U.S. Men Stop Türkiye in 2026 Men's VNL Opener

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 10, 2026) – The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Türkiye 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23) to begin 2026 Volleyball Nations League play on Wednesday in Ottawa, Canada. The U.S. finished fifth and Türkiye placed sixth at the 2025 FIVB World Championship.

The U.S. (1-0), ranked fifth in the world, will face 11th-ranked Germany on Friday at 1 p.m. PT.

The U.S. led in kills (59-53) and blocks (7-5), while Türkiye served six of eight aces in the match.

“I really liked how it wasn’t always smooth and pretty and easy on our side, but our team kept moving forward. Türkiye did a great job of storming back at the very end of that match (falling 25-23 after trailing 23-15). We didn’t panic or lose our poise. I love how they pushed us. Great competition means both sides push hard and our team responded well and we have a lot to get better at,” said U.S. head coach Karch Kiraly. “2026 VNL, here we are. Some interesting rule tests this year, including more substitutions. Teams can do some different things, so it will be really exciting to see the evolution of the game in this year with a lot of people thinking not only about VNL, but also Olympic qualification later this year. It is a very important year.”

Opposite Jake Hanes led all players with 21 points and 20 kills, adding one block. Libero Erik Shoji contributed six digs and five successful receptions.

“We came out pretty strong and we wanted to compete well. We learned a couple of things the last week. Obviously, we want to finish a little bit stronger, but three points is three points,” remarked Shoji, who was playing in his 81st VNL match. “I think we were a little bit tight. We were working on the seams a little bit, putting the ball just a little over the net, so we tried to adjust to bring off a little bit for Micah (setter Ma’a) to better run the offense. After that we only gave up one ace in the third and fourth and that’s pretty good.”

Captain Matt Anderson scored 15 points on 13 kills, one block and one ace. He also paced the team with eight successful receptions and added five digs. In addition to running the strong U.S. offense, Ma’a led the team with seven digs, while scoring four points on two kills and two blocks.

Middle blocker Jeff Jendryk led all players with three blocks, finishing with seven kills and an ace for 11 points. Outside hitter Ethan Champlin recorded 10 kills and contributed four successful receptions. Middle Taylor Averill posted five kills with opposite Cole Hartke, playing in his first VNL match, adding a pair of kills.

Hanes scored six of the first nine U.S. points with five kills and a block. A triple block put the U.S. up 10-6 and led to a Türkiye timeout. A tough Hanes serve led to an overpass and an eventual kill by Averill for a 16-12 lead. Back-to-back aces brought Türkiye within a point, 17-16, for the first time since early in the set. A great set by Ma’a led to Hanes’ seventh point of the set to regain the two-point lead on the next play. A Ma’a dump and Anderson kill put the U.S. up 20-18.

A diving up by Ma’a led to a Hanes kill high off the block and a Türkiye hitting error extended the margin back to four points, 22-18. A Jendryk kill off a strong Ma’a set off the net made it 23-19 and Jendryk served an ace to give the U.S. five set points. After Türkiye scored the next point, the U.S. finished the set on a Champlin kill after a diving up from Shoji and a hustle set from Ma’a. Hanes led all players with eight points on seven kills and a block.

Türkiye jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second set, taking the four-point advantage after putting away an overpass. Hanes’ 10th point of the match cut the deficit to two points, 12-10. A great dig by Shoji led to an Anderson kill against the triple block off a set from Champlin to bring the U.S. within a point, 13-12. A Champlin kill on a back row attack kept the U.S. within a point, 15-14, but Türkiye scored the next three points to match its biggest lead of the set at four points. An ace raised the lead to five, 21-16, and the U.S. trailed by at least four points the remainder of the set as Türkiye evened the match with a triple block on set point. Anderson led the U.S. with six kills.

Hanes scored on an overpass to give the U.S. a 4-1 lead in the third set. An Anderson kill followed by a Ma’a solo block put the U.S. ahead 9-5. Champlin scored off the highest hands of a triple block as the U.S. extended the lead to six points, 14-8. In spite of a great effort by Hanes chasing the ball down and Shoji somehow one-arming the ball over the net, Türkiye cut the deficit to three points, 15-12, and led to a U.S. timeout.

A block cut the deficit to two points, 18-16, but Hanes scored on a cross-court attack to extend the lead back to three. An excellent Shoji pass led to a Jendryk kill for a 20-17 lead and another Hanes cross-court kill made it 21-18. Anderson and Hartke scored on back-to-back plays to give the U.S. five set points. Averill finished the third consecutive set with a 25-20 score. Hanes paced the team with six kills.

A Jendryk tip put the U.S. ahead 10-6 in the fourth set. An Anderson ace stretched the advantage to six points, 13-7. Jendryk registered his second block and 10th point for a 14-8 lead. Türkiye pulled within four points, 15-11, but Hanes hammered a ball down after a great Anderson pass and Champlin scored on a back row attack to raise the margin back to six points. A Jendryk block gave the U.S. a 19-12 advantage. Ma scored after a lengthy successful U.S. challenge to make it 20-13.

Anderson scored consecutive points, the second keyed by another strong dig by Shoji, for a 22-14 lead. Türkiye scored four points in a row to cut the lead in half, 23-19. Following a U.S. timeout, Hanes scored to set up match point. Türkiye held off three match points, including an ace, to make it 24-22 and prompt the U.S. to take its final timeout. Türkiye scored off the block to pull within a point to cap an 8-1 run before Hanes ended the match with a kill. Jendryk scored five points on three kills and two blocks with Anderson (three kills and one ace) and Hanes (four kills) adding four points apiece.

U.S. Men’s Week One Roster for 2026 VNL

No., Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1 Matt Anderson (OH, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State, Western Empire)
3 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California Southern Nevada)
4 Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Chicago, Great Lakes)
6 Cooper Robinson (OH, 6-7, Pacific Palisades, Calif., UCLA, Southern California Southern Nevada)
12 Michael Marshman (MB, 6-7, Glenmont, N.Y., St. Francis Univ., Excelsior Empire)
13 Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Univ. of Hawai’i, Northern California)
14 Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)
15 Andrew Rowan (S, 6-7, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., UCLA, Southern California Southern Nevada)
17 Jake Hanes (OPP, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State Univ., Great Lakes)
18 Cole Hartke (OPP, 7-0, Barrington, Ill., Pepperdine, Great Lakes)
20 Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California Southern Nevada)
22 Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford Univ., Aloha)
24 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas)
29 Jordan Ewert (OH, 6-5, Antioch, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)

Head Coach:  Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Luka Slabe
Assistant Coach: Javier Weber
Performance Analyst: Nate Ngo
Physiotherapist: Aaron Brock
Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot
Senior Sports Dietitian: Shawn Hueglin
Mental Performance Coach: Andrea Becker
Team Doctors:  Andrew Gregory, Mark Hutchinson, Christopher Lee, Michael Terry, Eugene Yim
Statisticians: Jimmy Kim, Frank Pham

U.S. Men’s Schedule for the 2026 Volleyball Nations League
Matches will be shown live and on-demand on VBTV.
(All times PDT)

Week 1: Ottawa, Canada
June 10 USA def. Türkiye, 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23),
June 12 vs. Germany at 1 p.m.
June 13 vs. Canada at 1 p.m.
June 14 vs. Italy at 3 p.m.

Week 2: Orleans, France
June 24 vs. Cuba at 8 a.m.
June 25 vs. Iran at 8 a.m.
June 27 vs. Japan at 8 a.m.
June 28 vs. Serbia at 11:30 a.m.

Week 3: Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Get your tickets.

July 15 vs. China at 6 p.m.
July 16 vs. Brazil at 6 p.m.
July 18 vs. Bulgaria at 6 p.m.
July 19 vs. Poland at 6 p.m.