Get to Know the Men’s Junior National Training Team

Erin Campbell August 04, 2010

Photo: FIVB

Josh Taylor attacking Algeria at the 2009 FIVB Boys' Youth World Championships.

Erin Campbell
Intern, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6864
E-Mail: erin.campbell@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (August 4, 2010) – The U.S. Men’s Junior National Training Team is currently participating in a national training camp at the GeREAT Facility in Geneva, Ohio. The camp began June 30 and will conclude Aug. 8.

The 19-player camp will determine the 12-man roster that will play in the 2010 NORCECA Men’s Junior (U-21) Continental Championship on Aug. 16-21 in Gatineau, Quebec. The 11 teams competing in the Championship are Canada, Cuba, USA, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras, Guatemala, Martinique and St. Lucia.

Not only will the event determine the new continental champion and give the winning team world ranking points, it will also determine the three bids for the 2011 FIVB World Junior Championships (site and date TBD).

California is well represented at the training camp with 12 of the 19 being players from the state. These players include Parker Kalmbach (Coto De Caza, Calif.), Brian Cook (Santa Cruz, Calif.), Daniel Stork (Topanga, Calif.), Dylan Davis (Corona Del Mar, Calif.), Eric Mochalski (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Evan Mottram (Leona Valley, Calif.), Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif.), Michael McMahon (Coto De Caza, Calif.), Scott Kevorkan (Westlake Village, Calif.), Tanner Clayton (San Diego, Calif.), Taylor Averill (San Jose, Calif.) and Taylor Sander (Norco, Calif.).

The other seven members are from states all over the country including three from Hawaii – Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawaii), Josh Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Taylor Crabb (Honolulu, Hawaii) – one from Florida – Shane Welch (Coral Springs, Fla.) – one from Wisconsin – Jeremy Djeno (New Berlin, Wis.) – one from Washington, Matt West (Seattle, Wash.) – and one from New York – Robart Page (Victor, N.Y.).

John Hawks is the U.S. Men’s Junior National Training Team head coach and serves as the assistant coach at Long Beach State University. Hawks played for Grossmont Junior College from 1995-97. He has been involved in the USAV pipeline since 2006 when he served as the Boys’ Select A2 Training Camp head coach and the assistant coach of the Men’s Junior A2 team. In 2007, he served as an assistant to both the Men’s Junior National Team and the World University Games Team. He also was the assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National Team in the 2007 World League where the team finished third.

Serving as an assistant coach is Colin McMillan, currently an assistant at Penn State. He played for Ohio State from 1997-2000. In 2001, he was part of the U.S. Men’s Team that won gold at the University Games and was captain of the U.S. Men’s Team for World League. Colin also played in Istanbul from 2000-2005. He also served as a graduate assistant at his alma matter in 2003 and has made his way through the club volleyball world.

Brad Keller is serving as the other assistant coach of the Men’s Junior National Team. He played two years for Loyola Marymount, 1999-2000. Keller just finished his fourth year as an assistant coach for the men’s volleyball program at USC. IN 2006, he was an assistant for the Men’s Junior National Team and the Boys’ Select A1 team. That same year, he served as the Boys’ Select A2 head coach.

Interesting Notes on Taylor Averill: Averill has signed to UC Irvine and will begin his career in the fall of 2010. He plans to study business. His nickname is “Sunshine”. In 2009, he was a member of the Boys’ Youth A2 Team.

Interesting Notes on Micah Christenson: Christenson’s father played basketball at the University of Hawaii-Hilo and his mother played volleyball at the same institution and won three national championships while being named All-American twice. Christenson is also a basketball player and helped lead his team to a state title in 2009 and a state runner-up in 2010. He was a member of the Boys’ Youth National Team that finished 10^th at the FIVB Youth World Championships in 2009. In 2008, he was selected as the High Performance A1 Red team caption at the HP Championships.

Interesting Notes on Tanner Clayton: Clayton has signed to USC and will join the team in the fall of 2010. He was a member of the team in 2009 that placed 10^th at the FIVB Youth World Championships.

Interesting Notes on Brian Cook: He has committed to play volleyball at Stanford University alongside his sister, Karissa, who plays for the women’s team. Karissa also was a member of the Women’s Junior National Training Team in 2009.

Interesting Notes on Taylor Crabb: Crabb has signed to Cal State Long Beach and will join the squad in the fall of 2010. His mother, Paula, was a gymnast at Southern Connecticut University and his brother, Trevor, is currently a member of the basketball team at the University of Puget Sound. His uncle, Tony, was an assistant with the U.S. Men’s team that won the gold medal in 1984. In 2010, Crabb was featured in Sports Illustrated as one of the Faces in the Crowd. He was a member of the Boy’s Youth National Team that finished 10^th at the FIVB Youth World Championships in 2009. Crabb was also voted as the MVP of the High Performance Tournament held in Phoenix, Ariz., in 2008, and was named the MVP of the High Performance Championships in 2007.

Interesting Notes on Dylan Davis: Davis is a member of the UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball team where he started in 20 matches in 2010, appeared in 28 and was second-best on the team with a 0.425 hitting percentage in his debut season. His father, Wayne, played football for the NY Jets and the San Diego Chargers.

Interesting Notes on Jeremy Dejno: Dejno has signed to play at UC Irvine and will join the squad in the fall of 2010. He was also a member of the 2009 Boys’ Youth National Team that took 10^th at the FIVB Youth World Championships.

Interesting Notes on Parker Kalmbach: Kalmbach has signed to Pepperdine and will begin playing with the squad in the fall of 2010. He also traveled to Portugal as one of the members competing in the 2010 FIVB Beach Youth (U19) World Championships and tied for ninth place. Kalmbach was a member of the Beach U19 National Team and finished 17^th at the Youth World Championships in 2009.

Interesting Notes on Scott Kevorken: Kevorken is a member of the UC Irvine men’s volleyball team. His father, Michael, played volleyball at Cal State-Northridge from 1968-1972. His sister, Katie, currently plays basketball at the University of Nevada-Reno. Kevorken was a member of the Boys’ Youth National Training Team in 2009 and helped the Boys’ Youth National Team to a gold medal at the NORCECA Championships in 2008.

Interesting Notes on Michael McMahon: McMahon has committed to Pepperdine and will join the team in the fall of 2010. His sister, Megan, is currently a member of the volleyball team at Elon University. When McMahon was in third grade, he was diagnosed with Arnold-Chiari malformation type I, a genentic brain disorder that causes abnormal brain formation and had to undergo decompression procedures.

Interesting Notes on Eric Mochalski: Mochalski has signed with Stanford University where he will join the team in fall of 2010. His father, David, won a National Championship in 1982 with the UCLA men’s volleyball team, and then pursued a professional career in Holland and Italy. David was also a member of the USAV Men’s Junior National Training Team from 1978-79. Mochalski’s grandfather, Mel, played both football and basketball at Marquette University. Mochalski has spent the last five summers working with the Special Olympics and other organizations including Friendship Circle and Challenger League.

Interesting Notes on Evan Mottram: Mottram is currently a member of the UC Santa Barbara men’s team. He redshirted his freshman season. He was a member of the 2009 Boys’ Youth National Team that finished 10^th at the FIVB Youth World Championships. He was also named Best Libero and Best Receiver at the 2008 NORCECA Boy's Youth World Championships where the squad took gold. Mottram has been in the High Performance Pipeline since he was 13.

Interesting Notes on Robart Page: Page has signed to play volleyball at UCLA and will begin his career in the fall of 2010. He plans to study chemistry. He is also a dual-citizen of Switzerland and the United States. In, 2008, he was a member of the Boys’ Youth National Training Team. That same year he was named Best Blocker at the High Performance Championships.

Interesting Notes on Taylor Sander: Sander has signed with BYU and will start his collegiate career in the fall of 2010. He was a member of the 2009 Boys’ Youth National Team that finished 10^th at the FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championships and was named USAV’s 2009 Indoor Team of the Year. He has also been a member of the HP pipeline since 2007.

Interesting Notes on Daniel Stork: Stork has signed to play at UC Irvine and will join the squad in the fall of 2010. His father, Jeff, played as a setter for the U.S. Men’s National Team and competed in the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. He won gold in 1988 and bronze in 1992. He is currently the head women’s coach at Cal-State Northridge, where Daniel’s brother, Matthew, plays for the men’s team.

Interesting Notes on Josh Taylor: Taylor was a member of the 2009 Boys’ Youth National Team that took 10^th at the FIVB Youth World Championships. Taylor attended the High Performance Camp in Long Beach where he was named Best Outside Hitter.

Interesting Notes on Maurice Torres: Torres is a member of the men’s volleyball team at Pepperdine where, as a freshman, he started all 26 matches and played in all 101 games. He was second on the team in kills per set with an average of 3.87. He was also named as the MSPF co-Player of the Week twice and voted to the MSPF All-Freshman team. His father, Michael, played basketball in the Deaflympics and his mother played volleyball in the Deaflympics. Torres was a member of both the 2009 Boys’ Youth National team that finished 10^th at the FIVB Youth World Championships and the 2008 team that won gold at the NORCECA Championships.

Interesting Notes on Shane Welch: Welch has signed with the University of Hawaii and will join the team in the fall of 2010. In 2008-09, he won a silver medal at the High Performance Championships. Welch was voted as ESPN Magazine’s #2 recruit in 2010.

Interesting Notes on Matt West: West’s mother, Raquel, played for the Peruvian National Volleyball Team in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. In 1995, she was recognized as one of the best sportswomen in Peru by the Peruvian Sports Foundation. He was named Space Needle VBF’s MVP and received Alki “King of the Beach” honors. He was also named Space Needles MVP in 2007, Most Inspirational in 2006 and was given the Coaches Award in 2008.

USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National Training Team:

No Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, High School/Grad. Year)

1 Taylor Averill (S, 6-6, San Jose, Calif., Braham/2010)
2 Micah Christenson (S, 6-5,Honolulu, Hawaii, Kamehameha Kapalama/2011)
3 Tanner Clayton (MB, 6-10, San Diego, Calif., Rancho Bernardo/2010)
4 Brian Cook (OH, 6-6, Santa Cruz, Calif., Soquel/2010)
5 Taylor Crabb (OH, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Punahou/2010)
6 Dylan Davis (MB, 6-9, Newport Beach, Calif., Corona Del Mar/2009)
7 Jeremy Dejno (OH, 6-4, New Berlin, Wis., New Berlin Eisenhower/2010)
8 Parker Kalmbach (OH, 6-7, Coto De Caza, Calif., Tesoro/2010)
9 Scott Kevorken (MB, 6-9, Westlake Village, Calif., Westlake/2009)
10 Michael McMahon (L, 5-9, Coto De Caza, Calif., Santa Margarita Catholic/2010)
11 Eric Mochalski (OPP, 6-6, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mira Costa/2010)
12 Evan Mottram (L, 6-4, Leona Valley, Calif., Quartz Hill/2009)
13 Matt West (S, 6-5.5, Seattle, Wash., Shorewood/2011)
14 Robart Page (OH, 7-0, Victor, N.Y., Victor/2010)
15 Taylor Sander (OH, 6-4, Norco, Calif., Norco/2010)
16 Daniel Stork (S, 6-3, Topanga, Calif., Crespi/2010)
17 Josh Taylor (OH, 6-7, Honolulu, Hawaii, Punahou/2011)
18 Maurice Torres (OPP, 6-7, Riverside, Calif., Lutheran/2009)
19 Shane Welch (MB, 6-9, Coral Springs, Fla., Stoneman Douglas/2010