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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 30, 2026) – The U.S. Men’s National Team used a barrage of service aces to defeat reigning world champion Italy, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21) in the quarterfinal round of the 2026 Volleyball Nations League Final on Thursday in Ningbo Beilun, China. The win avenged the U.S. team’s first preliminary round loss of the tournament.
The U.S. (9-4) advanced to the semifinals and will meet top-seeded Japan (13-0) at 4:30 a.m. PT on Saturday. The teams met in the second week of preliminary round play in the heat of Orleans, France, with Japan squeaking out a five-set win with a 15-13 victory in the deciding set. Japan defeated host China 3-1 in the quarterfinals. The U.S. will have a chance to clinch a VNL medal for the first time since 2023.
“We had a really fun battle in some very warm conditions in France. We are excited for another chance at (Japan). They are a great team. They play amazing defense and ball control. There were times during that match where we were flowing quite well, so we love we are getting a rematch,” said U.S. head coach Karch Kiraly.
The U.S. served 14 aces in the quarterfinal match compared to five for Italy. Otherwise, the match was nearly statistically even with the U.S. holding an edge in kills (39-38) and making two fewer errors (19-17), while Italy registered one more block (4-3).
“We were happy to be here and put together another good match. The guys did a great job with lots of strong serving. Jake (Hanes) dug us out of a hole in that last one with a monster serving run,” Kiraly stated.
Hanes served six aces, one more than the entire Italy team, while leading the U.S. with 13 kills and sharing match-high honors with two blocks to finish with a match-best 21 points. Hanes hit .409 for the match.
“It is more a feeling thing than a thinking thing,” Hanes said in reference to a question about what he was thinking during his strong serving. “You just trust yourself and the reps you put in. I think we all did a great job trying to stay aggressive there against a really good side-out team, so we had to come together and hit a bunch of good serves.”
Outside hitter Matt Anderson scored 15 points on 12 kills and three aces, hitting at a .611 efficiency percentage with just one error in 18 attacks. Anderson and Hanes each recorded five digs. Setter Micah Christenson served a pair of aces while leading the offense to a .438 hitting percentage in the match.
Outside hitter Ethan Champlin rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points on eight kills and a pair of aces. He shared match-high honors with libero Erik Shoji with four successful receptions. Shoji’s six digs tied the match-best total.
The U.S. middle blockers combined to score eight points with Taylor Averill leading the way with five points on four kills and an ace. Merrick McHenry delivered a kill and a block, and Jeff Jendryk added a kill.
The first two points of the match foreshadowed the result as Italy served into the net and Christenson followed with an ace. An Anderson ace gave the U.S. a 7-5 lead. A Hanes kill and Averill ace pushed the advantage to four points, 10-6, forcing Italy to use a timeout. Champlin scored off a Shoji set for a 12-8 lead. Italy pulled within two points, 14-12, but Anderson produced a perfect pass and scored on a give-and-go from Christenson on the next play. Italy used a 5-2 run to even the set at 17, but an Italy service error and Christenson ace, the same way the match started, put the U.S. ahead for good.
Anderson continued to handle tough Italy serves leading to a Hanes kill for a 21-19 lead. After an Averill kill, Hanes served his first ace of the match to put the U.S. up by four points. An Italy timeout didn’t stop Hanes, who served another ace to give the U.S. set point, 24-20. Italy saved two set points before Champlin scored on a back row attack. Hanes finished the set with seven points on five kills and two aces with Anderson scoring six points on five kills and an ace.
Blocks by Averill and Hanes gave the U.S. a 7-4 lead in the second set. After Italy scored the next two points, Hanes scored his 300th VNL point with a kill and promptly followed that with another ace. Back-to-back Anderson aces pushed the margin to five points, 13-8. A Champlin ace off the net gave the U.S. its largest lead, six points, 17-11. Italy pulled within three points, 18-15, on an ace but a great Shoji pass on the next serve led to a Champlin kill on a back row attack. The U.S. went back up by five when Anderson scored off a set from Hanes.
Averill put down a one-handed set from Christenson to restore the six-point margin, 21-15. Italy cut the deficit in half at 22-19 before Champlin produced a key crosscourt kill off a Shoji set. On the next rally, McHenry put up a pass from the front row to Christenson in the midcourt, where he found a way to deliver a great set to Hanes for a kill and set point. Italy scored the next two points, the second on an ace, before McHenry ended the set on a kill set up by a strong Champlin pass on a serve that clipped the net. Champlin (four kills, two aces) and Hanes (three kills, two blocks, one ace) each scored six points in the set.
An excellent block cover led to a kill and a hitting error gave Italy its first two-point lead of the match, 8-6, in the third set. An ace stretched the margin to three points, 11-8. Italy scored on the longest rally of the match with scrappy defense from both teams and followed with a kill off the block to open up a 14-9 lead. Hanes scored out of system off a Shoji set, then set Anderson for a kill and followed with a 79 mile per hour ace to cut the lead to two points, 15-13, and force an Italy timeout.
Hanes’ next serve hit 80 miles per hour and led to an overpass that Anderson put down. He served another ace that tied the set and led to another Italy timeout to try to slow the momentum. Instead, Hanes served another ace, this one off the net, to put the U.S. ahead for the first time since early in the set. Hanes delivered a kill falling away from the net off a Shoji bump set before another point put the U.S. up by two for the first time in the set, 19-17. Jendryk scored to raise the lead to three, 22-19, and a hitting error pushed the lead to four and capped an 11-4 U.S. run keyed by the Hanes serving run. Anderson scored to give the U.S. match point and after Italy scrambled to save one point, a great Anderson pass, Christenson set and Champlin kill ended the match.
U.S. Men’s Roster for 2026 VNL Final
No., Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1 Matt Anderson (OH, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State, Western Empire)
3 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California Southern Nevada)
4 Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Chicago, Great Lakes)
6 Cooper Robinson (OH, 6-7, Pacific Palisades, Calif., UCLA, Southern California Southern Nevada)
8 T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California Southern Nevada)
11 Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, USC, Aloha)
13 Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Univ. of Hawai’i, Northern California)
14 Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)
15 Andrew Rowan (S, 6-7, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., UCLA, Southern California Southern Nevada)
17 Jake Hanes (OPP, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State Univ., Great Lakes)
18 Cole Hartke (OPP, 7-0, Barrington, Ill., Pepperdine, Great Lakes)
20 Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California Southern Nevada)
22 Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford Univ., Aloha)
24 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas)
26 Matthew Knigge (MB, 6-7, New Egypt, N.J., Vassar, Garden Empire)
Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Luka Slabe
Assistant Coach: Javier Weber
Performance Analyst: Nate Ngo
Physiotherapist: Aaron Brock
Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot
Senior Sports Dietitian: Shawn Hueglin
Mental Performance Coach: Andrea Becker
Team Doctors: Andrew Gregory, Mark Hutchinson, Christopher Lee, Michael Terry, Eugene Yim
Statisticians: Jimmy Kim, Frank Pham
U.S. Men’s Schedule for the 2026 Volleyball Nations League Final
Matches will be shown live and on-demand on VBTV.
(All times PDT)
July 30
Quarterfinal: USA def. Italy, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21)
August 1
Semifinal: USA vs. Japan, 4:30 a.m. PT