Experience Drives U.S. Men Toward Ultimate Goal in Paris

PARIS, France (July 26, 2024) – While there are some new Olympians on the U.S. Men’s roster for the Olympic Games in Paris, the majority of the team has spent the last decade training and competing together, and a few even longer.

One of those competitions that took place in the last 10 years was the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where the men earned bronze. Seven of those medalists are still with the team in Paris.

“This is a veteran team that has been in this position before and understands the uniqueness of the Olympic competitive environment,” said U.S. Head Coach John Speraw. “I think we’re very capable of being successful here in achieving our goal and this team is capable of winning a gold.”

Eight players from Tokyo returned to the roster for Paris: setter Micah Christenson, opposite Matt Anderson, libero Erik Shoji, outside hitters TJ DeFalco, Thomas Jaeschke and Garrett Muagututia and middle blockers David Smith and Max Holt.

Outside hitter Aaron Russell is back after missing Tokyo due to a hip injury.

The three making their Olympic debuts are setter Micah Ma’a and middle blockers Jeff Jendryk and Taylor Averill.

Opposite Kyle Ensing, also returning from the Tokyo roster, is the official alternate for the team and can take the place of an ill or injured player during the tournament. This position is one of the new changes for the Olympic tournament for Paris.

Another significant change is the introduction of the new format. Twelve teams are split into three single round-robin pools of four. The pool winners, runner-ups and the two best-ranked, third-place teams will advance to the quarterfinals. From there, the tournament moves to single-elimination with the quarterfinals, semifinals and the medal matches. The tournament will last 16 days with 26 matches played before the Olympic champion is determined.

The U.S. Men are currently ranked No. 6 in the world. They join No. 2 Japan, No. 8 Argentina and No. 11 Germany in Pool C.

Paris has now hosted the Olympic Games three times: 1900, 1924 and 2024. However, this is the first time volleyball has been featured in an Olympic Games in Paris since volleyball didn’t become an Olympic sport until 1964.

U.S. Men’s Roster for the Olympic Games Paris 2024

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)
8 T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
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)

Official Alternate: 5 Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)

Head Coach: John Speraw
Assistant Coaches: Matt Fuerbringer, Javier Weber and Mike Wall
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
Performance Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Team Leader: Erik Sullivan
Mental Performance Coaches: Andrea Becker and Peter Naschak
Technical Coordinator: David Dantes
Team Doctor: Lori Boyajian-O’Neill

U.S. Men’s Schedule (PT) at the Olympic Game Paris 2024.

July 27 at 12 p.m. USA vs Argentina
July 30 at 4 a.m. USA vs Germany
Aug. 2 at 12 p.m. USA vs Japan
Aug. 5 Quarterfinals
Aug. 7 Semifinals
Aug. 9 at 8 a.m. Bronze medal
Aug. 10 at 4 a.m. Gold medal