The U.S. Men’s National Team will face Russia inside Long Beach State’s Walter Pyramid June 6-7. Russia, Olympic gold medalists in 2012, and the U.S., gold medalists in 2008, will compete as part of World League pool play. Pool B also includes Serbia and Bulgaria, and pool play results will be used to determine which teams move on to the final round. The winner of World League receives $1 million in prize money.
Before the competition begins in Long Beach, USA Volleyball and one volleyball-celebration-organizer extraordinaire Matt Garthoff have pooled their resources and their brainpower to put together the ultimate volleyball tailgate. Featuring food, fun, volleyball, the musical talents of Volleyball‘s music editor DJ Roueche and offering the chance to win prizes and most importantly cheer on Team USA, Vol-B-Que III, as the celebration has been dubbed by its creator Garthoff, is the younger sibling of Vol-B-Que 2, which took place before the match that qualified Team USA for the London Olympics. Legendary beach volleyball player and current assistant coach of the men’s national team Matt Fuerbringer will serve as grand marshal for the event. Patriotic costumes recommended.
The 22-man roster for World League was announced in early May and features college stars Taylor Sander, James Shaw, and Micah Christenson, as well as national team veterans Reid Priddy, Matt Anderson, David Lee, and Sean Rooney.
The following two weekends in June, Team USA will travel to the Chicago area to play Bulgaria and Serbia.
