Men's U21 Team to Compete for Pan Am Cup in Cuba

Please note, the roster was updated to show George Bruening replacing Theo Snoey

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 2, 2023) – USA Volleyball has selected the 12 players who will represent the Unites States at the 2023 Men’s U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup on June 5-10 in Havana, Cuba.

The 12-athlete team was selected from a roster of 20 at the end of a five-day training block in Anaheim, California.

Six players on the roster return from the team that won gold at the 2022 Men’s U21 Pan American Cup in Havana and qualified for the 2023 World Championship: middle blocker Nyherowo Omene, outside hitters Dane Hillis, Trent Moser and Kyle Teune, opposite Shane Wetzel and setter Tyler Morgan.

Omene will serve as team captain.

Newcomers to the roster are outside hitter Alex Rottman, opposite George Bruening, middles Owen Rose and Micah Wong Diallo, setter Gabe Dyer and libero Ryan Merk.

Long Beach State’s Andy Read, who led the 2022 Men’s U21 Team to Pan Am Cup gold, is the team’s head coach. His assistants will be Rory Prager of the University of Southern California and UC San Diego’s Taylor Hammond.

U.S. Roster for the 2023 Men’s U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup
No. Name (Position, Height, Birth year, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1 Ryan Merk (L, 6-0, 2003, Chicago, Ill., Penn State, Great Lakes)
4 Dane Hillis (OH, 6-2, 2003, San Clemente, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
7 Gabe Dyer (S, 6-5, 2003, San Clemente, Calif., UC San Diego, Southern California)
8 Kyle Teune (OH, 6-6, 2003, Downers Grove, Ill., Ohio State, Great Lakes)
10 Tyler Morgan (S, 6-7, 2003, Dike, Iowa, Lewis, Iowa)
13 Shane Wetzel (Opp, 6-7, 2004, Wekiwa Springs, Fla., Ohio State, Florida)
16 Nyherowo Omene (MB, 6-8, 2003, South Holland, Ill., Princeton, Great Lakes)
17 Trent Moser (OH, 6-8, 2003, Gilbert, Ariz., BYU, Arizona)
19 George Bruening (Opp, 6-10, 2004. Newport Beach, Calif., UCSB, Southern California)
22 Owen Rose (MB, 6-8, 2003, Long Island, N.Y., Penn State, Garden Empire)
23 Alex Rottman (OH, 6-7, 2004, Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
24 Micah Wong Diallo (MB, 6-9, 2004, Los Angeles, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)

Head Coach: Andy Read (Long Beach State)
Assistant Coach: Rory Prager (University of Southern California)
Assistant Coach: Taylor Hammond (UC San Diego)
Performance Analyst: Michael Bouril (Purdue)
ATC: Cherryl Bueno
Team Lead: Donovan Martinez (USAV NTDP)
International Referee: Michelle Prater (Southern Region)

Alternates
2 Christopher Connelly (L, 5-10, 2003, Naples, Fla., Long Beach State, Florida)
3 Jacob Reilly (L, 6-0, 2003, Cypress, Texas, Concordia University-Irvine, Aloha)
6 Island Doty (S, 6-5, 2003, Colorado Springs, Colo., Long Beach State, Rocky Mountain)
9 Ben Putnam (OH, 6-5, 2004, Needham, Mass., Ohio State, New England)
14 Nicodemus Meyer (MB, 6-10, 2003, Franklin, Wis., Loyola of Chicago, Badger)
15 Markus Olsson (MB, 6-8, 2003, Cupertino, Calif., Univ. of Southern California, Southern California
18 Patrick Rogers (OH, 6-7, 2004, Rutherford, N.J., St. Francis College, Garden Empire)
25 Theo Snoey (OH, 6-8, 2004, Berkeley, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)

U.S. Schedule for the 2023 Men’s U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup
All Times PDT

June 5 at 11 a.m. USA v Nicaragua
June 6 at 11 a.m. USA v Guatemala
June 7 at 1 p.m. USA v Cuba
June 8 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Quarterfinals
June 9 at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. Classification matches
at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Semifinals
June 10 at 7 a.m. Seventh-place match
at 9 a.m. Fifth-place match
at 11 a.m. Bronze-medal match
at 1 p.m. Gold-medal match