U.S. Men in Tokyo for Olympic Qualification Tourney

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 26, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s National Team begins its quest to qualify for the Paris 2024 this weekend at the FIVB Road To Paris Olympic Qualifier in Tokyo, Japan.

At the qualifier, which runs Sept. 30-Oct. 8, eight teams will each play seven matches over nine days. The U.S. Men will play matches against Egypt, Finland, Türkiye, Tunisia, Slovenia, Serbia and Japan.

The top two teams will qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games.

There are two other eight-team qualifiers going on at the same time in Brazil and China. At the end of the three qualifiers, six teams for the Olympics will be determined, plus the host country France.

The other five teams will be determined based on world rankings in mid-June 2024.

There are ten Olympians on the roster: setter and Team Captain Micah Christenson, opposites Matt Anderson and Kyle Ensing, outside hitters T.J. DeFalco, Thomas Jaeschke, Garrett Muagututia and Aaron Russell, middle blockers Max Holt and David Smith and libero Erik Shoji.

With them will be setter Micah Ma’a, middle blockers Taylor Averill and Jeff Jendryk and libero Kyle Dagostino.

The U.S. Men’s Head Coach is John Speraw, who led the UCLA men’s volleyball team to the 2023 NCAA National Championship on May 7. Speraw has been the U.S. Men’s head coach since 2013 and helped them to the bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Earlier in September he led the U.S. to the NORCECA Championship.

“The NORCECA Championship was a great opportunity for us to learn about what we needed to do going into Tokyo,” Speraw said. “Our guys are well prepared for (Tokyo). It will have a familiar format, like the World Cup, where we have done well. We’re a little bit older, so it’s going to take a team effort. But I think the team is ready.”

Speraw’s assistants are former indoor and beach player Matt Fuerbringer, who has coached college and club teams, and Javier Weber, a three-time Olympian for Argentina who also coached the national team and continues to coach for professional club teams.

The U.S. Men are ranked No. 2 in the world. The team has competed in 12 Olympic Games, including the last 10. It has won three Olympic gold medals and two bronze.

Matches will be shown on VolleyballWorld.tv.

U.S. Men’s Roster for 2023 Road to Paris Olympic Qualifier

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, Hawaii)
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., Hawaii)

Head Coach: John Speraw
Assistant Coaches: Matthew Fuerbringer and Javier Weber
Performance Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
Team Leader: Nate Ngo
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot
Mental Performance Coach: Andrea Becker
Second Assistant: Morteza Shiari
Second Assistant: Michael Wall
Team Doctor: Lori Boyajian-O’Neill

U.S. Men’s Schedule and Results for the 2023 VNL
All matches will be broadcast on volleyballworld.tv

All times PT
Sept. 30 at 12 a.m. USA vs Egypt
Oct. 1 at 12 a.m. USA vs Finland
Oct. 3 at 12 a.m. USA vs Türkiye
Oct. 4 at 12 a.m. USA vs Tunisia
Oct. 6 at 12 a.m. USA vs Slovenia
Oct. 7 at 12 a.m. USA vs Serbia
Oct. 8 at 3:25 a.m. USA vs Japan