There have been no surprises Friday when coach John Speraw and USA Volleyball introduced their 12-player roster for the Paris Olympics.
The crew consists of 9 gamers who’re Olympics veterans and three who will play of their first video games. However every of them — center blockers Taylor Averill and Jeff Jendryk and setter Micah Ma’a — are all seasoned professionals who’ve been mainstays with the USA on some degree.
Reverse Matt Anderson and center David Smith will compete of their fourth Olympics. They began in London in 2012, received bronze in Rio in 2016, and had been on the crew in Tokyo three years in the past that didn’t advance to the quarterfinals.
4 gamers are of their third Video games, setter Micah Christenson, center Max Holt, exterior hitter Thomas Jaeschke and libero Erik Shoji.
This would be the second Olympics for outsides TJ DeFalco, Aaron Russell and Garrett Muagututia. Russell performs in Rio however not Tokyo.
This 12 months groups also can deliver a delegated official alternate and that might be reverse Kyle Ensing. Ensing made the 12-player roster in Tokyo.
The opposite two gamers who had been on the Tokyo crew had been Taylor Sander, who went to seashore volleyball, and setter Kawika Shoji, who retired.
The USA, at present ranked No. 2 on this planet, has competed in 12 Olympics, together with the final 10, and has received three gold medals (1984, 1988, 2008) and two bronze (1992, 2016).
USA Volleyball, which compiled the next roster, reported that the Olympics schedule and swimming pools might be set after the upcoming Volleyball Nations League ends on June 30.
Speraw advised us the 14-player USA first-leg VNL roster might be introduced subsequent week. That is Speraw’s fifth Olympics. He was an assistant in 2008 and 2012 earlier than taking up as head coach for the 2015 quadrennial.
The USA males open VNL play in Antalya, Türkiye, on Might 22, after they play Poland, adopted by France, Bulgaria and the house crew.
The second spherical is in Ottawa, Canada. The USA males play Argentina on June 4, adopted by matches in opposition to Italy, Serbia and Canada.
The third leg is in Manila, Philippines, the place the USA performs Iran on June 19, after which Brazil, Germany and Japan.
The finals are in Lodz, Poland, June 27-30.
The crew will return to Anaheim after that, however head again to Poland for a coaching session earlier than heading to Paris.
USA males’s volleyball Olympic roster
No. Participant (Place, Top, Hometown, Faculty)
1. Matt Anderson (OPP, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)
2. Aaron Russell (OH, 6-9, Ellicott Metropolis, Md., Penn State)
4. Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Unwell., Loyola Univ. Chicago)
8. TJ DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Seashore, Calif., Lengthy Seashore State)
11. Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, USC)
12. Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State)
14. Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA)
17. Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Unwell., Loyola Chicago)
18. Garrett Muagututia (OH, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA)
19. Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Hawaii
20. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)
22. Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
Official Alternate: 5. Kyle Ensing (OPP, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Lengthy Seashore State)
Head Coach: John Speraw
Assistant Coaches: Matt Fuerbringer, Javier Weber, Mike Wall
Athletic Coach: Aaron Brock
Efficiency Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Crew Chief: Erik Sullivan
Psychological Efficiency Coaches: Andrea Becker, Peter Naschak
Technical Coordinator: David Dantes
Crew Physician: Lori Boyajian-O’Neill