U.S. Men Hang Tough but Fall to Iran at VNL

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 23, 2022) – The U.S. Men’s National Team hung tough and had its chances but fell to Iran on Thursday, 3-0 (25-18, 29-27, 27-25) in the United States’ first loss of the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The U.S. Men (5-1) will look to rebound against host Bulgaria (1-4) on Saturday at 10 a.m. PT.

Official Statistics

U.S. Men’s Head Coach John Speraw went with a new starting lineup against Iran, putting T.J. DeFalco and Thomas Jaeschke at the outsides, Jeff Jendryk and Tyler Mitchem at middle blocker, Kyle Ensing at opposite, Josh Tuaniga at setter and Kyle Dagostino at libero.

“Six matches in, this is the first time we’ve seen a sense of fatigue,” Speraw said. “We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be offensively or defensively. We look forward to getting a day off tomorrow and being better against Bulgaria.

“I thought Mitch Stahl came off the bench and gave us a life and some energy, especially in the second set.”

Iran led in kills (46-42), blocks (6-4) and aces (5-3). Iran scored on 24 U.S. errors while committing 21.

DeFalco led the U.S. in scoring with 13 points on 13 kills. Ensing added 11 points on 11 kills.

Jendryk scored nine points on five kills, two blocks and two aces. Stahl, who subbed for Mitchem in the first and second sets and started the third, finished with four points on three kills and one block.

Jaeschke also scored four points on three kills and one block. Opposite Kyle Russell, who played as a substitute, scored three points on two kills and an ace.

Outside Garrett Muagututia started the third set for Jaeschke and scored three points on three kills. Mitchem totaled two points on two kills.

Dagostino was credited with three digs and five successful receptions. Tuaniga and backup setter James Shaw combined to set the U.S. Men to a .362 hitting efficiency.

U.S. Men’s National Team Roster for Round 2 of
2022 Volleyball Nations League
No. Player (Position, Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
2 Aaron Russell (OH, 6-9, Ellicott City, Md., Penn State, Chesapeake)
3 James Shaw (S, 6-8, Woodside, Calif. Stanford, Northern California)
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)
6 Mitch Stahl (MB, 6-8, Chambersburg, Pa., UCLA, Keystone)
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)
15 Kyle Russell (OPP, 6-9, Loomis, Calif., UC Irvine, Northern California)
16 Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
17 Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)
18 Garrett Muagututia (OH, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern 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)
27 Tyler Mitchem (MB, 6-11, Bolingbrook, Ill., Lewis Univ., Great Lakes)

Head Coach: John Speraw
Assistant Coaches: Matthew Fuerbringer, Mike Wall
Performance Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot
Consultant Coach: Mike Sealy
Sports Psychologist: Andrea Becker
Sports Psychologist: Bernard Whitney
Team Doctor: James Suchy

U.S. Men’s Schedule for the 2022 VNL (All times PDT)
All matches to be shown on VolleyballWorld.tv

Preliminary Round 1 – Brasilia, Brazil
June 7-11
USA def Slovenia, 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-14)
USA def Netherlands, 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-16)
USA def Japan, 3-2 (17-25, 25-15, 25-21, 26-28, 15-9)
USA def Brazil, 3-1 (21-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-20)

Preliminary Round 2 – Sofia, Bulgaria
June 22-26
USA def Serbia, 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20)
Iran def USA, 3-0 (25-18, 29-27, 27-25)

June 25 at 10 a.m.
USA vs Bulgaria

June 26 at 6:30 a.m.
USA vs Poland

Preliminary Round 3 – Osaka, Japan
July 4 at 11 p.m.
USA vs Germany

July 6 at 8 p.m.
USA vs France

July 8 at 11:40 p.m.
USA vs Canada

July 9 at 8:40 p.m.
USA vs Argentina

Final Round – Bologna, Italy
July 20-24