena and Ivan Zaytsev. They were let down by their blocking. The Polish squad will have another chance at the European qualifier in Berlin next January.

A missed opportunity for Iran. The Iranian team is a fixture at the World League, finishing third last year. Fans were surprised at their 4-7 win-loss record. "We played a little better, but nothing special," Iranian head coach Slobodan Kovac said after their three-set win over Egypt on the last day. They must come back to Japan next May for the world qualifying tournament, where the best Asian team (of the tournament) will be the Asian Qualifiers winner.

Things are not looking good for Russia. The World Cup might have been the best chance for the Russian squad to qualify for the Olympics. They lost to Poland (3-1), Italy (3-0), and USA (3-0). It took Russia five sets to prevail over Japan, the host team. The reigning Olympic champion will defend their European title this October. And then the European qualifier, where they must compete against Bulgaria, Poland, and Serbia. If they don't win it, then they must play another qualifier in Japan. (Only the second and third-placed teams can participate in that event.) It will be a lot of matches for this on-and-off team.

Australia likes its chances next year. The Australian men's national volleyball team have four wins and seven losses, but they felt like winners during the third round. "We learned some lessons and the guys improved a lot and to finish with three victories in a row is something we couldn't expect after our tough beginning," Australian head coach Roberto Santilli said. The qualifying tournament in Japan will determine the three world qualifiers and one intercontinental qualifier. Australia might be one of the four teams to go to Rio.

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