Men's Sitting Team to Play Ukraine for Paralympic Ticket

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 9, 2024) – The U.S. Men’s Sitting Team will play for a berth at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games today (April 9) after beating Croatia 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-14) on Monday at the 2024 World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball Final Qualifier in Dali, China.

The U.S. Men’s Sitting Team (6-1) will play Ukraine (6-1) at 8 p.m. PT on Tuesday. Matches are being livestreamed at live.hy960.com or live.hy960.com. The winner will qualify for Paris 2024.

“We are beyond grateful and excited to play for the Paralympic berth,” U.S. Head Coach Greg Walker said. “We’ve gotten messages of good luck from other coaches that are going to the Paralympics and have tracked us a long time.”

The U.S. Men’s Sitting Team beat Ukraine in the preliminary round 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13) on April 5.

On Monday, the U.S. Men’s serving was key to the victory. The U.S. led in aces 10-3 and had only four service errors while Croatia had six.

Walker also praised setter John Kremer’s leadership on the offense.

“John Kremer had done a heck of a job,” Walker said. “Today we had four hitters going off. We got (middle blocker) Jason Roberts in at the end…. We were the underdog coming into the tournament entirely. To be able to ride it out and get here is just incredible.”

The U.S. Men’s Sitting Team led Croatia in kills (35-23), blocks (7-2) and aces (10-3).

Middle blocker Roderick Green and outside hitter Zach Upp led the U.S. in scoring with 13 points apiece. Green scored on a match-high four blocks and a match-high three aces to go with six kills. Upp had 10 kills, two aces and one block.

Outside hitter James Stuck totaled 10 points on seven kills, two blocks and one ace. Opposite Eric Duda added nine points on seven kills and two aces. Middle Ben Aman scored three points on two aces and a kill. Roberts scored two points on two kills.

Kremer scored two points on two kills and set the team to a .377 hitting efficiency. Libero Nicholas Dadgostar was credited with 11 receptions, 55 percent positive.

U.S. Men’s Sitting Team Roster

No Name (Position, Height, Hometown, Region)
1 Travis Ricks (L, 5-7, San Diego, Calif., Southern California)
2 Dan Regan (OH, 6-0, St. Louis, Gateway)
3 Nicholas Dadgostar (L, 6-0, Sidney, Neb., Chesapeake)
4 Ben Aman (OH, 6-5, Edmond, Okla., Oklahoma)
5 Eric Duda (S/OH, 6-5, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Florida)
7 Robbie Gaupp (Opp/OH, Havre De Grace, Md., Chesapeake)
8 James Stuck (S/OH, 6-5, New Kensington, Pa., Keystone)
11C Roderick Green (MB, 6-3, West Monroe, La., Bayou)
12 Patrick Young (OH, 6-4, Albuquerque, N.M., Sun Country)
14 John Kremer (L, 5-9, Buford, Ga., Southern)
15 Chris Seilkop (OH, 6-6, Deland, Fla., Florida)
17 Zach Upp (OH, 6-5, Bartlett, Ill., Great Lakes)
20 Jason Roberts (San Diego, Calif., Southern California)
23 William Curtis (Tampa, Fla., Florida)

Head Coach: Greg Walker
Assistant Coach: Joe Skinner
Assistant Coach: Julie Allen
Team Leader: Jeffery Hicks
Performance Analyst: Sydnie Mabry
Athletic Trainer: Whitney Padgett
Sport Psychologist: Taylor Gabler

U.S. Schedule (All times PDT)
April 2: USA def Canada, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-19)
April 3: USA def Iraq, 3-1 (21-25, 18-25, 29-27, 20-25)
April 4: USA def Ukraine, 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13)
April 6: China def USA, 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-20)
April 6: USA def Poland, 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-17)
April 8: USA def Japan, 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-14)
April 8: USA def Croatia, 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-14)
April 9: 8 p.m. FINAL: USA vs Ukraine