Ellicott City Volleyball Player Wins Bronze Medal at 2016 Olympics

An Ellicott City volleyball player medaled at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.

Aaron Russell and the rest of the men's volleyball players from Team USA earned the bronze Sunday, beating defending champion Russia, 3-2.

"Bronze ain't bad for my first Olympics," Russell said afterward on Instagram. "So happy to be a part of this group. Congratulations to Brazil on gold!"

Team USA men's volleyball had been ranked fifth going into the Olympics. At the end of the games, Brazil won gold, Italy took silver and the U.S. claimed bronze.

Russell went to Centennial High School in Ellicott City. He played goalie for the boy's soccer team at Centennial but wanted to play volleyball, and since Howard County did not offer boys that opportunity, he transferred to Montgomery County, The Washington Post reported.

The Ellicott City native graduated in 2015 from Penn State, which reported he and two teammates were the first Nittany Lions men's volleyball players to win Olympic medals.

Photo Credit: Team USA via Flickr.