MNT Sending Veterans to Ottawa for VNL Week 1

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 5, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s National Team is bringing a group of veterans, including nine Olympians, to the first week of Volleyball Nations League (VNL) competition on June 7-11 in Ottawa, Canada.

Volleyball Nations League is the world’s premier annual international indoor volleyball tournament. The top 16 teams in the world play four matches a week for three weeks of preliminary competition. The top eight teams at the end of the preliminaries will go to the Final Round.

The U.S. Men will host the third round of preliminary play in Anaheim, California, on July 4-9.

Get tickets for the Anaheim matches at volleyballworld.com

The U.S. Men’s roster for week 1 includes three-time Olympians Matt Anderson at opposite and middle blocker David Smith.

Two-time Olympic setter Micah Christenson will serve as team captain. Libero Erik Shoji and middle Max Holt will also bring two Olympics worth of experience.

Outside hitters T.J. DeFalco, Garrett Muagututia and Aaron Russell, and opposite Kyle Ensing have each competed in one Olympic Games.

The remaining players all have previous VNL experience: middles Taylor Averill and Jeff Jendryk, outside hitter Cody Kessel, setter Micah Ma’a and opposite Jake Hanes.

The U.S. Men’s head coach is John Speraw, who led the UCLA men’s volleyball team to the 2023 NCAA National Championship on May 7. Speraw has been the U.S. Men’s head coach since 2013 and helped them to the bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Speraw’s assistants are former indoor and beach player Matt Fuerbringer, who has coached college and club teams, and Javier Weber, a three-time Olympian for Argentina who also coached the national team and continues to coach for professional club teams.

The U.S. Men are ranked sixth in the world and won the silver medal at the 2022 VNL. During the first round, they will play No. 13 Netherlands, No. 2 Italy, No. 16 Canada and No. 4 Brazil.

U.S. Men’s National Team 30-Athlete Roster for
2023 Volleyball Nations League

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)
5 Kyle Ensing (OPP, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
8 T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
9 Jake Hanes (OPP, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State Univ., Great Lakes)
11 Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Southern California, Hawaii)
12 Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State, Ohio Valley)
14 Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)
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., Hawaii)
23 Cody Kessel (OH, 6-5, Colorado Springs, Colo., Princeton Univ., Rocky Mountain)

Head Coach: John Speraw
Assistant Coaches: Matt Fuerbringer, Javier Weber
Second Assistant Coaches: Erik Sullivan
Performance Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
Team Manager: David Dantes
Sports Psychologist: Andrea Becker
Team Doctor: Andrew Gregory

U.S. Men’s Schedule for the 2023 VNL
All matches will be broadcast on volleyballworld.tv

Week 1 in Ottawa, Canada
(All times PT)
June 7 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Netherlands
June 8 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Italy
June 10 at 5 p.m. USA vs Canada
June 11 at 11:30 a.m. USA vs Brazil

Week 2 in Rotterdam, Netherlands
June 20 at 7:30 a.m. USA vs Serbia
June 21 at 7:30 a.m. USA vs China
June 23 at 7:30 a.m. USA vs Iran
June 24 at 4 a.m. USA vs Poland

Week 3 in Anaheim, California, USA
July 5 at 6:30 p.m. USA vs Cuba
July 7 at 6:30 p.m. USA vs Argentina
July 8 at 6:30 p.m. USA vs France
July 9 at 6:30 p.m. USA vs Bulgaria