COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 13, 2019) – USA Volleyball sends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Eric Zaun, 25, who died unexpectedly on Tuesday.

“This is a huge loss for the entire volleyball community,” said USA Volleyball CEO Jamie Davis. “Eric was a talented young beach player and stepped up this spring to play snow volleyball for the U.S. He will be missed.”

Zaun was a native of New Jersey and attended Limestone College in South Carolina where he played men’s volleyball.

In beach volleyball, he started competing on the NVL tour where he was named Rookie of the Year in 2014 and was also the youngest player to win an NVL championship. He later played on the AVP tour, where he was named Rookie of the Year in 2017.

In 2018, he took third with Avery Drost at the NORCECA Tour event in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. He competed in five FIVB World Tour events. His best finish was fifth at the one-star event in Shepparton, Australia with Adam Roberts.

In 2019, Zaun finished fifth with Ian Satterfield at the NORCECA event in Varadero, Cuba. He placed ninth three times on the AVP tour with Drost.

He competed in 2019 FIVB snow volleyball events in Austria and Italy with Chase Frishman, Travis Mewhirter and Chris Vaughan. The team tied for fifth in Austria and tied for ninth in Italy.