COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 19, 2017) – The 12 players named to the 2017 U.S. Men’s Junior National Team have experience and enthusiasm.
They hope it is enough to bring home some hardware from the FIVB Men’s Under-21 World Championship on June 23-July 7 in Czech Republic.
Seven players return from the 2016 Men’s Junior National Team (MJNT) that won the NORCECA Continental Championship and qualified for the World Championship: middle blockers Scott Stadick and George Huhmann, opposite Kyle Ensing, outside hitters Jordan Ewert, Dylan Missry and Austin Matautia (in photo above) and setter Josh Tuaniga, who is the team captain.
Three other players were not on the 2016 MJNT, but did compete internationally as part of the 2014 and/or 2015 Boys’ Youth National Teams: setter Micah Ma’a, outside hitter Brett Rosenmeier and middle blocker Patrick Gasman.
Newcomers to the roster are opposite Matthew Szews and libero Gage Worsley.
There are four players from the University of Hawaii on the roster, including Worsley who will be a freshman in the fall of 2017. There are two each from Long Beach State and UCLA.
Ball State, UC Irvine, Princeton and Stanford each have one player on the roster.
The United States has never won a medal at the FIVB Men’s Under-21 World Championship. The closest it has come was fourth place in 2011 when current U.S. Men’s National Team players Micah Christenson and Taylor Sander were on the roster.
The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team finished 11th in 2015 and 2013.
“At the youth level, the U.S. stacks up pretty well,” U.S. MJNT Head Coach Jay Hosack said. “The under-21 team is a completely different story. This is a group of kids who have played one to two years of college volleyball in respective gyms. In the rest of the world, players are already playing professionally.
“We have great talent. I think a top eight finish would be a good goal to shoot for. If we can get into the top four, it would be an outstanding finish for USA Volleyball at this level.”
The team shares its opening-round pool with Turkey, Cuba and Russia.
U.S. Men’s Junior National Training Team
No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College, Region)
2. Gage Worsley (L, 6-2, Moraga, Calif., signed with Hawaii, NCVA)
3. Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-2, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, SCVA)
4. Micah Ma’a (S, 6-4, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)
5. Dylan Missry (OH, 6-4, Holbrook, N.Y., UCLA, Garden Empire)
7. Jordan Ewert (OH, 6-5, Antioch, Calif., Stanford, NCVA)
8. Austin Matautia (OH, 6-5, Ewa Beach, Hawaii, Hawaii, Aloha)
9. Brett Rosenmeier (OH, 6-6, Virginia Beach, Va., Hawaii, Old Dominion)
14. Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State, SCVA)
15. Matthew Szews (Opp, 6-8, Brookfield, Wis., Ball State, Badger)
16. Patrick Gasman (MB, 6-8, Clovis, Calif., Hawaii, NCVA)
19. Scott Stadick (MB, 7-0, Watertown, Wis., UC Irvine, Badger)
20. George Huhmann (MB, 6-10, High Ridge, Mo., Princeton, Gateway)
Head Coach: Jay Hosack, George Mason University
Assistant Coach: Jonah Carson, Mountain View Volleyball Club
Assistant Coach: Matt McCarthy, Lewis University
Team Manager: Jen Armson Dyer
Doctor: David Dyck, Jr.
Technical Coordinator: Galen Dodd
U.S. Schedule for the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship
June 23: USA v Turkey, 11 a.m. PT
June 24: USA v Cuba, 6 a.m. PT
June 25: USA v Russia, 11 a.m. PT
Pools for the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship
Pool A
Czech Republic
Poland
Canada
Morocco
Pool B
Russia
Turkey
USA
Cuba
Pool C
Argentina
Italy
Iran
Ukraine
Pool D
China
Brazil
Egypt
Japan