In-depth look at the USA men’s first-round roster for Volleyball Nations League
Olympics
Lee Feinswog
June 5, 2023
The men begin Volleyball Nations League play Tuesday with four matches as Bulgaria plays China and Japan plays Iran in Nagoya, Japan, and Italy plays Argentina and Canada plays Cuba in Ottawa, Canada.
The USA gets into action Wednesday.
Things get going in Japan when Slovenia plays Serbia and Poland faces France. In Canada, the USA plays the Netherlands and Brazil takes on Germany.
USA coach John Speraw previously announced the 30-player pool from which he will select 14 players for each leg. That complete list is below. After four matches in Ottawa, the USA plays four times in Rotterdam, Netherlands, starting June 20, and then four times in Anaheim, California, starting July 4. For each round, there will likely be a different roster.
In 2022, the USA lost in five to France in the VNL final.
“It’s great to reconvene and get the team back in the gym,” Speraw said. “While many of us have spent a lot of time together, there’s always a process to get all of us reconnected in terms of how we play on the court.
“This week will be all about moving our connection forward and ensuring that we get better in every match. All the while knowing that all of these matches have implications towards world rankings and Olympic qualification. So already there’s a sense of urgency with this group and they’re excited to get onto the floor.”
This is a look at the 14 players playing the first round.
SETTERS: Two-time Olympian Micah Christenson and Micah Ma’a. You don’t have to be a Micah to play on the USA national team, but it helps, considering one of the the USA women’s setters is Micha Hancock.
Christenson, the Hawai’ian who played at USC, has been with Zenit Kazan in Russia the past two years. Ma’a, also from Hawai’i, played for Speraw at UCLA. This past season he played for Halkbank Ankara in Türkiye.
TJ DeFalco blasts the ball past the France block in VNL 2022 as Jeff Jendryk looks on/Volleyball World photo
OUTSIDE HITTERS: Three of the four, TJ DeFalco, Aaron Russell, and Garrett Muagututia, are Olympians.
DeFalco, the product of Huntington Beach who was all-everything at Long Beach State, was 18 when he joined the USA national team in 2015. He played for Asseco Resovia Rzeszów in Poland last season.
Russell, the former Penn State standout, has been with the national team since 2014. The 2016 Olympian played for JT Thunders in Hiroshima, Japan, this season.
Muagututia, who played at UCLA, was with Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi in Indonesia this year.
MIDDLE BLOCKERS: This position boasts quite a bit of experience, starting with three-time Olympian David Smith, the product of UC Irvine who has been with the national team since 2009. He’s been with Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle since 2019.
Penn State product Max Holt has also been with the national team since 2009 and after being an alternate in 2012 was on the Rio and Tokyo Olympic teams. Holt left Italy to play in China this past season for Beijing BAIC Moto.
Jeff Jendryk, from Wheaton, Illinois, who played at Loyola Chicago, played for LUK Lublin in Poland this past season, his sixth as a pro.
Taylor Averill, who played at Hawai’i, is another veteran who played the past two seasons for Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
OPPOSITES: When he’s healthy few are better than Matt Anderson, the product of West Seneca, N..Y., who was a star at Penn State. He’s been with the national team since 2008 which includes three Olympics. He’s been the USA’s leading scorer every season since 2011. This past season he played with Zenit St. Petersburg in Russa.
Kyle Ensing had a spectacular 2022 VNL. The product of Long Beach State and Tokyo Olympian played in France this past season for Saint-Nazaire Volley-Ball Atlantique.
Jake Hanes, who played at Ohio State, made his international USA debut last season at VNL and came up big. This past season he played at TS BBTS Bielsko-Biała in Poland.
LIBERO: Erik Shoji. Whereas Karch Kiraly, for example, took two liberos with the USA women’s team on its first round of VNL, Speraw has just Shoji, the seasoned veteran from Stanford who has played in two Olympics. He’s been with Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle in Poland the past two seasons, where he was a teammate of Smith’s.
Dave Smith and Erik Shoji after winning their Polish PlusLiga and Champions League crowns with ZAKSA in 2022/Zaksa Instagram
The 30-player roster
No. Player (Position, Height, Hometown, College) 1. Matt Anderson (Opp, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State) 2. Aaron Russell (OH, 6-9, Ellicott City, Md., Penn State) 3. James Shaw (S, 6-8, Woodside, Calif. Stanford) 4. Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Chicago) 5. Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State) 6. Quinn Isaacson (S, 6-2, Plainfield, Ill., Ball State) 7. Jacob Pasteur (OH, 6-4, Westminster, Md., Ohio State) 8. TJ DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State) 9. Jake Hanes (OPP, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State) 10. Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Florida, Stanford) 11. Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawai’i, USC) 12. Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State) 13. Patrick Gasman (MB, 6-10, Clovis, Calif., Hawai’i) 14. Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawai’i) 15. Kyle Russell (Opp, 6-9, Loomis, Calif., UC Irvine) 16. Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State) 17. Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Chicago) 18. Garrett Muagututia (OH, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA) 19. Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Hawai’i) 20. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine) 21. Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State) 22. Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Stanford) 23. Cody Kessel (OH, 6-5, Colorado Springs, Colo., Princeton) 24. Brett Wildman (OH, 6-5, Virginia Beach, Va., Penn State) 25. Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA) 26. Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, 27. Tyler Mitchem (MB, 6-11, Bolingbrook, Ill., Lewis) 28. Francesco Sani (Opp, 6-8, Bethesda, Md., UC Irvine) 29. Jordan Ewert (OH, 6-5, Antioch, Calif., Stanford) 30. Kyle McCauley (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., UC San Diego)
Head Coach: John Speraw Assistant Coaches: Matt Fuerbringer, Javier Weber Second Assistant Coaches: Erik Sullivan, Mike Wall Performance Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot Team Manager: David Dantes Sports Psychologist: Andrea Becker Team Doctors: Andrew Gregory, Christopher Lee, Jeremiah Ray, Michael Shepard, Steven Stovitz, James Suchy, Eugene Yim
USA VNL schedule at Ottawa, Canada June 7 vs. Netherlands June 8 vs. Italy June 10 vs. Canada June 11 vs. Brazil at Rotterdam, Netherlands June 20 vs. Serbia June 21 vs. China June 23 vs. Iran June 24 vs. Poland at Anaheim, CA July 5 vs Cuba July 7 vs. Argentina July 8 vs. France July 9 vs. Bulgaria Finals July 19-23, Gdansk, Poland
Check out VNL match times and TV listings. All VNL matches can be watched on VolleyballWorld.TV. Use the promo code VOLLEYBALLMAG for a discount on monthly or annual subscriptions.
