USA Volleyball on Monday named the 12-player men's team that will represent the United States at this summer's Tokyo Olympics, as well as its eight alternates and coaching and medical staff. Eight players from the 2016 Olympic bronze medal-winning team will make their returns while four will head to the Games for a first time.
Opposite/outside hitter Matt Anderson and middle blocker David Smith, fifth-place finishers at the 2012 Olympics, will make their third straight Games. Making their second appearances: setters Micah Christenson and Kawika Shoji, middle blocker Max Holt, outside hitters Thomas Jaeschke and Taylor Sander and libero Erik Shoji. All eight helped earn the U.S. a bronze medal in Rio by defeating Russia, the defending Olympic champions, in the match for third place; and all but Jaeschke who tore his ACL months prior were members, too, of the 2018 world bronze medal-winning team in Italy.
The four newcomers are opposite Kyle Ensing, outside hitters T.J. DeFalco and Garrett Muagututia and middle blocker Mitch Stahl.
As of mid-June the full, 22-member U.S. men's national team was ranked No. 3 in the world behind Brazil and Poland, and it was attempting to win its first FIVB Volleyball Nations League title in the third edition of the competition after ascending from bronze to silver in the first two in 2018 and 2019.
1 | Matt Anderson, Opposite/Outside Hitter
Age: 34
Height: 6-10
Birthplace: Buffalo, N.Y.
Hometown: West Seneca, N.Y.
College: Penn State
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
mja5041 | @MattAnderson_1
A national team member since 2008.
3 | Taylor Sander, Outside Hitter
Age: 29
Height: 6-4
Birthplace: Fountain Valley, Calif.
Hometown: Huntington Beach, Calif.
College: BYU '14
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
taylorleesander | @TaylorSander15
A national team member since 2012.
5 | Kyle Ensing, Opposite
Age: 24
Height: 6-7
Hometown: Valencia, Calif.
College: Long Beach State '19
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
kyleensing | @kyleensing
A national team member since 2017.
6 | Mitch Stahl, Middle Blocker
Age: 26
Height: 6-8
Birthplace: Chambersburg, Pa.
Hometown: Chambersburg, Pa.
College: UCLA '17
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
mitchstahl
A national team member since 2015.
7 | Kawika Shoji, Setter
Age: 33
Height: 6-3
Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii
College: Stanford '10
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
kshoji7 | @Kshoji7
A national team member since 2010.
8 | TJ DeFalco, Outside Hitter
Age: 24
Height: 6-5
Birthplace: Missouri
Hometown: Huntington Beach, Calif.
College: Long Beach State '19
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
tjdefalco | @TJDeFalco
A national team member since 2015.
11 | Micah Christenson, Setter
Age: 28
Height: 6-5
Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii
College: Southern California '15
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
mchristenson5 | @MChristenson5
A national team member since 2013.
12 | Max Holt, Middle Blocker
Age: 34
Height: 6-10
Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
College: Penn State '09
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
maxwellholt | @MaxwellHolt
A national team member since 2009.
17 | Thomas Jaeschke, Outside Hitter
Age: 27
Height: 6-6
Birthplace: Hinsdale, Ill.
Hometown: Wheaton, Ill.
College: Loyola Chicago (until '15)
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
t_jaeschke | @T_Jaeschke
A national team member since 2015.
18 | Garrett Muagututia, Outside Hitter
Age: 33
Height: 6-5
Hometown: Oceanside, Calif.
College: UCLA '10
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
gtmuagututia
A national team member since 2011.
20 | David Smith, Middle Blocker
Age: 36
Height: 6-7
Birthplace: Panorama City, Calif.
Hometown: Saugus, Calif.
College: UC Irvine '07
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
davidmsmith15 | @davidmsmith15
A national team member since 2009.
22 | Erik Shoji, Libero
Age: 31
Height: 6-0
Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii
Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii
College: Stanford '12
USAV Bio | Team USA Bio
erikshoji | @shojinator
A national team member since 2013.
Alternates
- Aaron Russell (#2, OH, Ellicott City, Md.)
- Jeff Jendryk (#4, MB, Wheaton, Ill.)
- Ben Patch (#13, OPP, Layton, Utah)
- Brenden Sander (#15, OH, Huntington Beach, Calif.)
- Josh Tuaniga (#16, S, Long Beach, Calif.)
- Taylor Averill (#19, MB, San Jose, Calif.)
- Dustin Watten (#21, L, Long Beach, Calif.)
- Kyle Russell (#25, OPP, Sacramento, Calif.)
Coaches
- Head Coach: John Speraw
- Asst. Coaches: Brian Thornton, Matthew Fuerbringer, Mike Wall
- Team Manager: Erik Sullivan
- Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
- Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
- Strength Coach: Timothy Pelot
- Doctor: Chris Lee
- Statistician/Scout: Andrew Strick
- Massage Therapist: Jennifer Holt