Let down against a clearly inferior foe? That's sure-fire fodder for disaster in nearly every athletic endeavor, particularly at the Olympic level, where mind-blowing upsets abound every four (or two, or in this case, five) years.
The U.S. men's volleyball team on Wednesday played as though that very message had been seared into their skulls just before they took the court.
With Tunisia, the lowest-ranked men's team in the Tokyo Games tournament, across the net, the Americans rolled, 25-14, 23-25, 25-14, 25-23 in Pool B action.
Particularly dominant up from, the U.S. got big performances from TJ DeFalco, Taylor Sander, Matt Anderson and Max Holt while improving to 2-1 in the tourney.
Tunisia fell to 0-3.