COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 12, 2019) – USA Volleyball will send 14 players and five staff to compete at the Pan American Cup on June 16-21 in Colima, Mexico.
The team features young players with international experience in the Pan American Cup, USAV youth and junior teams and international club teams.
Eight players on the team competed on the 2018 Pan American Cup team that finished seventh: setter Jonah Seif, opposites Kyle Russell, David Wieczorek and James Shaw (formerly a setter), middle blockers Price Jarman and Brendan Schmidt and liberos Kyle Dagostino and Kupono Fey (formerly an outside hitter).
Jarman, Seif and Wieczorek also played on the 2017 Pan Am Cup team that finished fifth.
Setter Josh Tuaniga, the team captain, played on the 2016 Pan American Cup team when he was still in college. In May, he started two matches for the U.S. Men in the Volleyball Nations League. Dagostino started two matches for the U.S. Men during the second weekend.
Outside hitter Cody Kessel played on the 2015 Pan American Cup team and has played overseas for club teams in Germany. Setter Joe Worsely and middle blocker George Huhmann played for U.S. youth and junior national teams.
Outside hitter Colton Cowell has played beach volleyball internationally and outside hitter Sam Holt, brother of U.S. National Team player Max Holt, has played professionally overseas.
Milan Zarkovic, an assistant coach for Hawaii’s men’s volleyball team, will serve as head coach. David Hunt, Pepperdine’s men’s head coach, and Shiari Morteza, formerly with the Iranian national team, will be his assistants.
“It has been an honor, a pleasure and a challenge to practice with and prepare the Pan Am Cup team,” said Zarkovic, who played on the Serbian national team and also coached there prior to joining the staff at Hawaii. “We worked with full commitment and plan to do the best that we can. As members of USAV, we are obligated to strive for the podium.”
The U.S. Men will open competition with pool play against Guatemala, Chile and Dominican Republic.
Pan American Cup
June 16-21 in Colima, Mexico
2 Price Jarman (MB, 6-9, Las Vegas, Nev., BYU)
3 Jonah Seif (S, 6-6, Thousand Oaks, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
5 James Shaw (Opp, 6-8, Woodside, Calif., Stanford)
7 Joe Worsley (S, 6-1, Moraga, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii)
9 Colton Cowell (OH, 6-2, Makawao, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii)
10 Kyle Russell (Opp, 6-9, Loomis, Calif., UC Irvine)
12 Sam Holt (OH, 6-7, Cincinnati, Ohio, Cal State Northridge)
13C Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
14 David Wieczorek (Opp, 6-8, Chicago Ill., Pepperdine)
16 Brendan Schmidt (MB, 6-8, O’Fallon, Mo., McKendree)
17 George Huhmann (MB, 6-11, St. Louis, Mo., Princeton)
19 Kyle Dagostino (L 5-9, Tampa, Fla., Stanford)
22 Kupono Fey (L, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii)
23 Cody Kessel (OH, 6-5, Colorado Springs, Colo., Princeton)
Head Coach: Milan Zarkovic
Assistant Coach: David Hunt
Assistant Coach Shiari Morteza
Team Manager: Andrew Strick
Physiotherapist: Johnathan Leih
U.S. Schedule for Pan Am Cup (all times CT)
Pool Play
June 16
11a Guatemala vs USA
4p Chile vs Dominican Republic
June 17
11a Dominican Republic vs Guatemala
4p USA v Chile
June 18
11a Guatemala vs Chile
4p Dominican Republic v USA
June 19
11a Classification 11-12
1p Classification 7-10
4p Classification 7-10
6p Quarterfinal
8p Quarterfinal
June 20
1p 9th-place final
4p 7th-place final
6p Semifinal
8p Semifinal
June 21
4p 5th-place final
6p 3rd-place final
8p Final