Six U.S. Beach Teams Headed to 2024 World University Championship

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 30, 2024) – USA Volleyball is proud to announce the six beach volleyball teams it is sending to the 2024 Beach World University Championship on Sept. 2-8 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The World University Championships for various sports take place during every even-numbered year, filling the gap in the international university sports calendar between the two FISU World University Games events.

On the women’s side, the U.S. teams are Taylor Wilson (Stanford) / Natalie Myszkowski (UCLA), Xolani Hodel (Stanford) / Alexis Durish (Florida State) and Maddy Anderson (Florida State) / Michelle Shaffer (Loyola Marymount).

The men’s teams will be Pat Rogers (Ball State) / John Schwengel (Santa Monica College), Thomas Hurst (UC Irvine) / Gage Basey (University of Colorado, Boulder) and Nato Dickinson (Long Beach State) / Jackson Herbert (George Mason).

The women’s head coach is Patty Dodd of the USA Volleyball NTDP program. The men’s head coach is Dan Friend, men’s volleyball head coach at Lewis University.

This year’s Beach World University Championship will be part of an “FISU Mini Games” that will also include beach soccer, beach handball, beach wrestling, beach tennis and surfing competitions. Approximately 3,000 participants from 50 countries are expected to take part.

Current U.S. Beach National Team members Julia Scoles and Hailey Harward won the gold medal at the 2023 World University Championship.

U.S. Women’s Roster for the Beach World University Championships
Name (Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
Maddy Anderson (6-1, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Florida State, Florida)
Alexis Durish (5-10, Venice, Fla., Florida State, Florida)
Xolani Hodel (6-1, Huntington Beach, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
Natalie Myszkowski (6-0, Manhattan Beach, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
Michelle Shaffer (5-10, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., Loyola Marymount, Southern California)
Taylor Wilson (5-10, Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)

U.S. Men’s Roster for the Beach World University Championships
Name (Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
Gage Basey (6-5, Lyons, Colo., Univ. of Colorado, Rocky Mountain)
Nato Dickinson (6-7, Corona Del Mar, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
Jackson Herbert (6-4, Ashburn, Va., George Mason, Chesapeake)
Thomas Hurst (6-4, Plano, Texas, UC Irvine, North Texas)
Pat Rogers (6-7, Rutherford, N.J., Ball State, Garden Empire)
John Schwengel (6-2, Santa Monica, Calif., Santa Monica College, Southern California)

Women’s Head Coach: Patty Dodd (USAV Beach NTDP)
Men’s Head Coach: Dan Friend (Lewis University, Head Coach)
Athletic Trainer: Sierra Moreno (UC Santa Barbara Assistant Athletic Trainer)
Performance Analyst: Brian Hurler (USA Volleyball Senior National Team Staff, Beach Performance Analyst)
Team Leader: Carolina Garbato (USA Volleyball, Beach NTDP Senior Manager)

Not Traveling:
Men’s Assistant Coach: Steve McFadden (Univ of Washington, Assistant Coach)
Women’s Assistant Coach: Nick Lucena (Florida State, Assistant Coach)