USA Men's roster evolves for 2022 VNL

USA Volleyball has revealed the 25-player U.S. Men’s National Team roster for the Volleyball Nations League 2022.

Fourteen players from the long list will be chosen for each week’s travel roster. The U.S. Men will open the VNL Preliminary Round in Brasilia, Brazil, before moving on to Sofia, Bulgaria, and Osaka, Japan.

The men’s VNL Final Round will be July 20-24 in Bologna, Italy.

Head Coach John Speraw, in his 10th year, will lead the team with assistant coaches Matt Fuerbringer and Mike Wall.

The roster includes 10 players making their first VNL roster and six who plan to return to play in college in the fall.

“There is good young talent on this roster, especially at outside hitter, that we are excited to evaluate early in VNL,” Speraw said. “This is an opportunity for them to show if they can help us win VNL matches and if they can make a World Championship roster down the summer.”

Eight players on the roster return from the team that competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021: setter Micah Christenson; libero Erik Shoji; opposite Kyle Ensing; middle blockers David Smith and Mitch Stahl; and outside hitters T.J. DeFalco, Thomas Jaeschke and Garrett Muagututia.

Outside hitter Aaron Russell, who won the bronze medal with the 2016 Olympic Team, is returning to the team after missing 2021 while recovering from surgery.

Five other players have VNL experience: middle Jeff Jendryk; opposites Jake Hanes and Kyle Russell; libero Kyle Dagostino; and setter Josh Tuaniga.

Newcomers to the VNL roster are setters James Shaw and Quinn Isaacson; middles Patrick Gasman, Merrick McHenry and Tyler Mitchem; outside hitters Cody Kessel, Jacob Pasteur, Will Rottman and Brett Wildman; and libero Mason Briggs.

Six of the newcomers plan to return to their college teams in the fall: Outside hitters Olivier (LBSU), Pasteur (Ohio State), Rottman (Stanford) and Wildman (Penn State), middle blocker McHenry (UCLA) and libero Briggs (LBSU).

“At the beginning of every quad, there’s an opportunity to look at young players who could be Team USA contributors,” Speraw said. “There is a short period before the Paris Olympic Games, and this is the time for us to evaluate young talent.”

The U.S. Men are ranked No. 7 in the world. They placed seventh at the 2021 VNL after finishing second in 2019.

U.S. Men’s National Team 25-Person Roster for 2022 Volleyball Nations League

No. Player (Position, Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)

2 Aaron Russell (OH, 6-9, Ellicott City, Md., Penn State, Chesapeake)

4 Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)

5 Kyle Ensing (OPP, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)

6 Mitch Stahl (MB, 6-8, Chambersburg, Pa., UCLA, Keystone)

7 Jacob Pasteur (OH, 6-4, Westminster, Md., Ohio State Univ., Chesapeake)

8 T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)

9 Jake Hanes (OPP, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State Univ., Great Lakes)

10 Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Florida, Stanford Univ., Florida)

11 Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Southern California, Hawaii)

13 Patrick Gasman (MB, 6-10, Clovis, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)

14 Quinn Isaacson (S, 6-2, Plainfield, Ill., Ball State Univ., Great Lakes)

15 Kyle Russell (OPP, 6-9, Loomis, Calif., UC Irvine, Northern California)

16 Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)

17 Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)

18 Garrett Muagututia (OH, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)

20 David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., Univ. of California Irvine, Southern California)

21 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)

22 Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford Univ., Hawaii)

23 Cody Kessel (OH, 6-5, Colorado Springs, Colo., Princeton Univ., Rocky Mountain)

24 Brett Wildman (OH, 6-5, Virginia Beach, Va., Penn State Univ., Old Dominion)

25 Will Rottman (OH, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford Univ., Southern California)

26 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas)

27 Tyler Mitchem (MB, 6-11, Bolingbrook, Ill., Lewis Univ., Great Lakes)

31 Spencer Olivier (OH, 6-6, Tustin, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)

Head Coach: John Speraw