Thomas Jaeschke
Outside Hitter, 6-6
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 8, 2024) – The U.S. Men’s National Team fell to Canada 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 26-24, 28-26) in the week two finale of Volleyball Nations League in Ottawa, Canada.
The atmosphere was electric, setting a North American attendance record for VNL with 7,042 fans.
The U.S. Men finish week two with a 3-5 record. The squad will look to improve its record and continue to prepare for the Olympic Games when the VNL moves to Manila, Philippines on June 19.
Outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke shared what the team will work on in week three to prepare for the Games.
“Locking down our systems,” Jaeschke told Volleyball World. “Competing and playing. Just continuing to grow, giving ourselves grace, but at the same time, trying to compete.”
Jaeschke led U.S. scorers with 21 points on 18 kill (.405 hitting percentage), one block and two aces.
The U.S. Men, down 2-1 in the match, dug themselves a hole early in the fourth set. They didn’t make it easy for their North American rivals though. The U.S. tied it up at 24-24 on a kill from outside hitter Garrett Muagututia, his first point of the match after subbing in middle of the set. The U.S. fought off three match points before Canada finished it off 28-26.
Opposite Kyle Ensing, who entered the match toward the end of the first set, had 11 points on seven kill, two blocks and two aces.
“He can play the whole game,” head coach John Speraw told Volleyball World after set two. “He can attack, he can serve, but he’s really good blocking and really good defensively. We need a little energy, it’s VNL. There’s a lot of volume here. He’s come in and given us a lift.”
Outside hitter Aaron Russell had 10 points on seven kills, two blocks and one ace.
Middle blocker Max Holt had nine points on seven kill and two blocks. Middle blocker Taylor Averill added five points on five kills.
Setter Micah Christenson led the team to a .349 hitting percentage and added three points of his own on two kills and one block.
Libero Kyle Dagostino started the second, third and fourth sets and was credited with 10 digs and three successful receptions.
Setter Micah Ma’a also saw action as a serving subsitute.
U.S. Men’s National Team Roster
for 2024 Volleyball Nations League – Week 2
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)
10 Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Florida, Stanford Univ., Florida)
11 Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Southern California, Aloha)
12 Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State, Ohio Valley)
14 Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)
17 Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)
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., Aloha)
Head Coach: John Speraw
Assistant Coaches: Matt Fuerbringer
Second Assistants: Javier Weber and Erik Sullivan
Performance Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot
Team Manager: David Dantes
Sports Psychologists: Andrea Becker, Peter Naschak
Doctors: Andrew Gregory
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. Poland def. USA 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 26-24)
May 24 at 7 a.m. France def. USA 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21)
May 25 at 10 a.m. Bulgaria def. USA 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21)
May 26 at 7 a.m. USA def. Türkiye 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-21)
Week 2 in Ottawa, Canada
June 4 at 1:30 p.m. USA def. Argentina 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 26-24)
June 6 at 1:30 p.m. Italy def. USA 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20)
June 7 at 5 p.m. USA def. Serbia 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-14)
June 8 at 1:30 p.m. Canada def. USA 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 26-24, 28-26)
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
Kyle Ensing
Opposite, 6-7
Aaron Russell
Outside Hitter, 6-9
Max Holt
Middle Blocker, 6-10
Taylor Averill
Middle Blocker, 6-7
Matt Anderson
Opposite/Outside Hitter, 6-10
TJ DeFalco
Outside Hitter, 6-5
Micah Christenson
Setter, 6-5
Erik Shoji
Libero, 6-0 (184 cm)
Jeff Jendryk
Middle Blocker, 6-10
Kyle Dagostino
Libero, 5-9
Micah Ma’a
Setter, 6-3
Garrett Muagututia
Outside Hitter, 6-5
David Smith
Middle Blocker, 6-7
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