COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, April 26. – Ten Olympians highlight the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 30-athlete roster for the 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL).
Volleyball Nations League is the world’s premier annual international indoor volleyball tournament. The top 16 teams in the world play four matches a week for three weeks of preliminary competition. The top eight teams at the end of the preliminaries will go to the Final Round on June 27-30 in Łódź, Poland.
Coaches will select 14 athletes from the long-list roster to compete at the United States’ VNL stops in Antalya, Türkiye (May 22-26), Ottawa, Canada (June 4-8) and Manila, Philippines (June 19-23).
The 10 Olympians on the roster are: opposites Matt Anderson and Kyle Ensing, setter Micah Christenson, libero Erik Shoji, outside hitters T.J. DeFalco, Thomas Jaeschke, Garrett Muagututia and Aaron Russell and middle blockers Max Holt and David Smith.
Besides those 10, others on the roster with previous VNL experience include opposites Jake Hanes and Kyle Russell, setters Micah Ma’a and Josh Tuaniga, liberos Mason Briggs and Kyle Dagostino, outside hitters Jacob Pasteur and Cody Kessel, and middle blockers Taylor Averill, Patrick Gasman and Jeff Jendryk.
Players who have not made a VNL travel roster are opposite Gabi Garcia, setters Quinn Isaacson and Nicholas Slight, outside hitters Ethan Champlin, Jordan Ewert and Brett Wildman, and middle blockers Matthew Knigge, Michael Marshman and Daniel Wetters.
The U.S. Men’s head coach is John Speraw, who was named head coach in 2013 and helped the team to the bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Speraw’s top assistants are former indoor and beach player Matt Fuerbringer, who has coached college and club teams, and Javier Weber, a three-time Olympian for Argentina who also coached the national team and continues to coach for professional club teams. Andy Read, who has coached numerous junior and senior teams for USA Volleyball, will also help with the team.
The U.S. Men are ranked No. 2 in the world and have won the silver medal at the last two VNLs (in 2022 and ’23). They are qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
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