Matt Anderson
Opposite/Outside Hitter, 6-10
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 4, 2024) –The U.S. Men’s National Team swept Argentina 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 26-24) to open week two of Volleyball Nations League preliminary play on Tuesday in Ottawa, Canada.
This was the first competition of the year for the roster that will represent the United States at the Paris Olympic Games this summer. The squad spent week one recovering from a long professional season overseas and training together in Anaheim, California.
“We took the first week off to give some of the guys that were finishing late in their pro seasons some rest,” opposite Matt Anderson told Volleyball World. “This is a really important summer and a long one. We expected some hiccups along the way out there. All we’re going to do now is go back, watch video, see our gameplay and how we performed against that. Then make the adjustments that we can.”
The U.S. Men (2-3) will play Italy (4-0) on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. PT. Italy will play its first match of week two on Wednesday against France.
The outside hitters led all U.S. scorers with 13 points each. Aaron Russell, who celebrated his 31st birthday today, had 12 kills and one block. TJ DeFalco had 10 kills, two blocks and one ace. Russell was also credited with eight digs, DeFalco had four.
Anderson followed with 12 points on 10 kills and two blocks. Middle blocker Max Holt added nine points on seven kills and two blocks.
The U.S. Men and Argentina swapped leads several times throughout the first set. The momentum seemed to shift to the U.S. side after a scrappy rally that involved DeFalco digging the ball with his chest just high enough for setter Micah Ma’a, playing as a serving sub, to make a diving save. The U.S. Men won the point on an Argentina error and kept the lead to finish the set.
After running away with the second set, the U.S. Men found themselves in another back and forth battle with Argentina. Middle blocker Taylor Averill started the third set and provided some key points to help lead the U.S. to their second victory in a row at VNL.
Anderson gave credit to the squad that played week one in Türkiye.
“The group that went on that first week, they got us a big win, and we need a bunch more to qualify for the finals. So that’s our focus now.”
Averill had four points on four kills. Middle blocker Jeff Jendryk had three points on three kills.
Setter Micah Christenson got on the score sheet with a block. He set the team to a .422 hitting efficiency.
Libero Erik Shoji was credited with seven digs and eight successful receptions.
Outside hitter Garrett Muagututia saw action as a serving substitute.
U.S. Men’s National Team Roster
for 2024 Volleyball Nations League – Week 2
No. Player (Position, Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1 Matt Anderson (Opp, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State, Western Empire)
2 Aaron Russell (OH, 6-9, Ellicott City, Md., Penn State, Chesapeake)
4 Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)
5 Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
8 T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
10 Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Florida, Stanford Univ., Florida)
11 Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Southern California, Aloha)
12 Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State, Ohio Valley)
14 Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)
17 Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)
18 Garrett Muagututia (OH, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
19 Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)
20 David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., Univ. of California Irvine, Southern California)
22 Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford Univ., Aloha)
Head Coach: John Speraw
Assistant Coaches: Matt Fuerbringer
Second Assistants: Javier Weber and Erik Sullivan
Performance Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot
Team Manager: David Dantes
Sports Psychologists: Andrea Becker, Peter Naschak
Doctors: Andrew Gregory
U.S. Men’s Schedule for 2024 VNL
All times PDT
Matches will be shown live and on-demand on VolleyballWorld.tv
Week 1 in Antalya, Türkiye
May 22 at 10 a.m. Poland def. USA 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 26-24)
May 24 at 7 a.m. France def. USA 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21)
May 25 at 10 a.m. Bulgaria def. USA 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21)
May 26 at 7 a.m. USA def. Türkiye 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-21)
Week 2 in Ottawa, Canada
June 4 at 1:30 p.m. USA def. Argentina 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 26-24)
June 6 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Italy
June 7 at 5 p.m. USA vs Serbia
June 8 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Canada
Week 3 in Manila Philippines
June 19 at 4 a.m. USA vs Iran
June 20 at 4 a.m. USA vs Brazil
June 21 at 8 p.m. USA vs Germany
June 23 at 4 a.m. USA vs Japan
Final Round on June 27-30 in Łódź, Poland
Aaron Russell
Outside Hitter, 6-9
Jeff Jendryk
Middle Blocker, 6-10
Kyle Ensing
Opposite, 6-7
TJ DeFalco
Outside Hitter, 6-5
Kyle Dagostino
Libero, 5-9
Micah Christenson
Setter, 6-5
Max Holt
Middle Blocker, 6-10
Micah Ma’a
Setter, 6-3
Thomas Jaeschke
Outside Hitter, 6-6
Garrett Muagututia
Outside Hitter, 6-5
Taylor Averill
Middle Blocker, 6-7
David Smith
Middle Blocker, 6-7
Erik Shoji
Libero, 6-0 (184 cm)
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