There were no surprises Friday when coach John Spero and USA Volleyball announced the 12-man roster for the Paris Olympics.
The team consists of nine athletes with extensive Olympic experience and three athletes competing for the first time. However, middle blockers Taylor Averill and Jeff Gendrick and setter Micah Maher are all experienced pros who have been mainstays for the U.S. team at some level.
Opposite player Matt Anderson and middle player David Smith will be competing in the Olympics for the fourth time. They started in London in 2012 and were part of the Tokyo team that won bronze in Rio in 2016 but failed to reach the quarter-finals three years ago.
Four players will be competing for the third time: setter Mika Christenson, middle hitter Max Holt, outside hitter Tomas Jaschke, and libero Eric Shoji.
This will be the second Olympics for outsiders TJ DeFalco, Aaron Russell and Garrett Mugtutia. Russell will play in Rio, but not in Tokyo.
This year, teams can also bring in a designated official alternate, who will play opposite Kyle Ensing. Ensing was named to the 12-man roster in Tokyo.
The other two players on the Tokyo team were Taylor Sander, who went to beach volleyball, and retired setter Shoji Kauka.
The United States, currently ranked second in the world, has participated in 12 Olympics, including the past 10, winning three gold medals (1984, 1988, 2008) and two bronze medals (1992, 2016). There is.
USA Volleyball, which compiled the rosters below, reported that Olympic schedules and pools will be set after the next Volleyball Nations League concludes on June 30th.
Spero said the U.S. 14-player roster for the VNL first leg will be announced next week. This will be Spero's fifth Olympics. He served as an assistant in 2008 and 2012 and was named head coach for the fourth time in 2015.
The U.S. men's team will play its VNL opener in Antalya, Turkiye on May 22nd, playing Poland, followed by France and Bulgaria as the home team.
The second round will be held in Ottawa, Canada. The U.S. men's national team will play Argentina on June 4, followed by games against Italy, Serbia and Canada.
Game 3 will be held in Manila, Philippines, on June 19th, when the United States will face Iran, followed by games against Brazil, Germany, and Japan.
The final will be held in Lodz, Poland from June 27th to 30th.
The team will then return to Anaheim, but will return to Poland for training sessions before heading to Paris.
U.S. men's volleyball Olympic team roster
Player number (position, height, hometown, university)
1. Matt Anderson (OPP, 6-10, West Seneca, NY, PA)
2. Aaron Russell (Ohio State, Ellicott City, Maryland, 6-9 Penn State)
4. Jeff Gendrick (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, IL, Loyola University Chicago)
8. TJ DeFalco (Ohio State, 6-5 Huntington Beach, California, Long Beach State)
11. Mika Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, USC)
12. Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Pennsylvania)
14. Mika Maher (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA)
17. Thomas Jeschke (Ohio State, 6-6, Wheaton, Illinois, Loyola Chicago)
18. Garrett Muagtusia (Ohio State, Oceanside, Calif., 6-5, UCLA)
19. Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, California, Hawaii)
20. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, CA, UC Irvine)
22. Eric Shoji (loser, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
Official Alternate: 5. Kyle Ensing (OPP, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State)
Head Coach: John Spero
Assistant coaches: Matt Fuhrbringer, Javier Weber, Mike Wall
Athletic trainer: Aaron Brock
Performance Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Team Leader: Eric Sullivan
Mental Performance Coach: Andrea Becker, Peter Naschak
Technical Coordinator: David Dantes
Team Doctor: Lori Boyajian O'Neal