USA Volleyball Announces Men's Junior National Team

B.J. Hoeptner Evans August 09, 2010

Photo: FIVB

Jeremy Dejno passes that ball in front of Taylor Sander at the 2009 FIVB Boys' Youth World Championship.

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 9, 2010) – USA Volleyball has announced the 12 players who will comprise the 2010 U.S. Men’s Junior National Team that will compete at the NORCECA Men’s Junior (under-21) Continental Championship on Aug. 16-21 in Gatineau, Quebec.

The team of 12 was chosen from among 19 members of the U.S. Men’s Junior National Training Team, which has been training at the Geneva area Recreational, Educational, Athletic Trust (GaREAT) in Geneva, Ohio. The 12-man team will continue to stay there until it leaves for Canada on Aug. 14.

The top two teams at NORCECA will qualify for the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship at a date and site to be determined.

Ten players on the team have played on the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team.

Most recently, setters Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Matt West (Seattle, Wash.) competed for the 2010 Boys’ Youth National Team that finished second to Cuba at the NORCECA Boys’ Youth Championship on April 6-11 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Christenson also played on the 2009 Boys’ Youth Team that finished 10th at the FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship in Italy. At that tournament, he became the youngest starting setter to ever compete for the United States on a national team.

West was a late addition to the U.S. Men’s Junior National Training Team after Connor Olbright (Orange, Calif.) was injured.

Dylan Davis (Corona del Mar, Calif.), Evan Mottram (Leona Valley, Calif.), Taylor Sander (Norco, Calif.) and Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif.) all played with the Boys’ Youth National Team in 2008 and 2009. The 2008 Boys’ Youth National Team won the NORCECA Boys’ Youth Championship in Miami.

Taylor Crabb (Honolulu, Hawaii), Jeremy Dejno (New Berlin, Wis.) and Joshua Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii) all played with the 2009 Boys’ Youth National Team. Scott Kevorken (Westlake Village, Calif.) was a member of the 2008 Boys’ Youth National Team.

Other players selected to the team are Brian Cook (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Eric Mochalski (Manhattan Beach, Calif.).

John Hawks (Huntington Beach, Calif.), an assistant coach with the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team, will serve as the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team head coach. He will be assisted by Brad Keller, an assistant with USC’s men’s team, and Colin McMillan, an assistant coach with Penn State’s men’s team.

Four of the players graduated in 2009 and are with college teams: Davis and Mottram with UC Santa Barbara; Kevorken with UC Irvine and Torres with Pepperdine. The rest graduated this year or will graduate in 2011.

USA Volleyball Men’s Junior National Team:
No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, High School/Grad. Year, Club, Region)
2 Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Kamehameha Kapalama/2011, Outrigger Canoe Club, Aloha)
4 Brian Cook (OH, 6-6, Santa Cruz, Calif., Soquel/2010, Bay to Bay, Northern California)
5 Taylor Crabb (OH, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Punahou/2010, Outrigger Canoe Club, Aloha)
6 Dylan Davis (MB, 6-9, Newport Beach, Calif., Corona Del Mar/2009, UC Santa Barbara, Southern California)
7 Jeremy Dejno (OH, 6-4, New Berlin, Wis., New Berlin Eisenhower/2010, West Allis Lightning, Badger)
9 Scott Kevorken (MB, 6-9, Westlake Village, Calif., Westlake/2009, UC Irvine, Southern California)
11 Eric Mochalski (OPP, 6-6, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mira Costa/2010, SCVC, Southern California)
12 Evan Mottram (L, 6-4, Leona Valley, Calif., Quartz Hill/2009, UC Santa Barbara, Southern California)
13 Matt West (S, 6-5.5, Seattle, Wash., Shorewood/2011, Space Needle VF, Puget Sound)
15 Taylor Sander (OH, 6-4, Norco, Calif., Norco/2010, Orange Coast VC, Southern California)
17 Josh Taylor (OH, 6-7, Honolulu, Hawaii, Punahou/2011, Kuikahi VC, Aloha)
18 Maurice Torres (OPP, 6-7, Riverside, Calif., Lutheran/2009, Pepperdine, Southern California)

Head Coach: John Hawks (Long Beach State University)
Assistant Coaches: Colin McMillan (Penn State University) and Brad Keller (USC)