Six VNL Veterans to Lead 2024 U.S. Men Squad in Türkiye

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 20, 2024) – Six players with Volleyball Nations League (VNL) experience will lead the U.S. Men’s National Team at the first round of preliminary play on May 22-26 in Antalya, Türkiye.

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’s roster for week 1 includes six athletes who have made previous VNL travel rosters and have extensive international experience: setter Josh Tuaniga, liberos Kyle Dagostino and Mason Briggs, opposite Jake Hanes, outside hitter Cody Kessel and middle blocker Patrick Gasman.

Opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez will make his competitive debut for the U.S. Men in Antalya. Garcia, a two-time AVCA Player of the Year at BYU, transferred to USA Volleyball from Puerto Rico in 2022 and had to sit out from national team competition for two years. He has trained with the U.S. Men during the summers and played in the Italian pro leagues during the fall and winter.

Other players on their first VNL travel team are setter Quinn Isaacson, outside hitters Ethan Champlin, Jordan Ewert and Brett Wildman and middle blockers Matthew Knigge, Michael Marshman and Daniel Wetters.

On May 4, Champlin led UCLA to the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship and was named tournament MVP.

Longtime U.S. Men’s National Team coach Andy Read will serve as head coach in Antalya, assisted by Nicholas McRae of Long Beach State and Morteza Shiari of UCLA.

The U.S. Men are ranked No. 2 in the world and have won the silver medal at the last two VNLs (in 2022 and ’23). They are qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

U.S. Men’s National Team 30-Athlete Roster for
2024 Volleyball Nations League

No. Player (Position, Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
3 Gabi Garcia Fernandez (Opp, 6-7, San Juan, Puerto Rico, BYU, Intermountain)
6 Quinn Isaacson (S, 6-2, Plainfield, Ill., Ball State Univ., Great Lakes)
9 Jake Hanes (Opp, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State Univ., Great Lakes)
10 Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Florida, Stanford Univ., Florida)
13 Patrick Gasman (MB, 6-10, Clovis, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)
16 Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
21 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
23 Cody Kessel (OH, 6-5, Colorado Springs, Colo., Princeton Univ., Rocky Mountain)
24 Brett Wildman (OH, 6-5, Virginia Beach, Va., Penn State Univ., Old Dominion)
25 Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
26 Matthew Knigge (MB, 6-7, New Egypt, N.J., Vassar, Garden Empire)
27 Michael Marshman (MB, 6-7, Glenmont, N.Y., St. Francis, Excelsior Empire)
29 Jordan Ewert (OH, 6-5, Antioch, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)
30 Daniel Wetter (MB, 6-5, Camarillo, Calif., CSUN, Southern California)

Head Coach: Andy Read
Assistant Coaches: Nicholas MacRae, Morteza Shiari
Technical Coordinator: Jimmy Kim
Athletic Trainer: Benjamin Colletti
Team Manager: David Dantes
Doctors: Warren Young

U.S. Men’s Schedule for 2024 VNL
All times PDT
Matches will be shown live and on-demand on VolleyballWorld.tv

Week 1 in Antalya, Türkiye
May 22 at 10 a.m. USA vs Poland
May 24 at 7 a.m. USA vs France
May 25 at 10 a.m. USA vs Bulgaria
May 26 at 7 a.m. USA vs Türkiye

Week 2 in Ottawa, Canada
June 4 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Argentina
June 6 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Italy
June 7 at 5 p.m. USA vs Serbia
June 8 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Canada

Week 3 in Manila Philippines
June 19 at 4 a.m. USA vs Iran
June 20 at 4 a.m. USA vs Brazil
June 21 at 8 p.m. USA vs Germany
June 23 at 4 a.m. USA vs Japan

Final Round on June 27-30 in Łódź, Poland