Japanese-American libero Erik Shoji is still hung over from the warm Filipino reception that Team USA experienced in their first visit to the Philippines for the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) men’s tournament Manila leg.

The USA and Japan fittingly capped the Philippines’ successful three-year hosting gig of the prestigious volleyball competition.

On Sunday night, June 23, the Americans suffered a sweeping loss at the hands of the Japanese side, 20-25, 23-25, 19-25, to finish with a lowly 5-7 slate in 12th place of the standings.

As far as recent records goes, it was a far cry from team USA's usual finish as it had made it past the elimination round for six straight seasons before heavily struggling to fight its way through the field this year.

With Japanese superstar trio Yuki Ishikawa, Ran Takahashi and Yuji Nishida all becoming crowd darlings as soon as their team landed on local shores in 2022, team USA’s addition to the mix has been a welcome surprise after being equally cheered on by the Filipino fans –– splitting the crowd for the first time in three years.

“We were wondering what it was gonna feel like today and at the start of the match, it was like fifty-fifty, so that felt really good. They just wanted good volleyball and good people and I think both teams had fun [and it became] exciting, and with cool guys that combined with good volleyball, the fans were excited. I wish we could have put on more of a show, maybe five sets, but that’s the way it goes,” Shoji told two members of the press in a separate chat.

Wanting to experience it twice, the 34-year-old libero is also hoping that the Paris crowd turnout will be just as exciting as the one he witnessed in the Philippines.

“The atmosphere was really intense. We’re hoping for a great crowd in Paris like the one here in Manila. But you learn from every experience good or bad, and you move forward,” he said.

Despite an early end to their campaign, team USA is also heading to Poland after getting some important couple of days’ rest and playing in friendly matches as part of their extended preparations for the Paris Games.

“The last couple of weeks we had to learn how to play together a little bit more [since] we are a bit more individual. I think we made some steps, it was a strange game for everyone. But we are looking forward to moving on and getting better the next couple of weeks,” he said.