Boys U19 Team Taking Experience to 2023 Worlds

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 30, 2023) – The 12 players USA Volleyball has chosen to compete at the FIVB Boys U19 World Championship will bring international experience to the event in San Juan, Argentina.

Twelve players were selected from a roster of 20 that trained at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center on July 23-29. The team will leave Sunday for the World Championship on August 2-11 in Argentina.

Ten players return from the 2023 U19 Pan Am Cup roster that won gold in Guatemala City: outside hitters Sterling Foley, Sean Kelly, Victor Loiola and Sebastiano Sani, middle blockers Josh Aruya, opposites Finn Kearney and Marek Turner, setters Tread Rosenthal and Trent Taliaferro, and libero Kellen Larson.

Kelly, Rosenthal, Larson and Aruya all earned individual awards at the tournament and Rosenthal was named MVP.

Eight players return from the 2022 Boys U19 Team that won the Pan Am Cup for the first time and qualified for the 2023 World Championship: middle blockers Kaumana Carreira and Tristan Whitfield along with Rosenthal, Foley, Kearney, Kelly, Larson and Loiola.

Kelly, Kearney, Larson and Rosenthal all received individual honors at the 2022 tournament and Kelly was named MVP.

“Our strength would be our culture, our inclusion and how we play together and play for the guy next to us,” Head Coach Charlie Sullivan. “I think that’s a cultural thing that has gone through our program, top to bottom.”

Team Captain Kelly was excited for the chance to compete internationally.

“We’re looking forward to competing and getting better as a team,” he said. “We’ve only had a few days to play together, so we’re looking forward to getting better and seeing all the new competition.”

Twenty teams are set to compete. The U.S. will have pool play matches against Costa Rica, Egypt, Argentina and Serbia.

The U.S. Boys U19 Team has never medaled at the world championship. Its best finish was 10^th place in 2009.

Boys U19 Roster for the World Championship

Name (Position, height, birth year, hometown, school, USAV Region)
1 Kellen Larson (L, 5-10, 2005, Irvine, Calif., Woodbridge High School, Southern California)
5 Marek Turner (Opp, 6-5, 2006, Long Beach, Calif., Woodrow Wilson High School, Southern California)
6 Victor Loiola (OH, 6-4, 2005, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mira Costa High School, Southern California)
7 Trent Taliaferro (S, 6-5, 2005, San Clemente, Calif., JSerra Catholic High School, Southern California)
11 Finn Kearney (OPP, 6-5, 2006, Phoenix, Ariz., Sandra Day O’Connor High School, Arizona)
12 Sterling Foley (OH, 6-6, 2005, Newport Beach, Calif., Corona del Mar High School, Southern California)
13 Sean Kelly (OH, 6-6, 2005, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Loyola High School, Southern California)
14 Sebastiano Sani (OH, 6-8, 2005, Bethesda, Md., Walter Johnson High School, Chesapeake)
15 Josh Aruya (MB, 6-7, 2005, Mission Viejo, Calif., Mission Viejo High School, Southern California)
16 Tread Rosenthal  (S, 6-7, 2006, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mira Costa High School, Southern California)
17 Tristan Whitfield (MB, 6-7, 2005, Virginia Beach, Va., Cape Henry Collegiate, Old Dominion)
19 Kaumana Carreira (MB, 6-8, 2005, Mission Viejo, Calif., Tesoro High School, Southern California)

Head Coach: Charlie Sullivan (Head Coach, Springfield College)
Assistant Coach: Lindsay Brown (Assistant Coach, Loyola of Chicago)
Assistant Coach: Jonah Carson
Performance Analyst: Evan Metzger (Performance Analyst, Springfield College)
Athletic Trainer: Rachel Menze (CSUN)
Team Leader: Sam Shweisky (Head Coach, Princeton)

Alternates

2 Roan Alviar (L, 5-11, 2006, Hayward, Calif., Bishop O’Dowd High School, Northern California)
3 Cole Hartke (OH , 6-10, 2006, Barrington, Ill., Barrington High School, Great Lakes)
4 Caleb Sapp (Opp, 6-8, 2006, Upland, Calif., Claremont High School, Southern California)
8 Ryan Gant (S, 6-5, 2006, Newport Beach, Calif., Corona del Mar High School, Southern California)
9 Jack Mally (OH, 6-6, 2005, Geneva, Ill., Geneva High School, Great Lakes)
10 Isaiah Preuitt (MB, 6-8, 2005, Portland, Ore., Central Catholic High School, Columbia Empire)
18 Gaige Gabriel (MB, 6-8, 2005, Birdsboro, Pa., Exeter Township High School, Keystone)
20 Grant Lamoureux (OH, 6-9, 2007, Clemmons, N.C., West Forsyth High School, Carolina)

U.S. Schedule for the 2023 FIVB Boys U19 World Championship
Matches will be shown on the Volleyball World YouTube channel
All times PDT

Aug. 3 at 2 p.m. USA vs Costa Rica
Aug. 4 at 5 p.m. USA vs Egypt
Aug. 5 at 5 p.m. USA vs Argentina
Aug. 6 at 2 p.m. USA vs Serbia
Aug. 8 Round of 16 and classification playoffs
Aug. 9 Quarterfinals, Round of 16, classification playoffs and
Aug. 10 Semifinals and classification playoffs
Aug. 11 Finals and classification matches