2013 U.S. Men's Grand Champions Cup Media Guide by Bonnie Evans

USA Volleyball

Table of Contents Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................................................3 Fast Facts....................................................................................................................................................................4-5 Roster and Pronuciation Guide..........................................................................................................................................6 Grand Champions Cup Schedule.......................................................................................................................................7 2013 U.S. Men’s Results..................................................................................................................................................7 Grand Champions Cup Preview.........................................................................................................................................8 Grand Champions Cup on TV............................................................................................................................................8 2013 Player Statistics (sponsored by DataProject)..............................................................................................................9 Match Recaps for 2013 FIVB World League................................................................................................................10-29 Match Recaps for 2013 Pan American Cup................................................................................................................30-34 Pan American Cup Player Statistics.................................................................................................................................35 Match Recaps for 2013 NORCECA Championship.......................................................................................................36-39 2012 Results............................................................................................................................................................40-41 2012 Season Review................................................................................................................................................42-44 2012 Players of the Year................................................................................................................................................45 2012 U.S. Men’s Statistics (sponsored by DataProject).....................................................................................................46 Photo roster for 2013 Grand Champions Cup..................................................................................................................47 U.S. Men’s National Team Player Bios........................................................................................................................48-61 U.S. Men’s National Team Staff Bios...........................................................................................................................62-65 All-Time Olympians........................................................................................................................................................66 U.S. Men’s National Team All-Time Results Versus International Competition......................................................................67 International Volleyball Fact Sheet..............................................................................................................................68-70 USA Volleyball Fact Sheet...............................................................................................................................................71

Credits: The 2013 U.S. Men’s National Team Grand Champions Cup Media Guide is a copyrighted publication produced by USA Volleyball. Content and Design: B.J. Hoeptner Evans, USA Volleyball Commmunications Manager Cover Design by: Kristina Harter, USA Volleyball Communications Intern USA Volleyball, 4065 Sinton Road, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80907 Phone: (719) 228-6800 E-Mail: info@usav.org Web Site: http://usavolleyball.org

U.S. Men's Team Fast Facts 2013 Results (includes all senior level men’s teams)

Headquarters: The American Sports Centers in Anaheim, Calif. Address 1500 Anaheim Blvd., Suite. 200, Anaheim, CA 92805 Phone: (714) 917-3535 Fax: (714) 917-3536 Web site: USAVolleyball.org World Ranking: Fifth (tied with Cuba) 2013 Record: 7-8 2012 Record: 25-7 2011 Record: 26-15 2010 Record: 14-7 2009 Record: 16-6 Head Coach: John Speraw Assistant Coach: Matt Fuerbringer Assistant Coach: Mike Wall Technical Coordinator: Anton Willert Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock Media Inquiries: B.J. Hoeptner Evans Phone: (719) 228-6800 E-mail: BJ.Evans@USAV.org USA Volleyball Fast Facts CEO: Doug Beal National Office: 4065 Sinton Road, Suite 200 Colorado Springs, CO 80907 (719) 228-6800 International Federation: The FIVB (Federation Internationale de Volleyball — fivb.org) Regional Confederation: NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean — norceca.org) Sponsors: City of Anaheim, American Sports Centers, Mizuno, Molten, Data Project Founded in 1928, USA Volleyball is a Colorado incorporated non-profit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB) as the National Governing Body for the sport of Volleyball in the United States. USAV is responsible for both the Olympic disciplines of indoor volleyball and beach volleyball. USAV has more than 262,000 registered members, 12,000 teams and 5,300 clubs nationwide. With an annual budget in excess of $18 million dollars, USA Volleyball supports the USA men’s and women’s senior national team programs, youth and junior national teams, national championship events, coaching education and certification programs, grassroots development, and programs for the disabled and Paralympic Teams. USA Volleyball has a rich tradition of success.

NORCECA Continental Championship 9-23: Win v St. Lucia, 3-0 9-24: Win v Dominican Republic, 3-0 9-27: Win v Puerto Rico, 3-1 (Semifinal) 9-28: Win v Canada, 3-0 (Gold Medal) Pan American Cup 8-19: Win v Dominican Republic, 3-2 8-20: Win v Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0 8-21: Loss v Mexico, 3-2 8-22: Loss v Puerto Rico, 3-2 (Quarters) 8-23: Win v Dominican Republic, 3-0 (7th place) FIVB World League 6-7: Loss v Argentina, 3-1 6-8: Win v Argentina, 3-1 6-14: Win v France, 3-0 6-15: Win v France, 3-2 6-28: Win v Bulgaria, 3-0 6-29: Loss v Bulgaria, 3-1 7-5: Loss v Poland, 3-2 7-7: Loss v Poland, 3-1 7-13: Loss v Brazil, 3-1 7-14: Loss v Brazil, 3-0 2012 Results (includes all senior level men’s teams) Argentina Exhibitions 4-27: Won v Argentina, 3-1 4-29: Won v Argentina, 3-2

USA Volleyball National Teams Center and The City of Anaheim Since 2006, the City of Anaheim, Calif., has been proud to serve as the Official Host City for the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team, followed by the Women’s Team in 2009. The teams train at the American Sports Centers. Anaheim is the 10th largest city in California, and home to world class sports and entertainment such as Angels Baseball, the Anaheim Ducks, the LEED-certified Anaheim Convention Center, the largest convention center on the west coast, and the Disneyland Resort. For more information about the City’s commitment to USAV, please visit www.anaheim.net/usav.

NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament 5-7: Won v Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0 5-8: Won v Costa Rica, 3-0 5-9: Won v Mexico, 3-0 5-11: Won v Cuba, 3-1 (Semifinal) 5-12: Won v Canada, 3-0 (Gold Medal) FIVB World League 5-18: Loss v France, 3-1 5-19: Won v Korea, 3-2 5-20: Loss v Italy, 3-0 6-15: Won v Italy, 3-0 6-16: Won v Korea, 3-1 6-17: Won v France, 3-1 6-22: Won v Italy, 3-1 6-23: Won v France, 3-0 6-24: Won v Korea, 3-0 6-29: Won v Korea, 3-0 6-30: Loss v France, 3-2 7-1: Win v Italy, 3-2 7-5: Loss v Germany, 3-2 (Final round) 7-6: Win v Bularia, 3-0 (Final round) 7-7: Win v Cuba, 3-0 (Semifinal) 7-8: Loss v Poland, 3-0 (Gold medal) Pan American Cup 7-9: Win v Venezuela, 3-0 7-10: Win v Mexico, 3-0 7-11: Win v Brazil, 3-1 7-13: Win v Dominican Republic, 3-2 (Semi) 7-14: Win v Argentina, 3-0 (Gold Medal) Olympic Games 7-29: Win v Serbia, 3-0 7-31: Win v Germany, 3-0 8-2: Win v Brazil, 3-1 8-4: Loss v Russia, 3-2 8-6: Win v Tunisia, 3-0 8-8: Loss v Italy, 3-0 (Quarterfinals)

U.S. Men's Team Fast Facts Current Men’s FIVB World Rankings 1 Brazil 345 2 Russia 342 3 Italy 286 4 USA 183 5 Poland 176 6 Bulgaria 173 7 Cuba 171 7 Argentina 171 9 Serbia 169 10 Germany 120 11 Canada 79 12 Iran 68 13 Tunisia 66 14 Australia 64 15 Egypt 63 16 France 59 17 Japan 51 18 China 49 19 Cameroon 45 20 Puerto Rico 45 21 Republic of Korea 44 22 Czech Republic 40 22 Mexico 40 24 Colombia 33 25 Spain 32 26 Morocco 31 27 Algeria 26 27 Chile 26 29 Dominican Republic 25 30 Finland 24 31 Venezuela 23 31 Netherlands 23 31 Paraguay 23 34 India 20 34 Thailand 20 36 Slovakia 19 37 Belgium 18 38 Slovenia 16 38 Portugal 16 38 Romania 16 41 Bahamas 15 42 Estonia 14 42 Panama 14 44 Kazakhstan 13 45 Turkey 12 45 Chinese Taipei 12 45 Belarus 12 45 Guatemala 12 49 St. Lucia 49 Qatar

Story Ideas for the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team 1. Many Hats: New U.S. Men’s National Team Head Coach John Speraw is doing double duty as the head coach of both the UCLA men’s volleyball team and the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team. The fact that both these programs wanted him is a testament to his success as a coach. Speraw won three NCAA DI-II Men’s National Collegiate Volleyball Championships with UC Irvine when he served as its coach for 10 seasons until 2012, when he took the UCLA position. He was an assistant coach under Hugh McCutcheon with the U.S. Men’s National Team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and under Alan Knipe at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. 2. Off the Beach: Matt Fuerbringer had been planning to play professional beach volleyball overseas in 2013 until John Speraw asked him to be the assistant coach of the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team. Fuerbringer and partner Nick Lucena were the highest ranked beach volleyball team not to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games (the U.S. could only send two teams). After taking the job with the U.S. Men’s indoor team, Fuerbringer briefly returned to the beach to compete at the 2013 Manhattan Beach Open, where he and partner Casey Jennings each won their first title. 5. The Veteran: Outside hitter Reid Priddy is the most seasoned veteran on the U.S. NORCECA roster. He has competed in the last three Olympic Games, including the 2008 gold medal-winning team. He has competed under four national team coaches in that time: Doug Beal, Hugh McCutcheon, Alan Knipe and now John Speraw. His personal life has also changed. When he started he was single. Now he is married with a young son. 6. The Rookie: Setter Micah Christenson, going into his junior season at USC, thought he would be playing for the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team this summer. Instead, John Speraw called on him to join the Men’s National Team and he made an impressive rookie debut at the NORCECA Continental Championship in Vancouver. Onlookers compared him to singer Adele at the 2012 Grammy Awards after he carried away awards for Best Setter and Best Server and being named the setter to the All-Star Team. 7. The Brothers: Erik and Kawika Shoji got to play together for two years at Punahou High School in Honolulu and for two years at Stanford University. Now the pair has been reunited on the U.S. Men’s National Team. Both have played on U.S. youth and junior teams through the years.

What is the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup? Japan has hosted every edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Grand Champions Cup, which is held every four years, since its inception in 1993. The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup features a total of six teams per gender, with the hosts Japan being joined by the continental winners from Asia, Europe, NORCECA and South America, along with an additional country selected by the FIVB, host broadcasters NTV and hosts the Japan Volleyball Association. Africa do not have an automatic spot in the tournament after finishing the 2012 Olympic Games as the lowest ranked confederation amongst the five. In August, three-time winners Brazil won their 29th South American title to become the first team to qualify for the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Grand Champions Cup. The world No. 1 and two-time defending champions have participated in every edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Grand Champions Cup (Japan being the only other nation to do so also) and are the most successful nation going on to win in 1997, 2005 and 2009 with silver medals to their name in 1993 and 2001. Italy and Cuba (2001) are the only other two countries to have won the event.

2013 U.S. Roster for World Grand Champions Cup No. Name Pos. Age Ht. Wt. Hometown College 1 Matt Anderson OH 26 6-9 220 West Seneca, N.Y. Penn State 2 Sean Rooney (C) OH 31 6-10 220 Wheaton, Ill. Pepperdine 4 David Lee MB 31 6-8 231 Alpine, Calif. Long Beach State 6 Paul Lotman OH 28 6-7 225 Lakewood, Calif. Long Beach State 7 Kawika Shoji S 26 6-3 194 Honolulu, Hawaii Stanford 8 Reid Priddy OH 36 6-4 194 Richmond, Va. Loyola Marymount 9 Murphy Troy Opp 24 6-5 235 St. Louis, Mo. USC 11 Micah Christenson S 20 6-6 194 Honolulu, Hawaii USC 13 Futi Tavana MB 26 6-8 243 Kalaheo, Hawaii BYU 14 Jeff Menzel OH 25 6-6 210 Santa Barbara, Calif. UC Santa Barbara 15 Carson Clark Opp 24 6-6 205 Santa Barbara, Calif. UC Irvine 17 Max Holt MB 25 6-9 198 Cincinnati, Ohio Penn State 19 Erik Shoji L 24 6-0 180 Honolulu, Hawaii Stanford 20 David Smith MB 27 6-7 190 Saugus, Calif. UC Irvine Head Coach: John Speraw (Irvine, Calif.) Team Leader: Gary Moy ( Assistant Coach: Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) Assistant Coach: Mike Wall (Santa Barbara, Calif.) Consultant Coach: Andrea Becker (Martinez, Calif.) Physiotherapist/Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock (Storm Lake, Iowa) Technical Coordinator: Anton Willert (Berlin, Germany) Team Doctor: Andrew Gregory (Nashville, Tenn.) Team Journalist: B.J. Hoeptner Evans (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Average age: 26.6 Oldest player: Reid Priddy (36) Youngest player: Micah Christenson (20) Average height: 6-7 Tallest player: Sean Rooney (6-10) Shortest player: Erik Shoji (6-0)

Pronunciation Guide 7 Kawika Shoji................................................................................................................................................... ka-VEE-ka SHOW-jee 11 Micah Christenson........................................................................................................................................................... MIKE-ah 13 Futi Tavana..................................................................................................................................................................... ta-va-NA 14 Jeff Menzel..................................................................................................................................................................... men-ZEL 20 Erik Shoji...................................................................................................................................................................... SHOW-jee Coach John Speraw..............................................................................................................................................................spur-AW Assistant Coach Matt Fuerbringer................................................................................................................................... FUR-bring-er

Photo of Reid Priddy by Matt Brown

2013 World Grand Champions Cup Schedule NORCECA Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Continental Championships Schedule All times PT

Tokyo Nov. 21-22 7:10 p.m.: USA vs. Italy 11:10 p.m.: Iran vs. Russia 2:10 a.m.: Japan vs. Brazil

Kyoto Nov. 18-19 7:10 p.m.: Italy vs. Russia 11:10 p.m.: Iran vs. Brazil 2:10 a.m.: USA vs. Japan

Nov. 22-23 7:10 p.m.: Iran vs. USA 11:10 p.m.: Russia vs. Brazil 2:10 a.m.: Italy vs. Japan

Nov. 19-20 7:10 p.m.: Italy vs. Iran 11:10 p.m.: Brazil vs. USA 2:10 a.m.: Russia vs. Japan

Nov. 23-24 7:10 p.m.: Brazil vs. Italy 10:10 p.m.: USA vs. Russia 1:10 a.m.: Japan vs. Iran

2013 U.S. Men's Results FIVB World League Date Opponent (Record) Result City Points Leader Attendance 6/7 Argentina (0-1) L (25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 26-24) Wichita, Kan. Ciarelli 11 3,800 6/8 Argentina (1-1) W (22-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-16) Wichita, Kan. Anderson 18 3,300 6/14 France (2-1) W (25-15, 29-27, 25-16) Tulsa, Okla. Anderson 22 2,781 6/15 France (3-1) W (22-25, 25-22, 24-26, 30-28, 15-9) Tulsa, Okla. Anderson/Lotman 21 3,205 6/28 Bulgaria (4-1) W (25-19, 25-22, 25-21) Reno, Nev. Anderson 13 3,500 6/29 Bulgaria (4-2) L (25-20, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21) Reno, Nev. Anderson 16 4,125 7/5 Poland (4-3) L (25-22, 19-25, 13-25, 30-28, 18-16) Katowice, Poland Clark 27 11,000 7/7 Poland (4-4) L (25-23, 17-25, 25-21, 25-23) Wroclaw, Poland Anderson 21 6,000 7/13 Brazil (4-5) L (25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 28-26) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Anderson 14 11,600 7/14 Brazil (4-6) L (25-21, 26-24, 25-23) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Clark 17 11,988 Final Results: 1. Russia, 2. Brazil, 3. Italy, 4. Bulgaria, 5. Canada, 6. Argentina, 7. Germany, 8. Serbia, 9. Iran, 10. France, 11. Poland, 12. USA, 13. Cuba, 14. Netherlands, 15. Korea, 16. Finland, 17. Portugal, 18. Japan Pan American Cup Mexico City, Mexico Date Opponent (Record) Result Points Leader Attendance 8/19 Dominican Republic (5-6) W (26-24, 25-14, 22-25, 21-25, 15-7) Sander 19 1,200 8/20 Trinidad & Tobago (6-6) W (25-14, 25-10, 25-20) Lavaja 10 500 8/21 Mexico (6-7) L (21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 17-15) Sander 22 3,000 8/22 Puerto Rico (6-8) L (16-25, 25-16, 26-28, 27-25, 18-16) Sander 20 1,200 8/23 Dominican Republic (7-8) W (25-20, 25-19, 25-14) Sander 17 1,000 Final Results: 1. Brazil, 2. Mexico, 3. Argentina, 4. Puerto Rico, 5. USA, 6. Dominican Republic, 7. Trinidad & Tobago NORCECA Continental Championship Langley, Canada Date Opponent (Record) Results Points Leader Attendance 9/23 St. Lucia (8-8) W (25-12, 25-10, 25-11) Troy 14 275 9/24 Dominican Republic (9-8) W (25-19, 25-17, 25-9) Priddy 15 340 9/27 Puerto Rico (10-8) W (25-13, 24-26, 25-20, 25-16) Anderson 16 840 9/28 Canada (11-8) W (25-23, 25-10, 25-14) Anderson 17 5,000 Final Results: 1. USA, 2. Canada, 3. Cuba, 4. Puerto Rico, 5. Mexico, 6. Dominican Republic, 7. Bahamas, 8. St. Lucia

2013 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup Preview Prior to the 2013 NORCECA Continental Championship in September, Lloy Ball visited with the U.S. Men’s National Team in Anaheim, Calif.

The U.S. Men have played Brazil twice this year in World League pool play matches, losing 3-1 and 3-0. They played two scrimmages against Japan while training in Tokyo during the week before the Grand Champions Cup.

Ball, the four-time Olympic setter who capped his career with the U.S. Men’s Team with an Olympic gold medal in 2008, came away feeling positive about the team’s prospects. “I was impressed with the level of play in the gym,” Ball said. “The team trained at a high energy level with focus and attention to detail. “I think John (Speraw) and his staff have the team in the right path to not only be medal-ready in Rio, but much before that.” The U.S. Men proved Ball right by winning the gold medal at the NORCECA Championship. With the victory, they earned the right to try for their second medal of the 2016 Olympic quadrennial on Nov. 19-24 at the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup in Japan.

“We’re going to have a wonderful opportunity to train with the Japanese at the Japanese Institute of Sports Science,” Speraw said. “We’re very grateful to the (Japan Volleyball Association) for the opportunity and look forward to training against Japan as we practice.”

But winning another medal will not be easy as the U.S. Men, ranked No. 4 in the world, will have to play No. 1 Brazil, No. 2 Russia and No. 3 Italy along with No. 12 Iran and No. 17 Japan.

The U.S. Men have not faced Russia and Italy since the 2012 Olympic Games (where they fell to both European sides) and they last faced Iran at the 2011 FIVB World Cup, where they defeated the Asian zone champions 3-0.

“We know we are going to be playing some very good volleyball teams that have been playing well,” Speraw (Los Angeles) said. “We’re looking forward to it. Our ability to adapt will be critical.”

After a 12th-place finish at the 2013 FIVB World League that saw the U.S. Men miss out on playing in the Final Round, Speraw is glad to have the opportunity to play some more top teams.

Brazil, Iran, Russia and the United States all qualified for the Grand Champions Cup by winning their zone championships. Italy was invited with a wild card and Japan is competing as the host country.

“As we prepare for the 2014 World Championship, the opportunity to play other teams is of great benefit to us and our preparation,” he said.

Brazil is ranked No. 1 in the world by the FIVB. Russia is No. 2 and Italy No. 3. The U.S. Men are ranked No. 4. Iran is ranked No. 12 and Japan, led by former U.S. Men’s Assistant Coach Gary Sato, sits at No. 17.

Speraw also said that had and his staff are far from finished evaluating talent as the team takes the long view toward the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. “I think we’re going to keep evaluating players for some time,” he said. “We have the potential through that process to develop some depth, which is what the top teams in the world are doing. No matter what the outcome of the Grand Champions Cup, Ball has high hopes for the future of the U.S. Men’s National Team “I believe USA Volleyball should and can be a realistic champion in every tournament, every year,” he said. NORCECA Championship photos courtesy of Volleyball Canada

2013 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup on TV Men’s Grand Champions Cups are being shown in the United States the beIN Sport network. The full schedule is not yet available, but here is the schedule up until Nov. 22. Tuesday, Nov. 19: USA v Japan at 5 p.m. ET Wednesday, Nov. 20: USA v Japan again at 9 a.m. ET Thursday, Nov. 21: USA v Brazil at 5 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 22: USA v Italy at 5 p.m ET

2013 U.S. Player Statistics Name Matt Anderson Tony Ciarelli Carson Clark Kyle Caldwell Micah Christenson Russell Holmes Max Holt David Lee Paul Lotman Jeff Menzel Garrett Muagututia Reid Priddy Kawika Shoji David Smith Futi Tavana Brian Thornton Murphy Troy Erik Shoji

Sets 49 13 36 20 12 6 38 35 27 3 2 11 23 24 9 4 19 39

Kills 163 28 113 14 3 4 72 48 65 9 2 31 12 32 15 1 51 0

Kills/ set 3.33 2.15 3.14 0.7 0.25 0.67 1.89 1.37 2.41 3 1 2.82 0.52 1.33 1.67 0.25 2.68 0

Kill pct 46.0 37.3 43.8 66.7 42.9 50.0 66.7 55.2 41.7 81.8 25.0 53.4 70.6 55.2 62.5 100.0 45.9 0

Hit errors 21 8 25 1 0 2 7 7 19 0 2 0 0 3 2 0 14 0

Attempts 354 75 258 21 7 8 108 87 156 11 8 58 17 58 24 1 111 0

Efficiency 0.401 0.267 0.341 0.619 0.429 0.250 0.602 0.471 0.295 0.818 0 0.534 0.706 0.500 0.542 1.000 0.333 0

Aces 14 2 20 2 7 2 6 3 4 2 0 5 5 5 1 0 5 0

Aces/ set 0.29 0.15 0.56 0.10 0.58 0.33 0.16 0.09 0.15 0.67 0 0.45 0.22 0.21 0.11 0 0.26 0

Blocks 18 1 4 10 6 2 35 29 8 6 0 3 5 14 7 0 4 0

Totals Opponents

52 52

663 593

12.75 11.40

48.7 42.8

111 142

1362 1386

0.405 0.325

83 45

1.60 0.86

152 93

2013 Setting Statistics (Based on official FIVB and NORCECA statistics) Name

Sets Running Faults Played Sets

Total Attempts

Running Sets Per Set

Kawika Shoji Kyle Caldwell Micah Christenson Brian Thornton

23 20 12 4

4 6 0 0

449 394 247 74

6.57 5.40 5.92 5.5

Ex. Receptions

151 108 71 22

2013 Libero Statistics (Based on official FIVB and NORCECA statistics) Name

Sets

Digs

Digs/Set

Erik Shoji

144

3.69

123

Receptions/Set 3.15

Blocks/ set 0.37 0.08 0.11 0.50 0.50 0.33 0.92 0.83 0.30 2.00 0 0.27 0.22 0.58 0.78 0 0.21 0 2.92

Digs 52 19 47 27 11 0 20 16 37 4 2 27 26 14 4 3 16 144

Digs/ set 1.06 1.46 1.31 1.35 0.92 0 0.53 0.46 1.37 1.33 1 2.45 1.13 0.58 0.44 0.75 0.84 3.69

Points 195 31 137 26 16 8 113 80 77 17 2 39 22 51 23 1 60 0

Points/ set 3.98 2.38 3.81 1.30 1.33 1.33 2.97 2.29 2.85 5.67 1.00 3.54 0.44 2.13 2.56 0.25 3.16 0

469 512

9.02 9.85

898 731

17.27 14.06

1 2 3 4 USA 18 21 25 24 ARG 25 25 22 26

U.S. Loses Opening World League Match to Argentina WICHITA, Kan. (June 7, 2013) – Argentina used tough serving and defense to defeat the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team, 25-18, 25-21, 2225, 26-24 in the first match of the 2013 FIVB World League for both teams on Friday at Charles Koch Arena. The FIVB World League is the premier annual international men’s volleyball tournament. The teams will meet again on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT to conclude their first Pool A weekend series. The U.S. is ranked fifth in the world by the FIVB, while Argentina is ranked ninth. Argentina led the U.S. Men in kills (52-43) while the United States held the edge in blocks (13-11) and aces (6-5). However the U.S. Men were hurt by committing 30 team errors while Argentina had 26. The United States was led by Tony Ciarelli’s 11 points on nine kills, one block and one ace. Murphy Troy added nine points on nine attacks in two sets of play, while Paul Lotman tallied nine points on five kills and four blocks in Erik Shoji receives the ball (FIVB photo) starting the final two sets. David Lee contributed nine points on five kills and four blocks. Argentina was led by Pablo Bengolea who scored 16 points on 15 attacks and one ace. Sebastian Solé chipped in 12 points on eight kills and four blocks. Argentina libero Alexis González was named the most valuable player of the match. “Our passing wasn’t very good,” U.S. Captain Matt Anderson said. “That, in turn, makes our offense a little more difficult. It puts pressure on the setter to put up hittable balls for us… And they were consistent in their serves, which constantly put pressure on us to make a good pass.” The United States was credited with 16 digs, but also 16 digging errors. John Speraw speaks with the team. (FIVB photo) Argentina had 15 digs and 12 errors. “Early in the match we didn’t pass or set very well,” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw (Irvine, Calif.) said. “I think that caused us a lot of problems, especially when we did have opportunities in transition. “When I made some substitutions, I think things got better. Paul Lotman did a nice job passing. I think our passing improved.” Among other U.S. scorers, Anderson started the first two sets and scored seven points on five kills, one block and one ace. Carson Clark, who started the third and fourth sets at opposite, added seven points on six attacks and one ace. David Smith totaled six points on three kills, one block and two aces. Setter Kawika Shoji, who started the third and fourth sets after substituting in Team USA warms up in Wichita. (FIVB photo) the second, scored four points on one kill, two blocks and one ace.

From left, Murphy Troy, David Lee and Tony Ciarelli block against Argentina. FIVB photo

1 2 3 4 USA 22 27 25 25 ARG 25 25 19 16

U.S. Comes Back to Beat Argentina WICHITA, Kan. (June 8, 2013) – John Speraw got his first victory as head

coach of the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team as the United States defeated Argentina, 22-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-16 in an FIVB World League match on Saturday at Charles Koch Arena. The two teams will each move on in World League Pool A with 1-1 records. The U.S. Men will play again on June 14-15 against France in Tulsa, Okla. Matt Anderson receives the ball in front of Erk Shoji. (FIVB photo) Argentina will host Brazil on June 14 and 16. After losing to Argentina on Friday, the U.S. Men had to rally on Saturday from a first-set loss and a 15-11 deficit in the second set. Serving, which contributed to the U.S. loss on Friday, proved to be an important factor in Saturday’s victory, as Team USA led in aces 10-1. “Today, when we were down really big in that second set and were able to come back, I think that was really important for us,” Speraw said. “Obviously the serve-and-pass game made the difference.” The United States’ Matt Anderson, who was named the player of the match, led all scorers with 18 points on a match-high 14 kills, two blocks and two aces. “Obviously our serving was a lot better tonight, which put pressure on them as opposed to them putting pressure on us last night,” Anderson said. Murphy Troy (9) and David Smith (20) block against Argentina (FIVB photo) “I think we passed overall pretty well so we were able to run our offense.” David Lee added 11 points on six attacks and a match-high five blocks. Paul Lotman, who substituted in the second set and started the next three, totaled 11 points on 10 kills and one block. Ivan Castallani paced Argentina with 17 points on 13 kills and four blocks. Pablo Bengolea added 13 points on 12 attacks and one block. Argentina led in kills, 51-49, but the U.S. led in blocks 12-8. Among other U.S. scorers, David Smith finished with 10 points on five attacks, four blocks and one ace. Murphy Troy, who started the first and second sets at opposite, compiled seven points on six kills and one ace. Kawika Shoji, who substituted at setter in the first set and started the next three, scored four points on two kills and two aces. Brian Thornton, who started at setter, totaled two points on two attacks. Garrett Muagututia, who started at outside hitter, scored one point with an ace. Libero Erik Shoji led the team in digs with six and was credited with 10 excellent receptions. Anderson led the team in excellent receptions with 22.

Paul Lotman shows his emotions. (FIVB photo)

Libero Erik Shoji celebrates a great play. FIVB photo 13

1 2 3 USA 25 29 25 FRA 15 27 16

U.S. Men Hold Off France TULSA, Okla. (June 14, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team played strong at the net and held off a second-set rally by France as it defeated the European team, 25-15, 29-27, 25-16 on Friday in an FIVB World League match at the Tulsa Convention Center Arena. The United States improved its record to 2-1 in Pool A while France fell to 0-3. The teams will play again at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Tulsa Convention Center Arena. (Buy Tickets) The U.S. led in kills (45-29), in blocks (10-3) and in aces 3-2. Setter Kawika Shoji helped the U.S. to a 54.1 kill percent and a .435 hitting efficiency while France’s kill percent was 30.2 and its hitting efficiency was .115. The U.S. Men scored 24 points on France’s errors while they committed 20.

Carson Clark attacks against France. (FIVB photo)

“In the beginning, our serving was a little rough; we had a lot of errors,” U.S. Team Captain Matt Anderson said. “But when we put the ball in we put pressure on them. Our block was huge tonight. I don’t remember very many balls that got past us without being touched.” Anderson, who was named Player of the Match for the second straight World League match, led all scorers with 22 points on a match-high 17 kills (65.4 kill percent, .615 hitting efficiency), three blocks and two aces. Carson Clark contributed 14 points on 14 kills and Max Holt, who was making his 2013 World League debut, scored 13 points on seven kills and a match-high six blocks. Marien Moreau and Kevin Le Roux each scored eight points for France. The U.S. held Earvin Ngapeth, France’s leading scorer going into the match, to five points. Matt Fuerbringer, in his first season as assistant coach for the U.S. Men, made his debut as head coach on Friday for John Speraw, who plans to return to the team on Saturday after dealing with a personal matter. “It was an honor to be the head coach and the get a win was great,” Fuerbringer said. “I’m already thinking about tomorrow and what we need to do to keep the guys ready. I think we’re going to be in for a dog fight tomorrow, so we’re going to have to make some adjustments and do better in the areas where we didn’t do so well.” In the second set, the U.S. led 18-14 when France scored on a U.S. serving error and two straight aces by Le Roux. Anderson scored with a kill from the back row and the U.S. reached set point first at 24-22. France tied the score on kills by Moreau and Ngapeth and a U.S. violation gave France set point, but Clark tied it with an attack. Team USA reached set point two more times before tying the score at 27-27 on France’s service error, then scoring on a kill by Clark and a tip from Anderson. Max Holt attacks off the set from Kawika Shoji (7). (FIVB photo)

Matt Anderson attacks against France. FIVB photo 15

1 2 3 4 5 USA 22 25 24 30 15 FRA 25 22 26 28 9

U.S. Men Return to World League with Win TULSA, Okla. (June 15, 2013) – Needing two more sets than it did on Friday, the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team nevertheless took its third victory of the 2013 FIVB World League, beating France, 22-25, 25-22, 24-26, 30-28, 15-9 on Saturday at the Tulsa Convention Center Arena. The United States improved its record in Pool A to 3-1. France departs the John Speraw talks with the team. (FIVB photo) United States still looking for its first World League victory at 0-4. The U.S. Men will return to World League action on June 28-29 against Bulgaria in Reno, Nev. (Buy tickets). A feisty French team played a much tougher match on Saturday than it did on Friday when the U.S. Men won 3-0. The U.S. led in kills (81-59) and in aces (5-3) and the teams were tied in blocks (10-10). France scored 38 points on U.S. team errors while being charged with only 20. “I give a lot of credit to the French team,” U.S. outside hitter Paul Lotman said. “They came ready to fight and they were a completely different team than last night and we expected that.” Lotman, who was named Player of the Match, and teammate Matt Anderson each scored 21 points for the United States. Lotman, who came in as a substitute in the second set, finished with 18 kills (66.7 kill percent, .518 hitting efficiency), two aces and one block. His most The U.S. team celebrates a great play. (FIVB photo) important play came in the fourth set with the U.S. down 2-1 in sets and 2219 in points. After a U.S. timeout, Lotman scored with a kill and two straight aces to tie the score. The U.S. went on to reach set point first at 24-23 and eventually won the set at 30-28. “I wasn’t going for aces, I was just trying to hit a good serve and give us a chance to score some points,” Lotman said. “I’m just happy we were able to pull out the fourth and fifth sets. I couldn’t be prouder of our team.” Anderson totaled 18 kills and three blocks. “I think the win was a nice team effort,” said U.S. Head Coach John Speraw, who returned to the bench after taking Friday off for personal reasons. “We’ve had nice team efforts throughout World League with good contributions from off the bench and we saw that again tonight.” Middle blocker David Smith (Saugus, Calif.) added 18 points on 14 kills (66.7 kill percent, .619 hitting efficiency), three blocks and one ace. France was paced by Earvin Ngapeth, who led all scorers with 23 points on 18 attacks, three blocks and two aces.

A U.S. fan shows his true colors. (FIVB photo)

David Smith jumps high for the attack. FIVB photo

John Speraw thinks the ball is out (FIVB photo) 17

1 2 3 USA 25 25 25 BUL 19 22 21

U.S. Men Hand Bulgaria First Loss RENO, Nev. (June 28, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team handed Bulgaria its first loss of the 2013 FIVB World League as it defeated the European side, 25-19, 25-22, 25-21 on Friday at the Reno Events Center. The teams now have twin records of 4-1 in Pool A. The U.S. blocking, which led Bulgaria 15-4, proved to be a key difference in the match. The teams were tied in spikes (38-38) and Bulgaria led in aces (3-2). Middle blocker Max Holt led the U.S. in stuff blocks with five while setter Kyle Caldwell added four. “I don’t think either team played up to their full capabilities,” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw said. “But we were able to execute in some areas of the game Kyle Caldwell sets as Max Holt approaches the net. (FIVB photo) that allowed us to win tonight.” Outside hitter Matt Anderson, who was named Player of the Match, led the United States in scoring with 15 points on 13 kills (72.2 kill percent, .611 hitting efficiency) and two blocks. Opposite Carson Clark added 11 points on nine spikes (64.3 kill percent, .500 hitting efficiency) and two aces. Bulgaria’s Tsvetan Sokolov led all scorers with 19 points on 18 attacks and one ace. “We knew coming into these matches that Bulgaria was going to put up a good fight,” Anderson said. “They served really strong and put a lot of pressure on us. We expect them to come back tomorrow and play even stronger. Therefore we need to pick up our game.” Bulgarian coach Camillo Placi agreed that Bulgaria would come back stronger on Saturday.

U.S. fans turn out in Reno. (FIVB photo)

“I believe that our team tomorrow will play our game,” Placi said. “We will have another day to recover from jet lag. I believe that tomorrow our level will be higher.” Among other U.S. scorers, outside hitter Paul Lotman totaled nine points on seven kills and two blocks. Holt finished with eight points with three kills to go with his five blocks. Caldwell finished with seven points on three kills and four blocks. Middle blocker David Smith added four points on two kills, two blocks. Middle blocker David Lee, who played as a substitute in the third set, scored one point with an attack. Libero Erik Shoji was credited with six digs and 11 excellent receptions. Clark was also credited with six dig and Lotman had eight excellent receptions. Caldwell was credited with 11 running sets and one fault and set the team to 57.6 kill percent and .470 hitting efficiency. Max Holt looks to tip the ball off a set from Kyle Caldwell. (FIVB photo)

Matt Anderson leaps for the kill. (FIVB photo)

1 2 3 4 USA 20 25 23 21 BUL 25 18 25 25

Bulgaria Strikes Back in Reno RENO, Nev. (June 29, 2013) – Bulgaria came back from Friday’s three-set loss to defeat the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team, 25-20, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21 on Saturday in an FIVB World League match before a large and loud crowd at the Reno Events Center. The victory improves Bulgaria’s record in World League pool play to 5-1 and puts it in first place in Pool A just ahead of Brazil, which lost to France on Saturday. The U.S. falls to 4-2 and sits in third place heading into its final two World League pool play weekends on the road in Poland (July 5 and 7) and Brazil (July 13-14). Bulgaria responded to its loss on Friday with an improved game plan that pitted its opposite Tsvetan Sokolov against U.S. outside hitter and its leading scorer Matt Anderson. Sokolov finished as the Player of the Match and led all scorers with 16 points on 13 kills, two blocks and one ace. Anderson led the United States with 16 points on 13 attacks, two blocks and one ace. Carson Clark goes after Bulgaria’s blockers. (FIVB photo) “When you beat a team 3-0, you understand that they’re going to come back with more fire and energy,” Anderson said. “I think they put together a good game plan against us and they executed it very well.” The United States led the match in attacks (46-43). But Bulgaria led in blocks (11-9). The teams tied in aces (6-6). Bulgaria scored 33 points on U.S. errors while committing only 28. “If you look at the statistics you will see that they are pretty similar for both teams,” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw said. “I think the biggest difference in the match is that they passed the ball well and they got themselves out of trouble at a higher rate.” Among other U.S. scorers, opposite Carson Clark contributed 12 points on nine spikes, one block and two aces. Middle blocker David Lee totaled 11 points on eight kills, two blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Paul Lotman scored 10 points on nine kills and one ace. Setter Kyle Caldwell added six points on three attacks, two blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Max Holt totaled six points on four kills and two blocks. Caldwell was credited with 25 running sets on 92 attempts and set the U.S. to a 42.2 kill percent and a .239 hitting efficiency. Bulgaria had a 43.0 kill percent and a .250 hitting efficiency. U.S. libero Erik Shoji was credited with nine digs and eight excellent receptions. Lotman led the U.S. in digs with 11 while Clark had nine. Lotman also led in excellent receptions with 17 while Anderson had 16. Carson Clark (15) low-fives Erik Shoji during introductions. (FIVB photo)

Paul Lotman receives the ball. (FIVB photo) 21

1 2 3 4 5 USA 22 25 25 28 16 POL 25 19 13 30 18

U.S. Men Miss Chances to Win KATOWICE, Poland (July 5, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team couldn’t convert on its chances to win as it fell to Poland 25-22, 19-25, 13-25, 30-28, 18-16 on Friday before a deafening crowd of 11,000 in an FIVB World League match at Spodek Arena. The United States’ World League record fell to 4-3 while Poland improved to 3-4. The teams will play again on Sunday in Wroclaw, Poland. After losing the first set on Friday, the U.S. Men came back to win the next two, including a 25-13 victory in the third. The U.S. reached match point three times in the fourth set and once in the fifth, but could not convert the opportunities. The U.S. had 26 service errors in the match, several of which came at critical times at the end of sets. John Speraw watches the action. (FIVB photo) “The things that lost the match for us are in our control,” U.S. Team Captain Matt Anderson said. “I think when we play Poland next, we will be ready to go.” The U.S. led in attacks (61-53) and in blocks (17-11). Poland led in aces (7-6) and scored 34 points on U.S. errors while committing 32. “In general, I was pretty happy with the way the team maintained their poise,” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw said. “There were certainly times when I tried to remind them to keep their heads up and move on to the next point.” U.S. opposite Carson Clarkj led all scorers with 24 points on a match-high 21 kills and three aces. Anderson at outside hitter added 17 on 12 spikes, four blocks and one ace. Libero Erik Shoji provided critical support for the U.S. Men, finishing with 30 digs on 33 attempts with one fault. Shoji was also credited with eight excellent Kyle Caldwell stretches for the dig. (FIVB photo) receptions. Middle blocker Max Holt totaled 14 points on 10 attacks and four blocks. Tony Ciarelli, who substituted at outside hitter in the second set and started the rest of the match, scored 13 points on 10 attacks, two blocks and one ace. Middle blocker David Lee finished with eight points on six attacks and two blocks. Setter Kyle Caldwell added six points on one kill and a team-high five blocks. Caldwell was credited with 35 running sets and helped the team to a 45.9 kill percent and a .323 hitting efficiency. Outside hitter Paul Lotman started the first two sets and scored one point with an attack while setter Kawika Shoji played as a serving substitute in the fifth set and scored on an ace. Speraw started Anderson and Lotman at outside hitter, Holt and Lee at middle blocker, Clark at opposite, Caldwell at setter and Erik Shoji at libero. Max Holt, left, and Matt Anderson block against Bulgaria. (FIVB photo)

The U.S. Men celebrate against Poland. (FIVB photo)

1 2 3 4 USA 23 25 21 23 POL 25 17 25 25

U.S. Lose Second Match to Poland WROCLAW, Poland (July 7, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team

saw its hopes for making the FIVB World League Final Round take a hit as it lost a second straight match to Poland on Sunday, 25-23, 17-25, 25-21, 25-23 John Speraw talks with setter Kyle Caldwell. (FIVB photo) before a full house of 6,000 at Centennial Hall in Wroclaw. The U.S. World League pool play record falls to 4-4 with 12 points. Poland improves to 4-4 and moves into third place with 13 points. Brazil sits in first place in Pool A with a 7-1 record and 19 points. Bulgaria is in second at 5-3 with 14 points. The U.S. Men will travel to Brazil on Tuesday for their final two pool play matches on July 13-14. Poland will travel to Bulgaria for its final weekend. For the U.S. to move into the top two teams in Pool A and qualify for the Final Round in Argentina, it needs to defeat Brazil twice and it needs Bulgaria and Poland to split their two matches. “At this point with this team, we’re close but we’re not skilled enough,” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw (Irvine, Calif.) said. “Tonight, we did not serve the way we needed to serve and didn’t pass the way we needed to pass. We have some nice elements, but we have yet to put it all together.” The U.S. was hurt by team errors on Sunday as it committed 31 compared to Poland’s 22. Nineteen of the errors came on serves. The U.S. led in attacks (57-50) and aces (7-5). The teams were tied in blocks (6-6). Poland reached match point in the fourth set at 24-19, but then Piotr Nowakowski served into the net. U.S. outside hitter Matt Anderson came back Max Holt puts up the big block. (FIVB photo) with three straight kills to pull the U.S. to within one at 24-23. But Poland’s Jakub Jarosz gave Poland the victory with a spike. “We struggled with concentration and focus throughout the entire match,” Anderson said. “If we could take those last six or seven points and play that way the entire match then the outcome could be a little bit different.” Anderson led the U.S. with 22 points on a match-high 20 kills (55.6 kill percent, .500 hitting efficiency) and two blocks. Opposite Carson Clark added 14 points on 13 attacks and one ace. Middle blocker Max Holt contributed 11 points on six attacks, one block and a match-high four aces. Middle blocker David Smith totaled 10 points on seven attacks, two blocks and one ace. Libero Erik Shoji, who leads all World League players in digs, finished with 19 and was also credited with five excellent receptions. Jakum Jarosz led Poland with 17 points on 15 attacks and two aces. Among other U.S. scorers, outside hitter Tony Ciarelli scored five points on five attacks. Max Holt blocks against Poland. (FIVB photo)

Carson Clark makes the dig. (FIVB photo)

1 2 3 4 USA 22 18 25 26 BRA 25 25 20 28

U.S. Comeback Comes Up Short RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (July 13, 2013) – Despite a valiant comeback effort, the U.S. Men’s Volleyball fell to Brazil on Saturday, 25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 28-26 in an FIVB World League match at the Maracanazinho arena.

The U.S. Men huddle up on the court. (FIVB photo)

The loss means the U.S. Men have been mathematically eliminated from the FIVB World League Final Round and have a record of 4-5. Brazil, which will win Pool A, improves to 8-1. The U.S. will play its final 2013 World League match on Sunday. Brazil led the U.S. in kills (59-48), in aces (5-3) and in digs (68-52). The U.S. led in blocks, 13-8. A sellout crowd of 11,600 cheered on the South American side. “I think that overall, the match was pretty close, numbers-wise,” U.S. Team Captain Matt Anderson said. “But the energy for most of the match was on the Brazilian side. They had a lot of momentum going into most of the sets.” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw added: “I was disappointed that we couldn’t finish off that fourth set. Overall, I think it was about our ability to pass the ball and set the ball in the first couple sets that really hurt us, particularly in Rotation 1 in the first set.” After dropping the first two sets, the U.S. Men came back to win the third. In the fourth set, the U.S. fought off Brazil’s match point at 24-23 with a quick kill from David Lee. Paul Lotman’s ace gave it set point at 25-24, but his next serve went into the net. The U.S. reached set point again at 26-25 on Brazil’s service error, but two straight attacks by Wallace de Souza gave Brazil its second match point and Lucas Saatkamp ended it with a kill.

Tony Ciarelli, right, plays hard at the net. (FIVB photo)

When asked what would motivate the U.S. team in Sunday’s match, Anderson said, “When we play for the USA, we play with a lot of pride. So tomorrow, that’s our main motivation; and for us to show that we can beat one of the best teams.” Speraw praised the performance of the players he brought off the bench. “I was happy with the contributions of Kawika Shoji and Murphy Troy coming off the bench,” Speraw said. “I thought we played a little better. I was hopeful that we could push it to five, but Brazil played great. They are a better volleyball team than us.” Shoji substituted for Kyle Caldwell (Newport Beach, Calif.) in the second set and started the second and third sets. He was credited with 17 running sets and one fault on 70 attempts. The U.S. finished with a 36.6 kill percent and a .237 hitting efficiency. Brazil had a 43.1 kill percent and a .263 hitting efficiency.

From left, Tony Ciarelli, David Lee and Carson Clark put up a triple bock. (FIVB photo)

Carson Clark unleashes his serve. (FIVB photo)

1 2 3 USA 21 24 23 BRA 25 26 25

U.S. Men End World League with Loss to Brazil RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (July 14, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team ended its 2013 FIVB World League campaign with a 25-21, 26-24, 25-23 loss to Brazil on Sunday at the Maracanazinho arena in Rio de Janeiro.

From left, Kawika Shoji, Matt Anderson, Erik Shoji and Paul Lotman. (FIVB photo)

The U.S. Men finish World League pool play with a 4-6 record and in fifth place in Pool A. Brazil wins Pool A with a 9-1 record and will advance to the Final Round in Argentina. The U.S. struggled with 33 team errors, including 19 service errors on 69 attempts, while Brazil was charged with 22 team errors. The U.S. led in attacks (35-32) and blocks (7-5) while Brazil led in aces (6-4). “I was hoping we would play better tonight, but that was not the case,” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw said. “We just didn’t serve the ball on the court. If you have 28 percent service errors, you’re not going to beat too many teams, especially not good teams like Brazil.” U.S. opposite Carson Clark led all scorers with 17 points on 14 kills, one block and two aces. Middle blocker David Lee added six points on four attacks and a team-high two blocks.

Matt Anderson cheers for a great play. (FIVB photo)

Outside hitter Matt Anderson and setter Kyle Caldwell each finished with five points. Anderson scored on three kills and two aces. Caldwell scored on four attacks and a block. Outside hitter Paul Lotman started two sets and scored four points on four kills. Middle blocker Max Holt and outside hitter Garrett Muagututia each scored three points. Holt had three kills and Muagututia had two kills and one block. Middle blocker David Smith scored two points on one attack and one block. Setter Kawika Shoji had one point with a solo block. Shoji started the match at setter and was credited with nine running sets. Caldwell started the second and third sets and was credited with 11 running sets. The U.S. finished with a 40.7 kill percent and a .233 hitting efficiency. U.S. libero Erik Shoji (Honolulu) finished with five digs and six excellent receptions. Clark led the team in digs with six and Lotman led in receptions with seven. Wallace de Souza paced Brazil with 14 points. Luiz Felipe Marques Fonteles added 10 points.

The team stretches on the beach at Ipanema. (USAV photo)

The U.S. huddles during the match against Brazil (FIVB photo) 29

2013 Pan American Cup U.S. MEN BEAT DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IN FIVE

USA....................................... 26 25 22 21 15 Dominican Rep....................... 24 14 25 25 7

MEXICO CITY (Aug. 19, 2013) – The United States held off the Dominican Republic to win its first pool play match of the men’s Pan American Cup, 26-24, 25-14, 22-25, 2125, 15-7 on Monday in Mexico City. The United States is 1-0 in Pool B and will play Trinidad & Tobago on Tuesday and host Mexico on Wednesday. The U.S. Men led in kills (56-53) and blocks (7-6) while the teams were tied in aces (4-4).

The U.S. Men’s Pan American Cup Team. (NORCECA Photo)

Outside hitter Taylor Sander led the United States’ effort with 19 points on 15 kills, three blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Jacek Ratajczak added 14 points on eight kills, three blocks and a match-high three aces. After the United States won the first two sets, the Dominican Republic came back to win the next two thanks to Elvis Contreras, who led all scorers with 22 points, along with Wilfrido Hernandez Incarnation (11 points) and José Miguel Cáceres (10 points). “It was a good match for both teams,” U.S. Head Coach Shawn Patchell said. “We felt nervous in the beginning, had some trouble in the third and fourth sets. We could not stop Caceres, but pulled out and improved our service. I am happy for this win.”

Jacek Ratajczak (17) and Josh Taylor (4) block for the U.S. (NORCECA Photo)

U.S. Team Captain Ryan Ammerman speculated that Mexico City’s altitude (7,943 feet above sea level) might have had an effect on the team. “We practice normally in California, in Anaheim (close to sea level), and now we have to acclimate here,” he said. Among other U.S. scorers, outside hitter Josh Taylor scored 12 points on 12 attacks. Opposite Will Price totaled nine points on nine kills. Middle blocker Dan McDonnell finished with six points on six attacks. Outside hitter Joe Sunder scored three points on three kills. Ammerman, at setter, scored two points on one kill and one block. Middle blocker Russ Lavaja and opposite Shawn Sangrey each scored one point on one kill. Taylor Sander goes up for the kill against the Dominican Republic. (NORCECA Photo)

Ammerman was credited with 24 running sets and one fault on 73 attempts. Setter Connor Olbright, who played as a substitute, had two running sets on three attempts. Libero Michael Brinkley was credited with five excellent receptions. Sander also had five. Patchell started Sander and Sunder at outside hitter, Ratajczak and McDonnell at middle blocker, Price at opposite, Ammerman at setter and Brinkley at libero. Taylor took over for Sunder in the second set and started the rest of the match. Olbright, Sangrey and Lavaja played as substitutes. Teams line up for the Opening Ceremony. (NORCECA Photo)

2013 Pan American Cup U.S. MEN IMPROVE TO 2-0

USA....................................... 25 25 25 Trinidad & Tobago................... 14 10 20

MEXICO CITY (Aug. 19, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team improved to 2-0 on Tuesday at the Pan American Cup with a 25-14, 25-10, 25-20 victory over Trinidad & Tobago in Mexico City. The United States will conclude pool play on Wednesday against Mexico. Serving was key for the U.S. as it led Trinidad & Tobago in aces, 10-2, led by Dan McDonnell with three. The U.S. also took advantage of 33 Trinidadian team errors while committing only 20. “We are happy to win. Trinidad played hard in the third set, but we have acclimated to the city’s altitude,” U.S. Team Captain Ryan Ammerman said. U.S. Head Coach Shawn Patchell also praised libero Michael Brinkley. “The third set was tied, but Michael passed some balls and that helped us to improve,” Patchell said. “We put pressure on the service.”

Dan McDonnell hits off a set from Ryan Ammerman. (NORCECA Photo)

Outside hitter Joe Sunder led the United States with 10 points on seven attacks and a match-high three blocks. The U.S. led in attacks 26-20 and in blocks, 6-2. Among other U.S. scorers, opposite Will Price had seven points on six kills and one block. Middle blocker Russ Lavaja added seven points on four attacks, one block and two aces. Opposite Shawn Sangrey totaled six points on five kills and one ace. Middle blocker Dan McDonnell finished with five points on two kills and three aces. Outside hitters Josh Taylor and Ryan Jay Owens each scored three points. Taylor had two attacks and one ace and Owens had one block and two aces. Setter Connor Olbright scored a points with an ace.

From left, Ryan Ammerman, Dan McDonnell and Joe Sunder block. (NORCECA Photo)

Ammerman was credited with six running sets on 31 attempts while Olbright was credited with two on 12 attempts. Patchell started Sunder and Taylor at outside hitter, Lavaja and McDonnell at middle blocker, Price at opposite, Ammerman at setter and Brinkley at libero. Owens started the second set for Taylor, who returned to start the third. Olbright started the second set for Ammerman, who returned to start the third. Sangrey started the second set for Price, who returned to start the third. From left, Ryan Ammerman (14), Josh Taylor and Joe Sunder celebrate. (NORCECA Photo)

2013 Pan American Cup U.S. MEN FALL TO MEXICO IN POOL PLAY FINALE USA....................................... 25 25 19 22 15 Mexico................................... 21 23 25 25 17

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Aug. 21, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team fell to host Mexico, 21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 17-15, on Wednesday at the Pan American Cup in Mexico City. With the loss, the United States (2-1) finished second in Pool B and will have to play in the quarterfinals on Thursday against Puerto Rico. The quarterfinal winner will advance to the semifinals to play either Mexico (3-0) or Brazil (3-0).

Russ Lavaja attacks against Trinidad & Tobago on Aug. 20. (NORCECA Photo)

“It was a very fun and amazing match,” U.S. Head Coach Shawn Patchell said. “I can’t say we lost. Mexico defeated us.” The U.S. led in blocks (20-7) and aces (7-2) while Mexico led in kills (64-58) and also took advantage of 34 U.S. team errors while committing 25. “We faced a very hostile crowd,” U.S. Team Captain Ryan Ammerman said. “There are some things to improve but I have one hundred percent faith in my teammates.” Outside hitter Taylor Sander led all scorers with 23 points on 17 spikes, three blocks and three aces. Coming out of pool play, Sander leads all Pan Am Cup players in scoring with 42 points on 32 kills, six blocks and four aces. Outside hitter Joe Sunder added 20 points on a match-high 20 attacks. Middle blocker Dan McDonnell scored 14 points, including a match-high seven blocks. Opposite Will Price scored 10 points, including a match-high four aces.

Joe Sunder spikes against Trinidad & Tobago on Aug. 20.. (NORCECA Photo)

Ammerman scored seven points, including three aces. Among other U.S. scorers, Jacek Ratajczak added seven points, opposite Shawn Sangrey totaled three points and Josh Taylor scored one. Libero Michael Brinkley was credited with five digs and 15 excellent receptions. Ammerman was credited with 23 running sets. Patchell started Sander and Sunder at outside hitter, McDonnell and Ratajczak at middle blocker, Price at opposite, Ammerman at setter and Brinkley at libero. Sangrey, Taylor and Connor Olbright played as substitutes.

Russ Lavaja spikes against Trinidad & Tobagp on Aug. 20. (NORCECA Photo)

Will Price spikes against Trinidad & Tobagp on Aug. 20. (NORCECA Photo)

2013 Pan American Cup U.S. MEN FALL IN FIVE IN QUARTERFINALS

USA.......................................25 16 28 25 16 Dominican Republic................ 16 25 26 27 18

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Aug. 22, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team will not play for a medal at the Pan American Cup after losing a heartbreaker to Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals on Thursday, 16-25, 25-16, 26-28, 2725, 18-16. The U.S. Men (2-2) will play Dominican Republic (1-2) on Friday. The match winner will finish fifth. The loser will play Trinidad & Tobago (0-3) to determine sixth and seventh places. The U.S. defeated the Dominican Republic in their first pool play match on Monday, 3-2. This will be the first time the U.S. Men have not medaled at the Pan American Cup in seven tournament appearances. Puerto Rico (1-2) will play Brazil (2-0) in one semifinal while Mexico (3-0) will play Argentina (2-1) in the other. “Congratulations to Puerto Rico, they really controlled the game in the middle,” U.S. Head Coach Shawn Patchell said. “We had some chances to win, but they defended and played very well.” Puerto Rico led in kills (69-60), aces (4-2) and digs (16-7) while the U.S. led in blocks (19-10).

U.S. Head Coach Shawn Patchell salutes the flag. (NORCECA Photo)

Outside hitter Taylor Sander (Huntington Beach, Calif.) led the United States with 21 points on 16 kills, three blocks and two aces. Opposite Will Price (Laytonsville, Md.) added 19 points on 18 attacks and one block. Middle blocker Dan McDonnell (Glendale, Ariz.) totaled 10 points on six kills and four blocks. Outside hitter Josh Taylor (Honolulu) finished with nine points on nine kills. Setter Ryan Ammerman (Parker, Colo.) collected seven points on three attacks and four blocks. He was also credited with 24 running sets on 99 attempts. Middle blocker Jacek Ratajczak (Warsaw, Poland) scored six points on one attack and a match-high five blocks. Outside hitter Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) added six points on four kills and two blocks. Outside hitter Ryan Jay Owens (Evanston, Ill.) totaled two points on two kills and middle blocker Russ Lavaja (St. Charles, Ill.) had one point on a kill.

The U.S. puts up a triple block against Dominican Republic. (NORCECA Photo)

Libero Michael Brinkley (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was credited with three digs and eight excellent receptions. Sander led the team in excellent receptions with 10. Setter Connor Olbright (Orange, Calif.) played as a substitute and had two running sets. Patchell started Sander and Sunder at outside hitter, McDonnell and Ratajczak at middle blocker, Price at opposite, Ammerman at setter and Brinkley at libero. Taylor substituted in the second set and started the fourth and fifth for Sunder. Lavaja started the second set for Ratajczak, who returned to start the rest of the match.

The U.S. celebrates a good play during its loss to the Dominican Republic. (NORCECA Photo)

2013 Pan American Cup U.S. MEN FINISH PAN AM CUP WITH WIN

USA....................................... 25 25 25 Dominican Republic................ 20 19 14

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Aug. 23, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team finished fifth at the Pan American Cup after defeating Dominican Republic, 25-20, 25-19, 25-14 on Friday in Mexico City, Mexico. The victory gave the U.S. Men a winning record in the tournament at 3-2. Dominican Republic (1-3) will play Trinidad & Tobago on Saturday.

Dan McDonnell attacks against Dominican Republic. (NORCECA Photo)

“Finishing in fifth place was not what we really wanted,” U.S. Team Captain Ryan Ammerman (Parker, Colo.) said. “Our goal was to defend the title. We are disappointed, but I hope this can help us as an experience to improve.” The U.S. Men played their best match of the tournament, leading in kills (4325), blocks (6-3) and aces (9-2). Every athlete on the U.S. roster got playing time and every athletes scored, save for libero Michael Brinkley (Huntington Beach, Calif.), who was credited with three digs and nine excellent receptions. “Yesterday we had the opportunity to win in four sets and we couldn’t,” U.S. Head Coach Shawn Patchell said. “I was worried that the players would be down, but we responded well.” Outside hitter Taylor Sander (Huntington Beach, Calif.) led all scorers with 17 points on a match-high 11 attacks (78.6 kill percent, .786 hitting efficiency), a match-high two blocks and a match-high four aces. Opposite Shawn Sangrey added nine points on seven attacks, one block and one ace. Among other U.S. players, middle blocker Dan McDonnell (Glendale, Ariz.) totaled eight points on six attacks, one block and one ace. Outside hitters Josh Taylor (Honolulu) and Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) each added five points on four kills and one ace.

Jacek Ratajczak, left, and Joe Sunder block for the U.S. (NORCECA Photo)

Opposite Will Price (Laytonsville, Md.) scored four points on four kills. Middle blockers Jacek Ratajczak (Warsaw, Poland) and Russ Lavaja (St. Charles, Ill.) each totaled three points. Lavaja scored on three kills while Ratajczak had two kills and one block. Setter Connor Olbright (Orange, Calif.) added two points on one attack and one ace. Outside hitter Ryan Jay Owens (Evanston, Ill.) scored one points on a kill and setter Ryan Ammerman (Parker, Colo.) scored one point with a block. Olbright was credited with 13 running sets and Ammerman with six. The two combined to set the U.S. Men to a 63.2 kill percent and a .529 hitting efficiency.

Shawn Sangrey, left, blocks against Dominican Republic. (NORCECA Photo)

2013 Pan American Cup Player Statistics Name

Sets

Kills

Kills/ set

Kill pct

Hit errors

Attempts

Efficiency

Aces

Aces/ set

Blocks

Blocks/ set

Digs

Digs/ set

Points

Points/set

Ryan Ammerman

0.3

31.6

0.263

0.35

0.65

Michael Brinkley

0.000

0.52

Russ Lavaja

1.13

52.9

0.412

0.25

0.38

1.75

Dan McDonnell

1.29

55.1

0.429

0.19

0.62

2.10

Connor Olbright

0.06

50.0

0.500

0.11

0.17

Ryan Jay Owens

0.50

37.5

0.125

0.33

0.17

1.00

Will Price

2.05

48.3

0.416

0.19

0.14

2.38

Jacek Ratajczak

1.00

57.1

0.429

0.19

0.56

1.75

Taylor Sander

3.28

52.2

113

0.425

0.56

0.50

0.22

4.33

Shawn Sangrey

1.40

66.7

0.619

0.20

0.10

1.80

Joe Sunder

2.44

48.8

0.375

0.06

0.25

0.13

0.44

Josh Taylor

1.86

54.2

0.458

0.14

0.07

2.07

Totals

243

18.69

51.3

474

0.416

2.46

4.00

1.92

327

25.15

Opponents

231

17.77

46.9

493

0.369

1.31

2.08

3.00

275

21.15

Photo courtesy of NORCECA

1 2 3 USA 25 25 25 LCA 12 10 11

From left, Sean Rooney, Erik Shoji, Kyle Caldwell, David Lee and Reid Priddy wait for the U.S. national anthem to play. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

U.S. Men Sack St. Lucia at NORCECA LANGLEY, B.C., Canada (Sept. 23, 2013) – Veteran players and newcomers combined to carry the U.S. Men’s National Team over St. Lucia, 25-12, 25-10, 25-11 at the NORCECA Continental Championship at the Langley Events Center. The United States (1-0) will play Dominican Republic in its second pool play match on Tuesday at 8 p.m. PT. The Championship winner will qualify for the FIVB Grand Champions Cup in November in Japan. The U.S. Men dominated the match, leading in kills (57-23), blocks (12-2) and aces (11-1). (All statistics are unofficial) “We are getting warmed up in the tournament, trying to play as well as we can to set the tone for the rest of the tournament,” said U.S. Team Captain Sean Rooney, who was playing with the National Team for the first time since the 2012 Olympic Games. “We have a mixed team. We have guy who have played in three Olympics, guys who have played in two Olympics, guys who have played in one Olympics and guys playing in their first tournament. We hope it’s the right mix to help us.”

U.S. players get excited during introductions. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

Three U.S. players competed in their first matches for the senior team: middle blocker Futi Tavana and setter Micah Christenson, who both started the match, and outside hitter Jeff Menzel, who started the second and third sets. U.S. Head Coach John Speraw was happy with the victory. “We’re happy to get the opportunity to compete and we’re happy with the victory,” Speraw said. “We wanted to take care of our side of the net and improve on the aspects of our game that we worked on all summer.” U.S. opposite Murphy Troy led all scorers with 14 points on a match-high 12 kills, one block and one ace. Middle blockers David Lee and Tavana each scored 11 points. Lee had four kills, a match-high five blocks and two aces. Tavana had seven attacks and four blocks. Among other U.S. scorers, Menzel finished with seven points on five attacks and two aces. Christenson had six points on a match-high five aces and one block. Rooney finished with five points on four kills and one block. Outside hitter Reid Priddy, also playing in his first U.S. match since the 2012 Olympic Games, started the first set and scored two points on two attacks.

Futi Tavana attacks against St. Lucia. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

1 2 3 USA 25 25 25 DOM 19 17 9

Reid Priddy attacks against Dominican Republic. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

U.S. Men Surge Past Dominican Republic LANGLEY, B.C., Canada (Sept. 24, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s National Team started slow but picked up steam in a 25-19, 25-17, 25-9 victory over Dominican Republic at Langley Events Center. With the victory, the U.S. Men (2-0) have won Group A and will advance directly to Friday’s semifinals. Immediately following Tuesday’s match, U.S. Head Coach John Speraw huddled with his team to praise their play through the match. “I was happy that even when we were ahead 2-0, we continued to play very hard and we continued to improve throughout the match,” Speraw said. “I thought that third set we were better than the first. That’s what this tournament is all about is for us to continue to improve on what we’re doing on our side of the net.”

Max Holt serves as the U.S. Men’s staff watches. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

The U.S. led the Dominican in kills (39-26), blocks (10-4) and aces (9-0). Outside hitter Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) led all scorers with 15 points on a match-high 11 kills, one block and three aces. Priddy played his first full competitive match with the team since the 2012 Olympic Games. “It’s fun to get out there. I really like what’s going on. I like the staff. I like the environment,” Priddy said. “Tonight, the Dominican dug a lot of balls and they have a lot of guys that can hit. I thought we did a great job tonight of staying in the moment and fighting for each point.”

Matt Anderson (1), Max Holt (17) and Carson Clark block. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

Outside hitter Matt Anderson and middle blocker Max Holt each finished with 10 points. Anderson scored on nine kills and one ace. Holt scored on six attacks, three blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Futi Tavana and opposite Carson Clark each scored seven points. Tavana had five attacks and two blocks. Clark added three attacks, one block and three aces. Setter Micah Christenson totaled five points on one kill, three blocks and one ace. Christenson was also credited with 22 running sets and no faults. Libero Erik Shoji was credited with 12 excellent receptions and seven digs. Priddy led the team in digs with 10 and Anderson was credited with 12 excellent receptions.

From left, Micah Christenson, left, and Futi Tavana block. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

1 2 3 USA 25 26 25 PUR 13 24 16

Matt Anderson receives the ball against Puerto Rico. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

U.S. Men Reach NORCECA Final LANGLEY, B.C., Canada (Sept. 27, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s National Team advanced to the finals of the NORCECA Continental Championship on Friday with a 25-13, 24-26, 25-20, 25-16 semifinal victory over Puerto Rico at the Langley Events Center. The United States (3-0) will play Canada (3-0) for the gold medal. Canada defeated Cuba on Friday, 25-14, 25-17, 25- 21. The Championship winner will qualify for the FIVB Grand Champions Cup in November.

Micah Christenson sets against Puerto Rico. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

The U.S. led Puerto Rico in kills (50-40), in blocks (11-2) and in aces (6-0). U.S. errors in the second set kept it from getting the sweep. “I don’t think it was our best volleyball of the summer, but we’re happy to get to the finals,” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw said. “I think we’ll be able to look at some of the things we did in that set and learn from it and hopefully get better.” U.S. outside hitter Matt Anderson led all scorers with 15 points on a matchhigh 12 kills, two blocks and one ace. “To beat a team pretty handily in the first set and come back like that and lose the second set is unacceptable for us,” Anderson said. “We can’t do that against good teams. They’re going to use that as a momentum swing.”

Murphy Troy (9), Max Holt (17) and Reid Priddy (8) block. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

Outside hitter Reid Priddy and middle blocker Max Holt each added 12 points. Priddy scored on 10 kills, one block and one ace. Holt totaled nine kills and a match-high three blocks. Opposite Murphy Troy came in as a substitute in the second set and started the third and fourth and finished with 11 points on seven attacks, two blocks and a match-high two aces. Setter Micah Christenson scored five points on two kills, two blocks and one ace. He was also credited with 27 running sets and no faults. Opposite Carson Clark scored five points on five attacks. Middle blocker Futi Tavana scored five points on three kills, one block and one ace.

Sean Rooney leads the team at the opening ceremony. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

Sean Rooney (2) gets the block against Canada. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

1 2 3 USA 25 25 25 CAN 23 20 14

U.S. Men Win 2013 NORCECA Championship LANGLEY, B.C., Canada (Sept. 28, 2013) – The U.S. Men’s National Team won the NORECA Continental Championship for the first time since 2007 when it defeated Canada, 25-23, 25-20, 25-14 on Saturday at Langley Events Centre. The U.S. Men finished the tournament 4-0 and qualified for the FIVB Grand Champions Cup in November in Japan. Canada (3-1) won the silver medal and Cuba (4-1) took the bronze. “It feels unbelievably good,” said first-year Head Coach John Speraw (Los Angeles) who won the Jim Coleman Award as the tournament’s best coach. “At the end of the day, the most important tournament we play in, besides the Olympics themselves, is the NORCECA tournament. For us to come in here and win like we did is a wonderful achievement for our program.”

Erik Shoji (22) leads the chearing for the U.S. victory. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

Matt Anderson of the United States was named the tournament MVP. Setter Micah Christenson, who was playing in his first tournament with the senior National Team, won awards as Best Server and Best Setter. The U.S. put three players on the Positional All-Star Team: Outside hitter Reid Priddy, Anderson at outside hitter and Christenson at setter. In Saturday’s match, the U.S. led Canada in kills (41-31), blocks (10-6) and aces (4-2).

The U.S. Men’s Team celebrates winning the silver medal. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

“The most important thing for us is we got better as the tournament went on,” U.S. Team Captain Sean Rooney said. Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.), who usually starts at outside hitter, started at opposite and led all scorers with 17 points on a match-high 14 kills and match-high three aces. Outside hitter Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) and middle blocker Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) each added 11 points. Priddy scored on eight kills, two blocks and one ace. Holt scored on nine attacks and two blocks. Middle blocker David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) had eight points on five attacks and a match-high three blocks. Outside hitter Rooney totaled six points on five attacks and one block. Christenson added two points on two blocks and was credited with 18 running sets.

The U.S. Men’s players and staff show their true colors. (Photo courtesy Volleyball Canada)

2012 U.S. Men's Results Argentina Exhibitions at JSerra High School in San Juan Capistrano Date

Opponent

Result

Location

Points Leader

Attendance

4/27

Argentina

W (21-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-17)

San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

Anderson (16)

4/29

Argentina

W (25-20, 22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-13)

San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

McKienzie (15)

NORCECA Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament at the Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif. Date

Opponent (Record)

Result

Points Leader

Attendance

5/7

Trinidad & Tobago (1-0)

W (25-9, 25-10, 25-14

Anderson/Lee (9)

1,325

5/8

Costa Rica (2-0)

W (25-14, 25-9, 25-9)

McKienzie (10)

1,200

5/9

Mexico (3-0)

W (25-23, 25-19, 25-14)

Stanley (14)

1,550

5/10

Cuba (4-0)

W (28-26, 25-18, 25-20)

Anderson (24)

3,000

5/11

Canada (5-0)

W (28-26, 25-18, 25-20)

Stanley (15)

4,700

Final Standings: 1. USA, 2. Canada, 3. Cuba, 4. Puerto Rico, 5. Mexico, 6. Dominican Republic, 7. Trinidad & Tobago, 8. Costa Rica FIVB World League Date

Opponent (Record)

Result

City

Points Leader

Attendance

5/18

France (5-1)

L (17-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-17)

Florence, Italy

Stanley (18)

2,100

5/19

Korea (6-1)

W (20-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-23, 17-15)

Florence, Italy

Priddy (19)

5,100

5/20

Italy (6-2)

L (25-16, 25-20, 25-16)

Florence, Italy

Holmes/Stanley/ Anderson (8)

6,200

6/15

Italy (7-2)

W (30-28, 28-26, 25-22)

Lyon, France

Anderson (17)

900

6/16

Korea (8-2)

W (22-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-16)

Lyon, France

Anderson (21)

1,160

6/17

France (9-2)

W (20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-21)

Lyon, France

Rooney (21)

1,200

6/22

France (10-2)

W (22-25, 25-21, 29-27, 25-16)

Gwangju, Korea

Anderson (21)

830

6/23

Italy (11-2)

W (25-21, 25-21, 25-20)

Gwangju, Korea

Rooney/Holmes/ Stanley (12)

450

6/24

Korea (12-2)

W (25-20, 25-18, 25-18)

Gwangju, Korea

Anderson/Priddy (13)

4,950

6/29

Korea (13-2)

W (32-30, 26-24, 25-22)

Dallas, Texas

Stanley/Anderson (19)

2,028

6/30

France (13-3)

L (25-20, 22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-13)

Dallas, Texas

Anderson (17)

3,853

7/1

Italy (14-3)

W (26-28, 25-20, 24-26, 25-17, 15-10)

Dallas, Texas

Stanley (26)

5,139

7/5

Germany (14-4)

L (20-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 16-14)

Sofia, Bulgaria

Stanley (23)

3,000

7/6

Bulgaria (15-4)

W (25-21, 25-16, 25-17)

Sofia, Bulgaria

Anderson/Rooney (16)

10,500

7/7

Cuba (16-4)

W (25-23, 25-22, 25-23)

Sofia, Bulgaria

Stanley (18)

4,000

7/8

Poland (16-5)

L (25-17, 26-24, 25-20)

Sofia, Bulgaria

Stanley (15)

5,000

Final Standings: 1. Poland, 2. USA, 3. Cuba, 4. Bulgaria, 5. Germany, 6. Brazil, 7. France, 8. Russia, 9. Serbia, 10. Argentina, 11. Italy, 12. Canada, 13 Finland, 14. Korea, 15. Japan, 16. Portugal

2012 U.S. Men's Results Pan American Cup Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Date

Opponent (Record)

Result

Points Leader

Attendance

7/9

Venezuela (17-5)

W (25-17, 25-19, 25-12)

Sander/McDonnell (12)

200

7/10

Mexico (18-5)

W (25-8, 25-16, 25-18)

Troy (14)

7/11

Brazil (19-5)

W (22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-22)

Sander (23)

300

7/13

Dominican Republic (20-5)

W (25-21, 23-25, 25-22. 25-27, 15-12)

Sander (23)

800

7/14

Argentina (21-5)

W (29-27, 25-20, 25-11)

Clark (18)

400

Final Standings: 1. USA, 2. Argentina, 3. Dominican Republic, 4. Brazil, 5. Mexico, 6. Canada, 7. Venezuela, 8. Trinidad & Tobago Olympic Games Earls Court Exhibition Center in London Date

Opponent (Record)

Result

Points Leader

Attendance

7/29

Serbia (22-5)

W (25-17, 25-22, 25-21)

Anderson 16

12,000

7/31

Germany (23-5)

W (25-23, 25-16, 25-20)

Stanley 16

13,000

8/2

Brazil (24-5)

W (23-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-17)

Priddy 20

11,500

8/4

Russia (24-6)

L (27-29, 19-25, 26-24, 25-16, 15-8)

Anderson 18

13,650

8/6

Tunisia (25-6)

W (25-15, 25-19, 25-19)

McKienzie 17

11,000

8/8

Italy (25-7)

L (28-26, 25-20, 25-20)

Stanley 17

14,000

Final Standings: 1. Russia, 2. Brazil, 3. Italy, 4. Bulgaria, 5T. USA, Argentina, Germany, Poland, 9T. Australia, Serbia, 11T. Great Britain, Tunisia

2012 Season Review The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team saved the best for last, putting together its best season of the 2009-12 quadrennial in 2012. But would it be good enough to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games and defend the Olympic gold medal it won in 2008?

In the semifinals, the U.S. Men were somewhat surprised to find themselves playing Cuba, which had lost to Canada in pool play and finished second. Cuba defeated Trinidad & Tobago in the quarterfinals and advanced to play the United States in the semis.

The U.S. Men’s Team started the 2012 season under pressure after finishing sixth at the 2011 FIVB World Cup and not qualifying for the London Olympic Games.

After losing a close first set, the U.S. Men won the next three, led by outside hitter Matt Anderson’s 24 points, to win the match and advance to the final against Canada.

The U.S. Men knew their next best chance to qualify would be at the 2012 NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament. But they also knew they would have to beat Cuba, the team they had lost to in the final of the 2011 NORCECA Continental Championship, among others in order to qualify.

“I don’t know what happened in the first set. Cuba put some pressure on us, but I am really proud of my team,” Stanley said after the match. “Matt Anderson served his butt off tonight and he played great offense. Russell Holmes did a great job. We passed the ball pretty good. As a team we played an all-around good match.”

The U.S. Men got good news in February when it was announced that Puerto Rico could not host the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament and it was awarded to the United States. Moreover, it would be held at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif., about a 20-minute drive from the team’s headquarters at the American Sports Centers in Anaheim More good news came when the team’s starting opposite and captain Clay Stanley, the 2008 Olympic Games Most Valuable Player, made it clear that he was almost fully recovered from offseason knee surgery and would be able to play in the tournament. The U.S. Men played two preseason exhibition matches against a split squad of Argentina’s national team in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and won both, 3-1 and 3-2. The NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament began May 7 and the U.S. Men had an easy time in pool play, defeating Trinidad & Tobago (25-9, 25-10, 25-14) , Costa Rica (2514, 25-9, 25-9) and Mexico (25-23, 25-19, 25-14) without dropping a set.

A crowd of 4,700 turned out for the May 12 final, which would determine an Olympic berth. After losing a tough first set, Canada struggled to find its rhythm and the U.S. Men cruised to a 2826, 25-18, 25-20 victory. Stanley led the United States with 15 points as his team used a balanced offense to win. Stanley was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Anderson won best spiker. U.S. middle blocker David Lee was named best blocker. “Now we can prepare for teams qualified for the Olympics and not just teams trying to qualify,” U.S. Men’s Head Coach Alan Knipe said. “And we can prepare our guys. We only had eight practices to prepare for this tournament and team did a great job.” With little time to rest, the team traveled to Italy for the first round of FIVB World League on May 18-20. Because of the 2012 Olympic Games, World League used a different format. For the first time in the tournament’s history, the World League Intercontinental (pool play) Round, still featured 16 teams across four pools, but it was played over four weekends with each country hosting all four teams in their 42

2012 Season Review pool. “For us to win our three games is very positive,” U.S. opposite and team captain Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawaii) said. “We put together a good game plan. We are happy about the way we played. We were consistent throughout these three matches so that’s the best thing that we could ask for.” The team traveled straight from France to Gwangju, Korea where Speraw again served as head coach and helped the U.S. Men win all three matches against Italy (22-25, 25-21, 29-27, 25-16), France (25-21, 25-21, 25-20) and Korea (2520, 25-18, 25-18). Team USA left Korea with a 7-2 record and the lead in the pool. But it still needed to win two matches when it hosted World League in Dallas on June 29-July 1. “We are in the process of deciding our final 12 players for London,” said Knipe, who rejoined the team in Dallas. “These World League matches are an important part of that. “We are also continuing to fine-tune our game plan for London.” The U.S. Men got off to a good start in Dallas by sweeping Korea 32-30, 26-24, 25-22. But it stumbled in its second match, falling to France 25-20, 22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-13. respective pool on one weekend each. The four pool winners, plus the best second-place team and host Bulgaria qualified for the Final Round. The first World League weekend was rough as the U.S. Men fell to France (17-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-17), needed five sets to defeat Korea (20-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-23, 17-15) and lost 3-0 to host Italy (25-16, 25-20, 25-16). Knipe admitted that fatigue could have been a factor in the team’s poor performance. “I think it was hard for the guys to stay so focused for so many weeks in a row,” he said. “But we still could have played much better than we did.”

Things did not look good in the match against Italy as the U.S. Men fell behind 2-1 in sets and were trailing 8-6 in the fourth. The team used a 4-0 run to pull ahead and went on to win the match 26-28, 25-20, 24-26, 25-17, 15-10. “It was a great effort by our team, especially players who came off the bench: Dave Smith, Sean Rooney,” Stanley said. “We have been trying not to get down in matches and keep our heads up; keep pushing, keep going.” The U.S. Men traveled straight from Dallas to Sofia, Bulgaria for the Final Round on July 4-8. They opened with a five-set loss to Germany, 25-20, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 16-14. But a three-set victory over Bulgaria the next night (25-21, 25-16, 25-17) gave the U.S. Men to pool victory. They advanced to

The team then had three weeks off from World League competition while other Olympic qualifying tournaments were played. It traveled to Lyon, France for the next World League weekend on June 15-17. Knipe did not travel with the team as he dealt with a family emergency. John Speraw filled in along with assistant coaches Gary Sato and Ron Larsen and helped the team go 3-0 in France with victories over Italy (30-28, 28-26, 25-22), Korea (22-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-16) and France (20-25, 2522, 25-19, 25-21). The U.S. Men left Lyon with the lead in the 43

2012 U.S. Men's Season Review the semifinals where they defeated their NORCECA foe Cuba, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23.

the second set.” Team USA suffered its first loss of the 2012 Olympic Games on Aug. 4 when it fell to Russia, 27-29, 19-25, 26-24, 25-16, 15-8 after holding a match point in the third set.

In the final, the U.S. Men lost to Poland, 25-17, 26-24, 2520. The team won $500,000 for second place and won its first World League medal since it won the title in 2008.

“I think (Russia) made some changes to their personnel and they started to serve really aggressively,” middle blocker David Lee said. “They put us in a bad position where we couldn’t side out and we couldn’t run our offense.”

“In the beginning of World League, I didn’t think we’d be in this position,” said Stanley, who won the Best Server award for the Final Round. “I thought our team improved each weekend. We did a lot of great things to get to this final, although I’m disappointed in how we showed up to play tonight.”

Despite the loss, the U.S. Men still led Pool B and won the pool with a 25-15, 25-19, 25-19 victory over Tunisia on Aug. 6. U.S. opposite David McKienzie got his first Olympic Games start in the tournament and led the team with 17 points with 14 kills on 25 attacks, two aces and a block.

It was the first time that the U.S. Men have medaled in World League in the same year that the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team has medaled in the FIVB Grand Prix. The U.S. Women won the Grand Prix on July 1.

The U.S. Men advanced to the quarterfinals, where they found themselves playing their old World League foe, Italy, which had finished fourth in Pool A where it went 3-2. The matchup proved to be a bad one for Team USA, which ended its season with a 28-26, 25-20, 25-20 loss to Italy on Aug. 8.

“I’m disappointed in the way we played tonight,” Knipe said. “But a lot of really good things have come out in the last few weeks. These were important matches for us. We wanted to reach the final and experience these matches and build toward the Olympic Games.” The U.S. Men returned to Anaheim for their final training block before the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where it hoped to become the first country to win the men’s volleyball gold medal four times. During the break, the U.S. Men’s A2 Team won the Pan American Cup, defeating Argentina in the final. The Olympic men’s volleyball tournament, which was played at Earls Court in London, began with pool play on July 29 as the U.S. Men easily handled Serbia, 25-16, 25-22, 2521. They followed that with a victory over Germany on July 31, 25-23, 25-16, 25-20.

“It was frustrating for us,” Knipe said. “When we look back at this we will see we had lots of opportunities to win the first set. We came in with a really good game plan and when we were in our game plan and executing it, we were winning points.” The U.S. Men finished the tournament tied for fifth. After the season, most of the U.S. athletes went to play on international teams. Knipe returned to his position as head coach of the men’s volleyball team at Long Beach State University.

On Aug. 2, the U.S. Men defeated world No. 1 and topranked Brazil, 23-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-17 and took the lead in Pool B. “It was an important match,” setter Donald Suxho said. “We worked hard and got better by sticking together and trusting each other more. (Brazil) is the best team in the world. The first set it was all them and we had to adapt and change for 44

2012 Players of the Year Outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) has been named the USA Volleyball Indoor Male Athlete of the Year for 2012, while setter Donald Suxho (Korce, Albania) has been selected as USA Volleyball’s Most Improved Player in the indoor male athlete category.

“My sights are already set on (the Olympic Games in) Rio 2016,” Anderson said. “If I’m lucky enough to make that squad, I don’t want to go home from those Games without a medal, hopefully gold.”

At 25, Anderson was the youngest player on the U.S. Men’s Olympic Volleyball Team and finished the 2012 season as the team’s leading scorer with 393 points on a team-leading 326 kills, 42 blocks and 25 aces (second highest on team). Anderson started 96 out of the 97 sets for the U.S. Men. His kill percent was 50.7 and his hitting efficiency was .440. “My success this season with the National Team came from the realization of the trust my teammates and coaches had in me,” Anderson said via e-mail from Russia where he is playing for Zenit Kazan in the Super League. “In training we created an atmosphere of the best volleyball and it was tough to differentiate between training and big-time matches.”

Suxho finished second in the Best Setter category at the 2012 Olympic Games in London where he was credited with 213 running sets (10.65 per set). He started 20 out of 21 sets and scored 10 points on three kills, six blocks and one ace.

Suxho played in 57 out of 60 FIVB World League sets for the U.S. Men, scoring 29 points on 14 kills and 15 blocks, including highs of five points against France in France (four kills, one block) and against France in Dallas (one kill, four blocks). He finished first in the Best Setter category in pool play with 331 running sets (5.81 per set) and finished second among all setters in the Final Round with 74 running sets (5.29 per set).

“The highlight of my 2012 season was being a part of the 2012 Olympic Games,” Anderson said. “There is no words to describe the honor I received being able to walk with the team in Opening Ceremonies, and then to compete on the world’s biggest stage for my country, the USA. The low point is leaving the Olympics knowing we could have accomplished more as a team.”

Anderson was named “Best Spiker” at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament on May 7-12 in Long Beach, Calif., as the U.S. Men qualified for the Olympic Games. He played in 15 out of 16 sets and was the team’s leading scorer, finishing with 64 points on 52 kills, four blocks, and eight aces. His hitting efficiency was .585 and he scored a tournament-high 24 points against Cuba.

“I am extremely thankful to the USA Volleyball organization, the USA coaching staff and the medical staff for training and helping me,” Suxho said. “I also want to thank my teammates for trusting me.”

“The highlight of my season was winning our group at the Olympics,” Suxho said. “The low point was losing to Italy in the quarterfinals. It was like a stab in the heart.”

Anderson started all 21 sets of the Olympic Games in London and was the team’s leading scorer with 81 points on 69 kills (.390 hitting efficiency), six aces and six blocks. His tournament best was 18 points (16 attacks, one block and one ace) scored in 3-2, pool play loss to Russia. The U.S. Men finished fifth in London.

Anderson played in all 60 FIVB World League sets in which the U.S. Men competed and was the team’s leading scorer. He finished with 248 points on a team-leading 205 kills, 32 blocks and 11 aces. He was fifth among all World League scorers at the end of pool play. His tournament high was 21 points scored against Korea on June 16.

Suxho, 36, went into the 2012 season not knowing for sure if he would be the team’s starting setter, as he had to battle Brian Thornton (San Clemente, Calif.) and Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.) for the slot. Suxho ended up playing in 92 of 115 sets in which the U.S. Men competed. He helped the team to a season kill percentage of 45.4 and a hitting efficiency of .375. He also finished the season with 46 points on 18 kills, 24 blocks and four aces. He was credited with 128 digs (1.39 per set) and 705 running sets (7.67 per set).

He started 15 out of 16 sets for the U.S. Men at the NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament. He finished with seven points on one kills, three blocks and three aces and was credited with 87 running sets (5.44 per set). “My goals are to continue to improve my game, stay healthy and win gold in Rio,” Suxho said.

2012 U.S. Men's Final Statistics DataVolley statistics based on the following 2012 events: NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualification Touranment, FIVB World League, Pan American Cup and the Olympic Games. Name

Sets

Kills

Kills/set

Kill pct

Hit errors

Attempts

Efficiency

Aces

Aces/set

Blocks

Blocks/set

Digs

Digs/set

Points

Points/set

Ryan Ammerman

0.25

100.0

1.000

0.00

0.25

Matt Anderson

326

3.40

50.7

643

0.440

0.26

0.44

103

1.07

393

4.09

Tony Ciarelli

2.93

61.1

0.528

0.4

0.07

0.00

3.40

Carson Clark

3.17

50.0

0.474

0.25

0.00

1.17

3.42

Dylan Davis

1.73

70.3

0.622

0.00

0.53

0.07

2.27

Jordan Dufault

0.50

71.4

0.714

0.00

0.30

0.50

Gabe Gardner

1.00

53.8

0.462

0.00

0.30

1.00

Russell Holmes

120

1.45

60.3

199

0.543

0.14

0.83

0.23

201

2.42

Rich Lambourne

0.00

00.0

0.000

0.00

144

1.48

0.00

David Lee

116

1.59

64.8

179

0.581

0.14

0.66

0.03

174

2.38

Paul Lotman

0.30

41.5

0.341

0.11

0.02

0.23

0.43

Dan McDonnell

0.80

36.6

0.318

0.70

0.60

0.30

2.10

David McKienzie

0.71

59.7

0.468

0.22

0.06

0.28

0.98

Ryan Millar

0.92

66.7

0.545

0.00

0.25

0.33

1.17

Garrett Muagututia

2.83

48.6

0.457

0.17

0.00

1.17

3.00

Reid Priddy

146

2.21

40.7

359

0.343

0.27

0.48

1.12

196

2.97

Matt Rawson

1.00

65.4

0.654

0.00

1.06

0.18

2.06

Sean Rooney

102

2.76

48.1

212

0.434

0.19

0.62

1.30

132

3.57

Riley Salmon

0.42

35.7

0.286

0.00

0.42

Taylor Sander

3.82

60.2

108

0.509

0.53

0.24

0.94

4.59

Kawika Shoji

0.11

100.0

1.000

0.22

0.11

0.00

0.44 1.60

David Smith

1.02

64.0

0.627

0.15

0.43

0.28

Clay Stanley

269

3.09

50.3

535

0.452

0.46

0.56

1.00

358

4.11

Donald Suxho

0.20

43.9

0.317

0.04

0.26

128

1.39

0.50

Brian Thornton

0.09

33.3

0.000

0.00

0.18

0.64

0.27

Murphy Troy

2.64

78.7

0.681

0.50

0.14

0.43

3.29

Dustin Watten

0.00

00.0

0.000

0.00

2.50

115

1503

13.07

52.6

181

2857

0.463

180

1.57

361

3.14

785

6.83

2044

17.77

Opponents

115

1421

12.36

45.4

247

3127

0.375

134

1.17

195

1.70

802

6.97

1750

15.22

Setting Statistics based on the following 2012 events as determined by the FIVB and NORCECA: NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualification Touranment, FIVB World League, Pan American Cup and the Olympic Games. Name

Sets Running Faults Played Sets

Total Attempts

Running Sets Per Set

Donald Suxho Brian Thornton Kawika Shoji Ryan Ammerman

92 705 16 11 57 0 18 55 1 4 1 1

1,829 144 391 15

7.66 5.18 3.06 0.25

Photo Roster for 2013 Grand Champions Cup

2013 U.S. Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Team for the FIVB Grand Champions Cup

No 1 Matt Anderson

No 11 Micah Christenson

No 15 Carson Clark

No 17 Max Holt

No 4 David Lee

No 6 Paul Lotman

No 14 Jeff Menzel

No 8 Reid Priddy

No 2 Sean Rooney

No 19 Erik Shoji

No 7 Kawika Shoji

No 9 Murphy Troy

Head Coach John Speraw

Assistant Coach Matt Fuerbringer

No 20 David Smith

No 13 Futi Tavana

Assistant Coach Mike Wall

Technical Coordinator Anton Willert

Team Leader Andrea Becker

Athletic Trainer Aaron Brock

No. 1 Matt Anderson Outside Hitter * 6-9 West Seneca, N.Y. College: Penn State Birth Year: 1987 Joined Team: 2008

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League. 2012 – Olympic Games... FIVB World League (Silver Medal)... NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament (Gold Medal). 2011 – FIVB World Cup… NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship… London Volleyball International Invitational… FIVB World League. 2010 – FIVB World Championship. FIVB World League. 2009 – Brazil Tour... FIVB World League. 2008 – America’s Cup... Pan American Cup (Gold Medal). 2007 – FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship. 2006 – NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship (Silver Medal). 2005 – Four Nation Tournament. INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Named MVP of the NORCECA Continental Championship and also named to All-Star Team. Led the team in scoring with 44 points on 36 kills, three blocks and five aces. Played at opposite in the NORCECA final... Served as the team captain for World League... Played in all 39 sets of the United States’ World League campaign and was the team’s leading scorer with 151 points on 127 kills, nine aces and 15 blocks. Played for Zenit Kazan in Russia during the winter of 201213. 2012 – Named the USA Volleyball Male Indoor Athlete of the Year... Finished season as the team’s leading scorer with 393 points on a teamleading 326 kills, 42 blocks and 25 aces (second highest on team). Started 96 out of 97 sets… Was the youngest player on the U.S. Olympic Men’s Volleyball Team. Started all 21 sets of the Olympic Games and was the team’s leading scorer with 81 points on 69 kills, six aces and six blocks... Played in all 60 World League sets and was the team’s leading scorer, finishing with 248 points on a team-leading 205 kills, 32 blocks and 11 aces... Named “Best Spiker” at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament on May 7-12 in Long Beach, Calif. Played in 15 out of 16 sets. Was the team’s leading scorer, finishing with 64 points on 52 kills, four blocks, and eight aces... During the winter of 2011-12, played for Casa Modena in Italy’s Serie A League. 2011 – Played in more sets than any other U.S. Men’s player in 2011 and was the team’s leading scorer with 493 points on 420 kills, 39 blocks and 34 aces... Played in 32 sets of the FIVB World Cup and was the team’s leading scorer with 158 points on 139 kills, five blocks and 14 aces… Was the team’s leading scorer at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Sept. 3-11 in Puerto Rico… Finished with 67 points on 57 kills, four blocks and six aces… Was the team’s second-leading scorer at the London Volleyball International Invitational on July 20-24 where the U.S. Men placed third… Started 52 sets of the 2011 FIVB World League for the U.S. Men and was the team’s leading scorer with 210 points (4.04 per set) on 177 kills (3.40 per set), 23 blocks (0.44 per set) and 10 aces (0.19 per set)... During the winter of 2010-11, Matt played for Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia in Italy’s Serie A League. 2010 – Finished the season as the U.S. Men’s fifth-leading scorer with 112 points and an average of 3.20 points per set. Played in four sets for the U.S. Men at the FIVB World Championship in Italy... Played in 31 sets of the FIVB World League. 2009 – Had a serious case of pneumonia during the 2009 summer season, but still finished sixth on the team in scoring with 71 points in 21 sets (3.38 points per set). After returning from pneumonia, started four out of five matches during the U.S. Men’s Brazil Tour on Sept. 22-27... Started five World League matches before falling ill with pneumonia

and sitting out the rest of Matt Brown photo the tournament... During the winter of 2009, played for the Hyundai Capital Skywalkers in Korea. 2008 – Played on the U.S. Men’s Team that finished fifth at the Americas Cup in Cuiaba, Brazil... Was a member of the U.S. Men’s team that won gold at the 2008 Pan American Cup on June 2-7 in Winnipeg, Manitoba... Was a member of the U.S. Men’s Training Team that traveled to Japan from May 17-25 to help prepare the Japanese National team for Olympic qualification. 2007 – Started at outside hitter for the Men’s Junior National Team that finished seventh at the FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship in Rabat, Morocco... Recorded 91 total points for an average of 3.37 points per game, racked up 77 kills (2.85 kills per game) and added four aces, 10 blocks and 32 digs. 2006 – Was a member of the Men’s Junior National Team that finished second at the NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship and qualified for the 2007 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship. 2005 – Was a member of the U.S. Boys Youth National Team that competed at the Four Nation Tournament in Cabo Frio, Brazil. COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2008 – Left Penn State after his junior year to play for the Hyundai Capital Skywalkers, a professional volleyball club in Korea… As a junior, was AVCA Co-Player of the Year with Paul Lotman of Long Beach State… Penn State won the NCAA National Championship with a victory over Pepperdine in the final... Named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament... AVCA All-American first team... EIVA Player of the Year... First Team All-EIVA... Led the Nittany Lions with 5.64 kills per game on .390 hitting. 2007 – AVCA Second Team All-America... First Team AllEIVA... EIVA Championship All-Tournament Team... Averaged 4.35 kills per game as an opposite... Set a new career high and Penn State rally-scoringera record with 35 kills (on .452 hitting) in the five-game win at No. 4 UC Santa Barbara (3/12). 2006 – Second Team All-East... Played in 91 games and all 30 matches. HIGH SCHOOL/CLUB HIGHLIGHTS: Attended West Seneca West High School (N.Y.) and led the boys’ volleyball team to a 17-0 regular-season record during his senior season... Squad was the 2004 Division I champions and Matt served as team captain... Was a member of the Eden Volleyball Club in Eden, N.Y. PERSONAL: Born Matthew John Anderson in 1987, in Buffalo, N.Y.... Mother is Nancy Anderson. Matthew’s father, Michael Anderson, died in January 2010... Has three older sisters, Jennifer, Joelle and Amy and one older brother Joshua, one brother-in-law Rialdo, two nephews Aedan and Tristin and two nieces, Alexis and Juliana... Sister Joelle played volleyball at the College of Saint Rose... Sister Amy played volleyball and basketball at Hilbert College... Names Oasis as favorite musical entertainer, buffalo wings from Buffalo, N.Y., as favorite food, and Top Gun as favorite movie... Majored in kinesiology at Penn State.

Indoor Team of the Year… Youngest setter ever to play for the United States in a World Championship.

No. 11 Micah Christenson Setter * 6-6 Honolulu, Hawaii College: Southern California Birth Year: 1993 Joined Team: 2013

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal). 2012 – NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship (Gold Medal). 2011 – FIVB U21 World Championship. 2010 – NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... NORCECA Boys’ Youth Continental Championship (Silver Medal). 2009 – FIVB U19 World Championship. INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Made his U.S. Men’s National Team debut at the NORCECA Continental Championship while a junior at USC. Was named Best Server and Best Setter and was named the setter to the All-Star Team. Finished with 16 points on three kills, six blocks and seven aces. Credited with 71 running sets. 2012 – Named Best Setter and served as Courtesy of Volleyball Canada team captain as the U.S. Men's Junior Team won the NORCECA Men's Junior Continental Championship and qualified for 2013 FIVB U21 World Championship... Finished with 87 running sets on 254 attempts with one error. 2011 – Team captain of the U.S. Men's Junior National Team that finished fourth at the 2011 FIVB Men's Junior World Championship in Brazil. 2010 – Competed in the NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship (Gold Medal) and qualified for the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship… Named Best Setter of the tournament… Christenson served as Team Captain for the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team that finished second at the NORCECA Boys’ Youth Continental Championship… Finished with 67 running sets (fourth among all setters). 2009 – Member of the Boys’ Youth National Team that took 11th at FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship… Named to USA Volleyball’s 2009

COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Named to the 2013 All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation second team... Led USC in assists (867), digs (179) and aces (41) and was second in blocks (59). 2012 – During his freshman season at USC, named AVCA and MPSF Newcomer of the Year... Named AVCA Second Team All-American... Played in 102 sets… Tallied 1,097 assists with an average of 10.89 assists per set... Ranked fourth in the nation in assists average… Led the Trojans to a .296 hitting percentage. CLUB/PREP HIGHLIGHTS: In 2008, was named captain of the High Performance Select A1 Red Team in Tuscon, Ariz.... In 2010, Micah’s Outrigger club team earned second place at the USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National Championship in the 18U Open Division…Micah made the All-Tournament team…First Team All-State his sophomore year…Named Volleyball Magazine First Team High School All-American as a sophomore… All-Conference for volleyball all four years…All-Conference for basketball three years… Gatorade Player of the Year for basketball his junior and senior year… State Player of the Year for volleyball his senior year. Led his high school team to the state championship as a sophomore and reached the state championship game again in 2010. PERSONAL: Born Micah Makanamaikalani Christenson on May 8, 1993, in Honolulu, Hawaii... Parents are Robert and Charlene Christenson...Has a sister Joanna... Father played basketball at University of Hawaii-Hilo... Mother played volleyball at University of Hawaii-Hilo where she won three national championships and was named a two-time All-American… Favorite food is his mom’s fried rice... Favorite book is the Bible... Favorite sports team is the Dallas Mavericks and favorite athlete is Larry Bird... Hobbies include hanging out with friends at the beach... Most admired people are his parents for their wonderful example…Micah says that his best moment in life is still to be determined.

Pan American Cup team that won the gold medal in San Juan, Puerto Rico (May 24-29). Scored 56 points on 49 kills, three blocks and four spikes in 18 sets. 2007 – Was the United States’ second leading scorer at the FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship in Baja, Mexico, finishing with 77 points on 65 kills, nine blocks and three aces. 2006 – Was a member of the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team that finished second at the NORCECA Championship in Dominican Republic. The team lost to Puerto Rico in the final.

No. 15 Carson Clark Opposite * 6-6 Santa Barbara, Calif. College: UC Irvine Birth Year: 1989 Joined Team: 2010

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League. 2012 – Pan American Cup (Gold Medal). 2011 – World University Games in Shenzhen, China. 2010 – FIVB World Championship... Pan American Cup (Gold Medal). 2007 – FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship (15th). 2006 – NORCECA Boys’ Youth Continental Championship (Silver Medal). INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Played in five sets of the NORCECA Championship. Scored 13 points on nine kills, one block and three aces... Played in 31 out of 39 sets of World League and was the United States’ second-leading scorer with 124 points on 104 kills, three blocks and a team-high 17 aces... Played for Montpellier in France’s A1 league during the winter of 2012-13. 2012 – Helped the U.S. Men win the gold medal at the Pan American Cup in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic... Finished with 42 points on 39 kills and three aces in 12 sets played. 2011 – Competed in 21 sets and started 10 for the U.S. team at the World University Games on Aug. 12-23 in Shenzhen, China. The U.S. Men finished 13th at the Games. Scored 61 points on 41 kills, eight blocks and five aces. 2010 – Was the backup opposite to Clay Stanley at the FIVB World Championship in Italy where the U.S. Men finished sixth but saw limited playing time... Was the starting opposite for the FIVB Photo

COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2012 – Helped UC Irvine win the NCAA Division I-II National Championship... Voted outstanding player of the NCAA tournament, finishing the final with 22 kills and a hitting efficiency of .465... AVCA First Team All-American... First Team All-MPSF... Finished as Irvine’s all-time kill leaders with 1.861. 2011 – Second team All-American and first team All-MPSF honoree... Averaged 4.54 kills and 5.21 points per set...ranked third in the nation in kills per set and seventh in aces (0.42)... Ranked second in the MPSF with a 4.58 kills and 5.29 points average overall and also ranked third in service aces with a 0.44 average... Ended the year ranked second in UCI career service aces (122), third in attack attempts (3,105) and fourth in kills (1,447)... His 47 aces in 2011 was tied for second in the season record book... Totaled double-digit kills in all but two matches this year, totaling 20 or more kills 10 times... Put away 35 kills against Pepperdine (1/21/11) which was the 10th best total in a match at UCI and the most by an MPSF player last season. 2010 – AVCA First Team All-American… First Team All-MPSF… Set UCI single-season records for service aces (50) and attack attempts (1,259) as well as ranking fourth in kills (564)… Played 108 sets for UCA… Finished the season with 625 points on 541 kills (.306 hitting percentage), 12 aces (0.11 per set), 7 solo blocks and 58 block assists… Carson also had 196 digs (1.81 per set). 2009 – Helped UC Irvine win the NCAA Men’s National Championship... Named to the NCAA All-tournament Team... Second Team AVCA All-America... Named MPSF Freshman of the Year as well as first team and All-Freshman team accolades... Led the team with a 3.90 kill average, which was 17th in the country and eighth in the MPSF... Hit .336 overall which was 25th in the country... Ranked eighth among MPSF players in points per set at 4.51... Tallied 25 aces... Recorded kills in double-digits 20 times, including 20 or more kills on seven occasions... Named to the UCSB/ Elephant Bar Collegiate All-Tournament Team. 2008 – Redshirted. CLUB/HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS: Began playing volleyball in 2003 for the Southern California Volleyball Club… Won a silver medal with the SCVC Boys 18s team at the 2005 Junior National Championships and won a bronze medal in 2004... Earned all-tournament honors at the 2003 Junior Nationals… Attended Santa Barbara High School 2005-07… Fourtime All-CIF selection from Santa Barbara HS... Team was CIF Division 2 finalist... Channel League Co-MVP as a senior... Team won Channel League title... Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection PERSONAL: Born Carson Martin Clark in 1989 in Santa Barbara, Calif. … Parents are Glen and Candy Clark… Carson has two older brothers, Ian and Sutton… Graduated from UC Irvine in 2012 with a degree in sociology… Favorite food is sushi… Favorite book is Into the Wild… Favorite musician is Kid Cudi… Favorite professional team is Liverpool FC… Favorite athlete is Laird Hamilton… Hobbies include going to the beach and naps… Clark considered leaving UCI after his junior year to play overseas professionally, but stayed and ended up winning his second NCAA national championship... His most admired person is Obi Wan Kenobi because “He is what I wish I could be.”

No. 17 Max Holt Middle Blocker * 6-9 Cincinnati, Ohio College: Penn State Birth Year: 1987 Joined Team: 2009

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... World League. 2012 – World League (Silver medal) 2011 – FIVB World Cup… NORCECA Continental Championship (Silver Medal)... London Volleyball International Invitational (Bronze Medal)… FIVB World League. 2010 – FIVB World Championship. FIVB World League. 2009 – Pan American Cup (Gold Medal). 2007 – FIVB U21 World Championship (7th). 2006 – NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship (Silver Medal). 2005 – Four Nations Tournament. INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Played in 10 sets of the NORCECA Continental Championship and scored 33 points on 24 kills, seven blocks and one ace... Was the team’s leading blocker at World League with 27 blocks in 28 sets... Played during the winter of 2012-13 for Copra Elior Piacenza in Italy’s Serie A league. Helped the team win the CEV Challenge Cup and finish second in the league playoffs. 2012 – Was an alternate on the 2012 Olympic Team. 2011 – Finished the season with 76 points on 49 kills, seven blocks and six aces in 39 sets played… Played in nine sets of the FIVB World Cup and finished with nine points on five attacks and four blocks… Started 15 out of 18 sets at the NORCECA Championship in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico where the U.S. Men finished second to Cuba... Second on the U.S. team and among all players in blocks with 13...Finished

with a total of 40 points on 24 kills, 13 blocks and three aces... His hitting efficiency was 0.455 and his kill percent was 54.5. Max started 11 sets of the London Volleyball International Invitational where the U.S. Men finished third. He finished with 23 points (2.09 per set) on 16 kills (1.45 per set), four blocks (0.36 per set) and three aces (0.27 per set)... Max saw limited playing time during the 2011 FIVB World League as middle blockers Dave Lee and Ryan Millar got most of the starts. The U.S. Men finished seventh in World League. Max played for Copra Morpho Piacenza in Italy’s Serie A league during the winter of 2010-11... Played for Copra Morpho Piacenza in Italy’s Serie A league during the winter of 2010-11. 2010 – Played in 41 sets for the U.S. Men in 2010, finishing with 57 points on 41 kills (0.372 hitting percentage), 13 blocks (0.32 blocks per set) and three aces (0,07 aces per set)... Max appeared in 22 sets and started 21 at the FIVB World Championship in Italy where the U.S. Men finished sixth. He finished the tournament with 37 points on 28 kills, eight blocks and one ace. He averaged 0.24 blocks per set... Max appeared in 19 sets during the FIVB World League and had a hitting percentage of .471, second best for the team. He also tallied 10 kills (0.53 per set), two stuff blocks (0.04 per set) and two service aces (0.04 per set). He finished the League with 14 total points (0.74). Played for Bluvolley Verona in Italy’s Serie A League during the winter of 2009-10. 2009 – Played on the Pan American Cup team that won the gold medal in Chiapas, Mexico… Max started all four matches and played 16 sets… He finished with 56 points on 41 kills, 10 blocks and 5 aces. 2007 – Was a starting middle blocker for the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team that finished seventh at the FIVB World Championship in Rabat, Morocco… Scored 56 points for the championship... Provided 42 kills for an average of 1.55 kills per set on .400 hitting... Added five blocks and six digs. 2006 – Was a starting middle blocker on the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team that finished second to Cuba at the NORCECA Continental Championship in Monterrey, Mexico… Max was named the tournament’s Best Blocker. COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2009 (Senior) – Named AVCA Division I All American for the second year as Penn State advanced to the NCAA Championship match where it lost to USC… Max was named the 2009 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Player of the Year and was on the EIVA All-East First Team… He ranked first in the nation in aces per game and hitting percentage. 2008 (Junior) – AVCA First Team AllAmerican... NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team... First Team AllEIVA... EIVA All-Championship Team... four-time EIVA Player of the Week... Played in 100 of 103 games and all 31 matches... Recorded 318 kills, 48 service aces, 41 digs and 130 total blocks... Averaged 3.18 kills per game on .548 hitting, good for first on the team and in the nation. 2007 (Sophomore) – First Team All-EIVA... EIVA Championship All-Tournament Team... Active Ankle/Long Beach State Guesthouse Classic All-Tournament Team... Played in every game of the season, averaging 2.71 kills per game on .447 hitting, good for 12th on the Penn State single-season hitting percentage list. 2006 (Freshman) – First Team All-East... EIVA AllChampionship team... played in all 30 matches and 108 games... Averaged 2.17 kills per game on .415 hitting (15th in the nation) with 0.23 service aces per game, 0.44 digs per game and 1.19 blocks per game. CLUB/HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS: Max was a six-time letterwinner (four in volleyball and two in soccer) for Purcell Marian (Ohio) High School... Named the Ohio Player of the Year following senior season in 2005... First team all-state as a junior and third team all-region as a sophomore... Played for the Cincinnati Attack club team... Squad was Flight 1 champions at the 2004 Junior National Championship.

Courtesy of FIVB

PERSONAL: Born Maxwell Philip Holt in 1987 in Cincinnati, Ohio... Parents are Kim and Angie Holt... Has two older siblings, Megan and Nick, and a younger brother, Sam, who also plays volleyball... Max names Ben Harper as favorite musical entertainer, history as favorite school subject, the Cincinnati Bengals as favorite pro sports team and Chad Johnson as favorite athlete... Graduated from Penn State in 2009 with a degree in journalism.

No. 4 David Lee

Middle Blocker * 6-8 Alpine, Calif. College: Long Beach State Birth Year: 1982 Joined Team: 2003 MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League. 2012 – Olympic Games… FIVB World League (Silver Medal)… NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament (Gold Medal). 2011 – FIVB World Cup… NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship (Silver Medal)… FIVB World League. 2010 – FIVB World Championship... FIVB World League. 2009 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Silver Medal)... 2010 FIVB World Championship Qualifier for NORCECA Group F (Gold Medal)… FIVB World League. 2008 – Olympic Games (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League (Gold medal)... NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifying Championship (Gold Medal). 2007 – FIVB World Cup... NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... Pan American Games (Silver Medal)... FIVB World League (Bronze Medal). 2006 – FIVB World League... Pan American Cup (Gold Medal)... Argentina Tour. 2005 – Pacific Northwest Tour vs. Netherlands... USOC International Sports Invitational (Silver Medal)... Argentina Tour... America’s Cup (Gold Medal)... FIVB World Championship Qualifying Tournament (Gold Medal)... NORCECA Continental - Championships (Gold Medal). 2003 – World University Games (Bronze Medal). INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Played in eight sets of the NORCECA Championship. Finished with 22 points on 11 kills, nine blocks and two aces... Played in 27 of 39 sets at World League. Second on the team in blocks with 20... Played the winter of 2013 for Zenit Kazan in Russia. 2012 – Finished season with 174 points on 116 kills, 48 blocks in 10 aces in 73 sets… Started 18 Olympic sets, finishing with 42 points on 25 kills, 15 blocks and two aces. Finished fourth among all Olympic blockers (.83 blocks per set)… Finished World League with 89 points on 61 kills, 22 blocks and six aces in 41 sets played.... Named tournament’s Best Blocker at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualifier with 11 blocks in 14 sets played. Finished with 43 points on 30 kills, 11 blocks, and two aces. 2011 – Finished the season as the team’s leading blocker with 82 in 104 sets played. Fourth on the team in scoring with 230 points on 140 kills, 82 blocks and eight aces… Named best blocker at the NORCECA Championship in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico with 16. Finished the tournament with 45 points on 28 kills, 16 blocks and one ace... Was one of three players who competed in all 58 sets of the FIVB World League… Was the leading blocker for the U.S. Men at World League with 52 in 58 sets for an average of 0.90 blocks per set. Finished pool play second among all blockers... Played the winter of 2010-11 for Kuzbass Kemerovo in Russia’s Super League. 2010 – Finished the 2010 season having played in 75 sets, the second most on the team. Finished with 150 points on 85 kills, 55 blocks and 10 aces. His 55 blocks led the team and his 10 aces put him second... Played in 26 sets of the FIVB World Championship. His 18 blocks tied him with Clay Stanley as the team’s leading blocker... Was the only player to play in all 49 sets of pool play for the U.S. Men in the FIVB World League... Played for Lokomotiv Novosibirsk in the Russian Super League during the winter of 2009-10. 2009 – Was the U.S. Men’s leading blocker in 2009 with 49 stuff blocks in 66 sets for an average of .74 per set. Was the team’s third-leading scorer with 176 points on 113 kills, 49 blocks and 14 aces... Helped the team to a second-place finish at the 2009 NORCECA Continental Championship in Puerto Rico... Helped the U.S. Men win the 2010 FIVB World Championship Qualifier… Helped the U.S. Men to a sixthplace finish at World League. Was the leading blocker in the final round, but did not receive the award because the U.S. Men did not play for a medal. Finished with eight blocks and six errors in 26 attempts for an average

of 1.33 blocks per set... Was the Courtesy of FIVB United States’ leading blocker and fourth overall in the continental (pool play) round with 30 blocks and an average of 0.67 blocks per set... Played the 2008-09 winter season for Sisley Treviso in Italy’s Serie A League. 2008 – Finished the season with 243 points in 95 sets played. Finished as the second-leading blocker with 63. Tallied 168 kills and had a hitting percentage of 0.58... Finished second among all blockers at the Olympic Games with 33 kill blocks for an average of 1 per set. In the United States’ semifinal match against Russia, came up big in the fifth set, tallying a kill and block on consecutive plays to yield a 13-12 advantage. After Russia tied the set at 13-all, Lee ended the match with a kill and block. He scored four of his 12 points in the final five points of the match.... Finished seventh among all blockers in the World League final round with eight blocks for an average of 0.53 per set as the U.S. Men won their first World League title... Scored 28 points on 21 kills and seven blocks at the NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifier, which the United States won to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games. 2007 – Moved from backup to part-time starter (sharing time with Tom Hoff) and finished the season second on the team in blocks with 69 for an average of 0.67 blocks per set. He was sixth on the team in scoring with 230 points... Was the United States’ second-leading blocker and third overall at the FIVB World Cup, where the U.S. Men finished fourth. David had 25 blocks in 108 attempts and averaged 0.63 blocks per set... Was the top U.S. blocker and fourth overall at the NORCECA Continental Championship. He was credited with 13 blocks…. Was the top U.S. blocker and second overall at the Pan American Games where he was credited with 12 blocks... David was the United States’ leading blocker with an average of 0.43 per set... Started seven out of 10 World League pool-play matches and played in 10. 2006 – Played in six FIVB World League matches in place of Ryan Millar... Played two matches in the inaugural Pan America Cup in June with a 4-0 record... Helped the team finish 4-1 on the Argentina tour. 2005 – Played 65 of 119 sets during the year but finished second in total blocks with 59. Finished second in blocks per set (0.91)... Named “Best Blocker” and earned a gold medal in August at the FIVB World Championship Qualifying Tournament as the USA Men qualified for the 2006 World Championships. 2003 – Scored 20 points as the U.S. Men captured the bronze medal at the World University Games with a 3-2 win over France in Daegu, South Korea. COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2004 – Named first team AVCA All American. 2003 – Named to the All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) secondteam... Led the team and conference with a .483 hitting percentage... Recorded a team-high 1.18 blocks per game. 2002 – Appeared in 118 games as a sophomore...Averaged 2.64 kills and 0.95 blocks per game. 2001 – Averaged 1.17 kills and 0.75 blocks per set. CLUB/HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS: Played high school volleyball at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon... Played club volleyball for Seaside Volleyball Club PERSONAL: Born David Cameron Lee in 1982 in Alpine, Calif.... Parents are Mac and Robin Lee... Also has two older brothers named Nathan and Mark... David is the tallest member of his immediate family... Enjoys listening to reggae and watching volleyball and basketball... Majored in human development at Long Beach State... Favorite foods are filet mignon and lobster... Favorite pro team is the Los Angeles Lakers.

No. 6 Paul Lotman

Outside Hitter * 6-7 Lakewood, Calif. College: Long Beach State Birth Year: 1985 Joined Team: 2008 MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – FIVB World League. 2012 – Olympic Games... FIVB World League (Silver Medal)... NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament (Gold Medal). 2011 – FIVB World Cup… NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship (Silver Medal)... London Volleyball International Invitational (Bronze Medal)... FIVB World League. 2010 – FIVB World Championship... FIVB World League. 2009 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Silver Medal)... Tour of Brazil... 2010 FIVB World Championship Qualifier for NORCECA Group F (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League. 2008 – Pan American Cup (Gold Medal). 2007 – World University Games (Gold Medal). 2005 – FIVB Men’s U-21 World Championship. INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Played in 27 sets in World League scoring 77 points on 37 kills, eight blocks and four aces. Also credited with 37 digs... Played the winter of 2012-13 for Asseco Resovia and helped it win the Polish league championship. 2012 – Served as backup outside hitter and serving specialist. Played in 56 sets. Finished season with 24 points on 17 kills, six aces and one block. Also credited with 13 digs (1.3. per set)… Played as a substitute and serving specialist in eight sets of the Olympic Games… Finished World League with 12 points on 10 attacks and two aces in 38 sets... Played in 10 sets and started two of the NORCECA Olympic qualifier... Played the winter of 2011-12 for Asseco Resovia and helped it win the Polish league championship. 2011 – Finished the season with 130 points on 107 attacks, 10 blocks and 13 aces in 85 sets played… Played in 13 sets of the FIVB World Cup… Played in 13 sets and started 12 at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship in Puerto Rico. Finished with 38 points on 27 kills (46.6 kill percent), six blocks and five aces… Played in 17 sets of the London Volleyball International Invitational, a 2012 Olympic test event, and started in 14. He finished the tournament with 39 points on 36 kills (50.0 kill percent), one block and two aces… Played in 42 sets of Matt Brown the FIVB World League, usually

as a serving specialist. He finished World League with 46 points on 38 kills, three blocks and five aces... Played for Marmi Lanza Verona in Italy’s Serie A League during the winter of 2010-11. 2010 – Played in 55 sets for the U.S. Men during the 2010 season. Finished eighth on the team in scoring with 72 points on 60 kills, seven blocks and five aces. Also had 36 digs... Played in 30 sets during the FIVB World Championship in Italy. Started nine sets. Finished the tournament with 24 points on 18 kills, five blocks and one ace... Played in 25 pool play sets for the U.S. Men during the FIVB World League and posted 25 kills. He tallied four aces and three blocks. His 45 “excellents” tied him for 24th among the League’s best receivers and third best on the team. He totaled 50 points (.152) in his 25 set appearances. 2009 – Finished the 2009 season with 32 points on 22 kills, seven aces and three blocks in 17 sets played... Helped the U.S. Men to the silver medal at the NORCECA Continental Championship in Puerto Rico... Traveled to Brazil with a U.S. Men’s Team made up of veterans and newcomers for five exhibition matches on Sept. 22-27... Helped U.S. Men win the FIVB World Championship Qualifier on Aug. 15-17 in Irvine, Calif. Paul played in six sets and scored 10 points on nine kills and one ace... Helped the U.S. Men to a sixth place finish at World League. 2008 – Helped U.S. Men win the gold medal at the Pan American Cup in Winnipeg, Canada. 2007 – Helped the U.S. Men win the bronze medal at the World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand. 2005 – Played on the USA Junior National Team that finished eighth in the 2005 FIVB Men’s U-21 World Volleyball Championship in Andhra Pradesh, India. COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2008 – Named AVCA co-Player of the Year along with Penn State’s Matt Anderson... Named AVCA First Team All-American... Named MPSF Player of the Year... Led 49ers to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament... Averaged a team-best 5.44 kills per game while adding 1.51 digs per contest, all while hitting 0.326... Paul tallied 20 or more kills 14 times in the season. He tallied double-figures in kills in 29 of the 30 matches... Paul led the team with 60 service aces, a 49er single-season record. Paul finished second on the 49er career service ace chart with 135 aces. He ranked seventh in career kills (1,408) and ninth in career digs (631). 2007 – Named honorable mention All-MPSF after averaging 4.51 kills and 1.60 digs per game... Finished first on the team with 496 kills, 176 digs and 34 aces... Was third on the team with 88 blocks... Named the Most Valuable Player of the Active Ankle/Long Beach Guesthouse Classic (March 16-17) after helping the 49ers to a 2-0 record averaging a .387 hitting percentage, 4.8 kills, 1.5 digs and 1.4 blocks per game... Named the Sports Imports/ AVCA Division I-II Men’s National Player of the Week and the MPSF Player of the Week on March 19... Recorded double digits in kills in 27 matches with seven double-doubles on the season. 2006 – As a full-time starter averaged 2.00 kills, 1.66 digs and 0.72 blocks per game while hitting .234... Finished tied for second on the team with his 204 total digs. 2005 – Played in 23 matches and 64 sets on the year. 2004 – Redshirt season. PERSONAL: Born Paul Michael Lotman in 1985, in Lakewood, Calif. … Mother is Kathleen Lotman. Father Albert Lotman died in 2011... Has two older brothers, Mark and Steven and an older sister, Shelley… Married wife Jasmine in August, 2011... Attended Los Alamitos High School (19992003)… Played for the Surf City club team in Huntington Beach… Graduated from Long Beach State in 2008 with a degree in sociology… Chipotle is his favorite food... ”Angels and Demons” by Dan Brown is his favorite book… Favorite movie is Wedding Crashers and Entourage is his favorite TV show… Steve Nash is his favorite professional athlete and the Dallas Mavericks are his favorite team… Listens to hip-hop and house music… Enjoys beach volleyball… Admires his brother for his recovery from drug abuse… Likes to watch college basketball, volleyball, tennis and college football… His happiest moment in life was playing in his first collegiate volleyball game and his fondest sports memory is playing volleyball.

No. 2 Jeff Menzel

Opp/OH * 6-6 Santa Barbara, Calif. College: UC Santa Barbara Birth Year: 1988 Joined Team: 2012 MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal). 2012 – Pan American Cup (Gold Medal). 2011 – World University Games... Pan American Cup (Silver Medal) INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Played in three sets and scored 11 points at the NORCECA Championship... Made the preliminary roster for the FIVB World League... Played the winter of 2012-13 for BCC-NEB Castellana Grotte in Italy’s Serie A League. 2011 – Competed with the U.S. Men’s Team that finished 12th at the World University Games in Shenzhen, China… Competed for the U.S. Men’s Team that finished second at the Pan American Cup in Canada. COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2011 – First team AVCA All American and AllMPSF... Helped Santa Barbara to the NCAA Men’s Division I Championship match where it lost to Ohio State... Led the Gauchos in most offensive categories in 2011, including kills (453), kills per game (4.23), service aces (29) and total points (509). Kill rate was good enough for fourth in the conference, and his serving also placed him in the conference top-10 for serving... Was a staple on the back line for the Gauchos, compiling 135 digs on the year, good for third on the team, while also leading the team in reception attempts... Finished his UCSB career third all time on the kills list and second all time on the aces list. 2010 – All MPSF Third Team... Led the nation in kills (588) and is second in kills per set (5.16)... Led the MPSF in

total points (672.5) and points per set (5.9). Set career highs in kills (34), aces (5), and total points (37.0). 2009 – An Honorable Mention All-MPSF selection for the second straight season ... Led the team in kills (530), kills per set (5.25), total attacks (1,185), service aces (36), receptions (677), and points (601.0) ... His 5.25 kills per set average ranked sixth in the country ... Started all 26 of the matches he suited up for at outside hitter ... His 530 kills rank eighth in UCSB single season history ... His 36 aces rank fifth on UCSB’s single season list. 2008 – Picked up All-MPSF Honorable Mention accolades ... As a true freshman, started all 27 matches and played in 95 of a possible 98 sets ... Started his first five matches at outside hitter before being moved to opposite for the rest of the season ... Ranked fourth in kills per set and points per set among all MPSF players ... Also ranked in the top-10 nationally in those two categories ... Led the Gauchos in kills (450), kills per set (4.74), attack attempts (992), and aces (25) ... Second in blocks (68) and fourth in digs (112) ... Led UCSB in kills 20 times, attack attempts 21 times, and point production 18 times ... Began his career with 11 or more kills in 12 straight matches ... Posted double-digit kill totals in all but two matches ... Had 20 or more kills 10 times ... Recorded multiple aces eight times. CLUB/HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS: A 2007 graduate of San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, Calif. ... Named 2007 AVCA High School All-American as a senior… Named First Team All-CIF as a sophomore in 2005… Was also a three-time All-CIF performer. PERSONAL: Born Jeffrey Menzel in 1988 in Santa Barbara, Calif… Parents are Paul and Karen Menzel… Older sisters are Erica and Marisa… Favorite professional team is the LA Lakers… Favorite TV show is Californication on Showtime… Favorite music artist is Lil’ Wayne… Favorite moment in life was when he won former UCSB volleyball coach, Ken Preston’s, final career match in 2008… Majored in sociology at UCSB.

No. 8 Reid Priddy

Outside Hitter * 6-4 Richmond, Virginia College: Loyola Marymount Birth Year: 1977 Joined Team: 2000 MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal). 2012 – Olympic Games... FIVB World League (silver medal)... NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament (gold medal). 2011 – FIVB World Cup... FIVB World League. 2010 –FIVB World Championship... FIVB World League. 2009 – NORCECA Continental Championship. 2008 – Olympic Games (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League (Gold Medal)... NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualification Championship (Gold Medal). 2007 – FIVB World Cup... NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... Americas’ Cup (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League (Bronze Medal). 2006 – FIVB World Championships... FIVB World League... Pan American Cup (Gold Medal)... Argentina Tour. 2005 – World Grand Champions Cup (Silver Medal). 2004 – NORCECA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Gold Medal)... Japan Tour ... Houston Series... USA Global Challenge (Gold Medal)... Serbia and Montenegro Tour (Silver Medal)... Olympic Games (Fourth Place). 2003 – Colorado/Nebraska Tour... Canada Tour... Pan American Games (Fourth Place)... NORCECA Zone Championships (Gold Medal)... World Cup (Fourth Place). 2002 – Bulgaria Tour... Greece Tour... Florida Tour... World Championships. 2001 – Japan Tour... World League... World Championship Qualifier... NORCECA Zone Championships... Jeep America’s Cup. 1999 – Pan American Games. INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Returned to the U.S. Men’s Team for the NORCECA Continental Championship and was named an outside hitter to the All-Star Team... Played in 11 sets, scoring 39 points on 31 kills, three blocks and fives aces. Played in Turkey during the winter of 201213. 2012 – Finished the season with 196 points on 146 kills, 32 blocks and 18 aces in 66 sets... Was the team’s fourth-leading scorer in World League, finishing with 94 points on 74 kills, 16 blocks and four aces... Was the U.S. Men’s third-leading scorer at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament with 47 points on 35 kills, six blocks and six aces.... During the 2011-12 winter season, helped Zenit Kazan win the Russian Super League Championship. 2011 – Finished the season as the U.S. Men’s third-leading scorer with 311 points on 262 kills, 31 blocks and 18 aces in 88 sets... Was the U.S. Men’s third-leading scorer at the FIVB World Cup with 106 points on 86 kills, 13 blocks and seven aces… While training for the NORCECA Championship, Priddy was elbowed in the face during practice while coming down from a block. The injury and its resulting complications required two surgeries and he was not able to play in the tournament… Reid was the United States’ third-leading scorer of the FIVB World League, finishing the tournament with 205 points (3.87 per set) on 176 kills (50.0 kill percent), 18 blocks and 11 aces... Helped Zenit Kazan win the Russian Superleague title during the winter of 2010-11. 2010 – Served as the U.S. team captain for the 2010 season... Finished the season as the team’s third-leading scorer with 161 points on 136 kills, eight blocks and seven aces in 42 sets played... Played in 26 sets for the U.S. Men at the FIVB World Championship in Italy. Was the U.S. Men’s second-leading scorer with 100 points on 84 kills, 11 blocks and five aces... Played in 17 sets for the U.S. men in the FIVB World League and tallied 51 kills, seven blocks and 16 aces... Played the winter of 2009-10 for Lokomotive Novosibirsk in Russia. 2009 – Took most of the summer of 2009 off from the U.S. Men’s Team and played beach volleyball on the AVP tour. Returned for the NORCECA Championship, where he tied with Evan Patak as the team’s leading scorer, finishing with 49 points on 40 kills, six blocks and three aces as the U.S. Men finished second... Played the winter of 2008-09 for Lokomotive Novosibirsk in Russia. 2008 – Named the USAV Male Indoor Player of the Year... Helped the U.S. Men win the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games. Finished fourth among all scorers and second among U.S.

scorers with 112 points on 93 kills, 10 blocks and nine aces... Helped the U.S. Men win their first FIVB World League title. Priddy and teammate Clay Stanley tied for second in scoring in the final round behind Serbia’s Ivan Miljkovic. Priddy was also the team’s leading scorer in pool play with 101 points on 82 kills, 10 blocks and nine aces... Helped the U.S. Men qualify for the Olympics by winning the NORCECA qualifying tournament. Priddy scored 24 points on 19 kills, three aces and two blocks. 2007 – Was the United States’ leading scorer in 2007 with 525 points scored in 121 sets for an average of 4.34 points per set. Led the team in kills with 421 in 822 attempts. Tied Clay Stanley for most aces on the team with 29. Second on the team in digs with an average of 2.1 digs per set and was third in blocks with 65... Was the United States’ scoring leader in the World Cup, World League and NORCECA Continental Championship... Just missed winning the World League’s Top Scorer award when he was passed by Russia’s Semen Poltavsky in the final match. Finished the World League final round with 61 points scored on 53 kills, four blocks and four aces. 2006 – Led the team in scoring with 416 points and in kills with 343. Also led the team in aces with 26. Second on the team in blocks with 47... Was one of the overall World League leaders in scoring and hitting during pool play... Helped the U.S. team go undefeated (4-0) at the inaugural Pan American Cup in June. 2005 – Made his indoor season debut in Japan at the World Grand Champions Cup as the U.S. Men claimed the silver medal with a record of 4-1... Played in each of the final four matches (eight out of 13 sets) and scored 27 points on 23 kills, two blocks and two service aces... Played on the AVP beach volleyball tour. 2004 – Made his Olympic debut in Athens, Greece. Finished second on the team and 11th overall in total scoring with 86 points on 72 kills, 11 blocks and three service aces... Scored a matchhigh 16 points on 13 kills and three blocks in the championship match of the NORCECA Olympic Qualifier. 2003 – Emerged as one of the starting outside hitters on the left side... Served as the team captain at the Pan American Games... Battled an abdominal injury for much of the season but still finished third on the team in kills (224) and fourth in aces (17). 2002 – Rejoined the team in late July... Played in 58 of a possible 141 sets during the year... Led the team in total points (70), kills (60) and blocks (eight) in six matches at the World Championships... Finished the season first on the team in points per game (2.98) and sixth in total points (173). 2001 – Led the team in kills (258) and digs (184)... Finished second in blocks (41) and was tied for third in service aces (14)...Played professionally for the Vienna Hotvolleys in Austria. 2000 – Was one of four alternates for the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2000 – Earned American Volleyball Coaches Association first-team All-America honors as a senior at Loyola Marymount University. 1999 – Earned AVCA second-team All-America honors for the second-straight season... Also garnered second-team all-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF)honors... Led the team in kills (435), kills per game (5.80) and service aces (35). 1998 – Became the first All-American in school history when he was named to the second-team AVCA All-American team... Led the Lions with 391 kills and in matches with 10-or-more kills (17)... Also earned all-MPSF honorable mention accolades. 1997 - Appeared in 18 matches (42 games)... Posted 150 kills, 70 digs and 12 service aces. PERSONAL: Born William Reid Priddy in 1977 in Richmond, Va.... Parents are Ken and Sharon Priddy... Has three sisters: Brooke, Kara and Dylan... Reid married Lindsay Pierce in March 2007. The couple has a son, Caden, born in September of 2010... Enjoys wakeboarding, surfing and making humorous videos... Graduated from LMU with a degree in communication studies in 2000... Started playing volleyball after his family moved from Richmond to Florida where he tried it in a summer-school PE class... When his family later moved to Phoenix, Ariz., in 1994, he played for Mountain Pointe High School, participating in the first year of varsity volleyball in the state. As a junior, he led the school to its first state championship in 1995. He graduated from high school in 1996. “Men’s volleyball was such a new sport in our area that there was no example to follow. At the time we would shop at the thrift store for our clothes, trying to find the craziest outfit we could. We were very active, playing beach volleyball, wake-boarding, going to the lake and jumping off rocks and stuff like that.”... Reid helped start an Internet radio show called The NET Live devoted to volleyball along with former U.S. Men’s player Kevin Barnett.

No. 2 Sean Rooney Outside Hitter * 6-10 Wheaton, Illinois College: Pepperdine Birth Date: Nov. 13, 1982 Joined Team: 2007

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal). 2012 – Olympic Games... FIVB World League (silver medal) 2011 – FIVB World Cup.. NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship (Silver Medal)… FIVB World League. 2010 – FIVB World Championship... FIVB World League. 2009 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Silver Medal)... 2010 FIVB World Championship Qualifier for NORCECA Group F (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League. 2008 – Olympic Games (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League (Gold Medal)... NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifying Championship (Gold Medal). 2007 – FIVB World Cup... Americas’ Cup (Gold Medal)... Pan American Games (Silver Medal)... FIVB World League (Bronze Medal). 2003 – World University Games (bronze). INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Served as team captain at the NORCECA Championship where he played in six sets and scored 14 points. 2012 – Finished the season with 132 points on 102 kills, 23 blocks and seven aces in 37 sets... After struggling with an injured shoulder in 2011, made his full-time return to the U.S. Men’s Team at the FIVB World League and made the most of the opportunity, finishing as the team’s fourthleading scorer with 112 points on 68 attacks, 17 blocks and seven aces. The performance helped him land a spot on his second straight Olympic Team, where he played as a subsitute. 2011 – Struggled with an injured shoulder for much of the season and saw limited playing time… Played in 16 sets and scored 45 points on 43 attacks and two blocks. Played for Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza in Italy’s Serie A league during the winter of 2010-11. 2010 – Finished the 2010 season as the team’s secondleading scorer with 198 points (3.25 points per set) on 170 kills (0.27 hitting percentage), 25 blocks (0.41 blocks per set) and three aces (0.05 aces per set) in 61 sets played. Sean was second on the team in kills. He also had 60 digs (0.98 digs per set), which was fourth best on the team... During the winter of 2009-10, played for Fakel Novy Urengoi in Russia. 2009 – Was named USA Volleyball’s Male Player of the Year for 2009. Finished as the team’s leading scorer with 258 points on 224 kills, 22 blocks and 12 aces. His 224 kills were by far the best on the team and his hitting average was 0.435. Sean also led the team in digs with 80 (1.19 per set)... Named Best Spiker at the 2010 FIVB World Championship Qualifier for NORCECA Group F on Aug. 15-17 in Irvine, Calif., as the U.S. won all three matches and qualified for the 2010 World Championship. Finished the competition with 19 kills and one error on 29 attempts for a success percentage of 65.52... Was the United States’ leading scorer in both pool play and the final round of the FIVB World League competition, where the U.S. Men finished sixth. During the winter of 2008-09, played for Fakel Novy Urengoi in Russia. 2008 – Finished the 2008 season with 167 points (2.98 points per set) and a hitting percentage of .41. He also finished with 140 kills (2.50 per set) and 20 blocks... Helped the U.S. Men win the Olympic gold medal in Beijing as a substitute and serving specialist... Helped the U.S. Men win their first FIVB World League title. Led the team in scoring with 20 points in a loss to Bulgaria on June 21...Helped the U.S. Men win the Four Nations Tournament on May 11-13 in Germany... Named “Best Spiker” of the NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifying tournament on Jan. 6-11 in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Finished the tournament with 46 points on

43 kills and three blocks. The U.S. Men won the tournament and qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games. In 2007-08, he played for Dinamo-Yantar in Kaliningrad, Russia. 2007 – Named the Most Valuable Player of the U.S. Men’s match against Egypt at the FIVB World Cup. Scored 18 points on 15 kills, two blocks and one ace as the United States won in straight sets... Was the team’s leading scorer at the Pan American Games and third overall with 64 points on 58 kills, five blocks and one ace in five matches. He was the Pan Am Games’ leading “spiker” with an efficiency percentage of 42.11... Traveled to every World League match and started in four. 2003 – Played with the 2003 World University Games team that won a bronze medal in Daegu, Korea. COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2005 – By the end of his college career, ranked second nationally among NCAA Division I-II players in points per game with 6.35 while hitting .395 on the season as he led Pepperdine to the 2005 NCAA national championship... Was a four-time AVCA All-American and only the seventh male student-athlete to achieve such an honor. 2004 – Named Volleyball Magazine’s Player of the Year... Postseason accolades included being named AVCA first team All-American and Volleyball first team All-American... Tabbed MPSF first team All-Conference... Led the team with 461 kills and hit .406 for the year. 2003 – Named First Team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and by Volleyball Magazine; Tabbed First-Team All-MPSF. As a key component to the Wave’s 24-6 season, Sean led the team with a total of 480 kills (.354 hitting percentage) and also led the team in kills per game, with an average of 4.53. 2002 – Selected the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) “Freshman of the Year”... A second team All-American selection by the AVCA and a second team All-MPSF pick as a rookie...Helped Pepperdine compile a 29-5 record and advance to the NCAA title match before losing a four-game decision to Hawaii... The Waves captured the regular season MPSF title with a 20-2 mark and won the league’s postseason tournament. PERSONAL: Born Sean Michael Rooney in 1982 in Wheaton, Ill.... Parents are Mike and Carol Rooney... Sean also has two sisters, Melissa and Megan... Married wife, Valerie, in 2013... Graduated from Pepperdine in 2005 with a degree in business administration... In 2004, Rooney joined the AVP beach volleyball tour. His highest placing was fifth, which he achieved three times. Was considered a sports celebrity in South Korea when he played volleyball for the Hyundai Skywalkers in 2006 and 07… Enjoys the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack Johnson, The Grateful Dead, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dave Matthews and the Counting Crows... SportsCenter is his favorite TV show.... Calls his grandfather his role model for “devoting his FIVB Photo life to helping others.”

No. 19 Erik Shoji Libero * 6-0 Honolulu, Hawaii College: Stanford Birth Year: 1989 Joined Team: 2013

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League. 2011 – World University Games. 2009 – FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship. 2008 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Bronze Medal). 2007 – FIVB Youth World Championships in Baja, Calif. and Mexico. 2006 – NORCECA Continental Championships, Dominican Republic (Silver Medal) INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Started all 13 sets of the NORCECA Championship and finished with 26 digs... Started all 39 sets of the FIVB World League and led all players in pool play with 118 digs... Played the winter of 2013-13 for CV Mitteldeutschland in Germany’s top league. 2011 – Competed for the United States at the World University Games in Shenzhen, China… The U.S. finished 12th, though it posted a 5-3 record. 2009 – Was a member of the Men’s Junior National Team that finished eighth at the FIVB Junior World Championship in Pune, India. 2008 – Member of the Men’s Junior National Team that took bronze at the NORCECA Continental Championships in El Salvador. Named Best Passer, Best Defender, and Best Libero of the Tournament. 2007 – Member of the Boys’ Youth National Team that competed in the FIVB World Championships in Baja, Calif. and Mexico. Named Best Defender and Best Libero. 2006 – Member of the Boys’ Youth National Team that took silver in the NORCECA Continental Championships in the Dominican Republic CLUB/PREP HIGHLIGHTS: Four-time all-state first-team selection while playing for Punahou School in Honolulu ... Two-time All-America selection. 2008 – Interscholastic League of Honolulu player of the year. 2006 – Boys’ National Championship all-tournament 17s choice for the runner-up Outrigger Canoe Volleyball Club of Honolulu.

Received the Biff Hoffman Award as the school’s Outstanding Male Senior, by the Stanford Athletic Board. 2011 – Earned a third AVCA first-team AllAmerica honor, becoming just the second Stanford player to do so... Set a Stanford record for career digs (1,098) for all eras while recording the third-best single-season dig total for a Cardinal player FIVB Photo (286) in the rally-scoring era... Named to the All-MPSF second team and the MPSF All-Academic team. 2010 – Earned his second consecutive AVCA first-team All-America honor... First-team choice by Volleyball Magazine... Led MPSF, and was fourth in the nation, in digs per game (3.46). 2009 – The AVCA’s national Newcomer of the Year for 2009... AVCA first-team All-American ... Erik and brother Kawikia became the first brothers ever to earn first-team honors in the same yea ... Set the unofficial national record for digs in a season, with 447 (the NCAA began to keep official records in 2009)... National Leader in digs (447) and digs per set (3.92)... Named to All-MPSF second team and All-MPSF freshmen team.

PERSONAL: Born Erik Thomas Shoji in 1989 in Honolulu, Hawaii... Parents COLLEGIATE HIGHLIGHTS: 2012 – Became the first four-time first- are Dave and Mary Shoji... Has a brother, Kawika (1987) and a sister Cobey team All-America in the history of AVCA honors... Named AVCA first-team (1979)... Kawika is also on the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team as a setAll-America... Made his first All-MPSF first team and named to the MPSF All- ter… Father is University of Hawaii women’s volleyball coach and has won Tournament team… Finished as collegiate record-holder in career digs, with four national titles in 34 seasons... Mother played basketball at Hawaii... 1,402, which also is the most in Stanford history, including the sideout era... Erik graduated from Punahou School in 2008... While playing for Stanford, Set Stanford career records for digs per set (3.16) and in sets played (443)... Erik had a “kick set” featured on ESPN’s Plays of the Week... Favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird... Favorite food is sushi. FIVB Photo

FIVB Photo

No. 7 Kawika Shoji Setter * 6-3 Honolulu, Hawaii College: Stanford Birth Year: 1987 Joined Team: 2010

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – FIVB World League. 2012 – Pan American Cup (Gold Medal). 2011 – World University Games… Pan American Cup (Silver Medal). 2007 – FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship (7th). 2006 – NORCECA Men’s Junior Championship (Silver Medal). 2004 – NORCECA Boys’ Youth Championship (Gold Medal). INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Played in 23 out of 39 World League sets. Scoted 23 points on 12 kills, five blocks and fives aces. Credited with 151 runnings sets… Played the winter of 2012-13 for the Berlin Recycling Volleys and helped them win the German league title. 2012 – Served as team captain for the U.S. Pan American Cup team that won the gold medal in Santo Dominco, Dominican Republic… Finished second among all setters with 55 running sets. 2011 – Served as the team captain for the United States at the World University Games in Shenzhen, China, where the U.S. team placed 12th. Kawika competed in 27 sets and started 22. He finished with 20 points on six kills, 11 block and one ace... Kawika competed with the U.S. A2 Team at the Pan American Cup in Quebec. The U.S. placed second to Brazil. Kawika played in 11 sets and started two. 2007 – Was the libero for the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team that finished seventh at the FIVB World Championship in Casablanca & Rabat, Morocco. 2006 – Was the starting setter for the U.S. Men’s Junior Team that finished second to Cuba at the NORCECA Continental Championship in Monterrey, Mexico. 2005 – A member of the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team. 2004 – Was named Best Setter at the NORCECA Boys’ Youth Continental Championship as the U.S. won the gold medal in Mexico City. COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2010 – Named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Year for NCAA Division I-II as he led Stanford to the NCAA National Championship match where it defeated Penn State… AVCA All American First Team… Co-Most Outstanding Player along with teammate Brad Lawson at the NCAA tournament, also on the All-Tournament Team… All-MPSF First Team… Competed in 30 matches and 105 sets at setter for Stanford… Finished the season with 162 points on 93 kills (0.415 hitting percentage), 31 aces (0.31 per set), 11 solo blocks and 54 block assists (0.62 blocks per set)… Kawika was also credited with 1,455 assists (13.86 per set). 2009 – AVCA first-team All-American... Along with brother Erik, became Stanford’s first first-team selection since 2005... The Shojis became the first brothers ever to earn first-team honors in the same year... Also named first-team All-American by Volleyball Magazine... ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American... Set school season record for assists in the rally-scoring era (since 2001) with 1,394, breaking the mark held by Kevin Hansen... Named to All-MPSF first-team... Ranked 11th in nation in assists per set with 12.56. 2008 – AVCA second-team All-America honors, becoming Stanford’s first All-American since Olympic gold medalist Kevin Hansen in 2005 and the school’s 17th overall... Also named to All-MPSF second team and MPSF All-Academic team. 2007 – All-MPSF honorable mention selection... Averaged 6.92 assists per set... Led team with 180 digs, third in kills (182) and fourth in blocks (46)... Often started at opposite hitter. CLUB/PREP HIGHLIGHTS: Lettered four years in volleyball and golf and

three years in basketball at Iolani School in Honolulu... Four-time Junior National Championship all-tournament choice with the Outrigger Canoe Volleyball Club... Honolulu Advertiser co-state player of the year with Jordan Inafuku in 2004... Three-time all-state selection... Won state volleyball title as a sophomore... Interscholastic League of Honolulu Player of the Year in 2004... Three-time all-league selection... Honolulu Advertiser co-State Player of the Year in basketball for the 2005-06 season... Second-team all-state in golf... PERSONAL: Born Kawika Shoji in 1987 in Honolulu, Hawaii… Parents are Dave and Mary Shoji... Has a brother, Erik (1989) and a sister Cobey (1979)... Erik is also on the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team as a libero… Father is University of Hawaii women’s volleyball coach and has won four national titles in 34 seasons... Mother played basketball at Hawaii... Kawika graduated from Stanford in 2010 with a degree in political science... His hobbies include surfing, ping pong, playing pool and hanging out at the beach.

No. 20 David Smith Middle Blocker * 6-7 Saugus, California College: UC Irvine Birth Year: 1985 Joined Team: 2009

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – FIVB World League. 2012 – Olympic Games... FIVB World League (Silver Medal). 2011 – London Volleyball International Invitational (Bronze Medal)... Pan American Cup (Silver Medal). 2010 – Pan American Cup (Gold Medal). 2009 – Brazil Tour… 2010 World Championship Qualifier for NORCECA Group F (Gold Medal)… FIVB World League. 2007 – World University Games (bronze medal). 2005 – FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship. 2004 – NORCECA Junior Men’s Volleyball Championship (silver medal). INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Played in 24 sets of World League. Scored 51 points on 32 kills, 14 blocks and five aces… Played the winter of 2012-13 for Tours and helped it win the French league title. 2012 – Served as a backup middle blocker in 2012. Played in 47 sets and started 29. Finished with 75 points on 48 attacks, 20 blocks and seven aces. Hitting efficiency was .627… Played 10 sets of the Olympic Games, including three as a starter in a 3-0 win over Tunisia. Finished that match and the Games with eight points on five kills (.833 hitting efficiency), one block and two aces… After not playing for the top team in 2011, got his chance in 2012 when he was named to the World League squad and he played in 37 sets, starting 26. Finished with 67 points on 43 attacks, 19 blocks and five aces. His performance helped him earn a spot on the 2012 Olympic Team… During the winter of 2011-12, played for Tours in France’s A League. 2011 – Played in 16 sets and started 10 at the London Volleyball Invitational where the U.S. Men finished third... Finished with 20 points on 11 kills, six blocks and three aces... Started all 16 sets of the Pan American Cup as the U.S. Men finished second to Brazil in Canada... Tied as the United States’ second-leading scorer with 45 points on 26 kills, 13 blocks and six aces... Smith’s 13 blocks led the team and was third among all blockers... His six aces placed him sixth among all servers. Played during the winter of 2010-11 for Unicaja Almeria in Spain’s club league. 2010 – Was on the U.S. Men’s A2 Team that won the Pan American Cup in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Was the team’s fourth-leading scorer and 18th among all scorers with 42 points on 30 kills, nine blocks and three aces. Played during the 200910 winter season for San Sebastian in the Puerto Rican men’s league. Led the league in blocks during the regular season and was named to the AllStar team. 2009 – Part of a group of mostly younger players who traveled to Brazil on Sept. 22-27 for five friendly matches. The U.S. lost all five... Won the Best Blocker award at the World Championship Qualifier on Aug. 15-17 in Irvine, Calif., as the U.S. Men won the event. Finished with nine blocks and five errors on 22 attempts and an average of one block per set… Was not originally on the roster to play at World League, but was added at the last minute when Riley Salmon couldn’t play. Played in all but two pool play matches and started five sets. He played as a substitute in two final round matches. 2007 – Played on U.S. Men’s Team that won the bronze medal at the World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand. 2005 – Played on the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team that finished eighth in the 2005 FIVB Men’s U-21 World Volleyball Championships in Andhra Pradesh, India. 2004 – Helped the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team to a second place finish at the 2004 NORCECA Junior Men’s Volleyball Championship in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

conference… Topped the squad with a 1.37 blocking average overall (6th nationally) and had a 1.44 mark versus MPSF teams (3rd)… UCI career block assists leader with 471 and total blocks leader with 520… Sixth in UCI career solo blocks with 49… Set a UCI season record with 160 block assists… Named the MVP of the 2007 USA Volleyball Open National Championships. 2006 – Named All-MPSF honorable mention... Averaged 2.19 kills per game and owned a .412 hitting percentage... Ranked 16th nationally in hitting and ranks third best in the UCI season record book... Second on the team with a 1.27 blocking average which was 14th in the country... Hit .700 or better six times, including .769 in the regular season meeting with Penn State, the eighth best mark in a match at UCI. 2005 – Averaged 2.16 kills per game...second on the squad in hitting percentage at .401, which ranks third on the UCI season list...second on the team with a 0.86 blocking average... Recorded kills in double-digits 11 times. 2004 – Averaged 2.22 kills per game which was fourth on the squad... Led the team in hitting percentage at .369, which ranks ninth in the UCI season records... Second on the team with a 1.03 blocking average... Had 102 block assists, which is ninth most in a season at UCI... Recorded kills in double-digits eight times... Recorded at least one block assist in all but two matches. PERSONAL: Born David Smith in1985 in Panorama City, Calif… Parents are Rick and Nancy… Has an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Kristen… David married wife, Kelli in 2008. Son Cohen was born in 2012... David was born with mild-to-severe hearing loss. He wears hearing aids to assist him on and off the court. He also reads lips… David attended Saugus High School (1999-2003) where he played both volleyball and soccer… Studying civil engineering at UC Irvine… Shredded beef is his favorite food… The Bible is his favorite book… Favorite big screen flick is the Italian Job...Watches The Office… Favorite bands are Supertones and Switchfoot… Anaheim Angels are his favorite professional team… Enjoys music and golf… Admires his parents for their unwavering support and love… Likes to watch basketball…Winning the 2007 NCAA Division I men’s volleyball national championship is his happiest sports memory.

COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2007 – Named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team…Named first team All-American and first team All-MPSF… Led the nation with a .559 hitting percentage, a new UCI season record… Hit .567 (61-6-97) in UCI’s five post-season wins… Averaged 2.44 kills per game overall… Hit .573 (199-23-307) against MPSF opponents, which led the

USAV/Jose Jimenez

No. 21 Futi Tavana Middle Blocker * 6-8 Saipipi, Samoa College: BYU Birth Year: 1987 Joined Team: 2013

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal). 2012-13 – Played for Copra Elior Piacenza in Italy, winning the 2013 CEV Challenge Cup. 2013-14 – Playing for Touluse in France. INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Played in nine sets at the NORCECA Championship and finished with 23 points on 15 kills, seven blocks and one ace. COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: Played for Brigham Young University… Three-time AVCA All-American… Four-time All-MPSF First Team… Named to the MPSF All-Academic Team… Finished his collegiate career ranking first in BYU history for career total blocks… Ranked second nationally in the NCAA in blocks. 2012 – Played in 24 matches, starting all of them, and 91 sets…Finished the season with 170 kills, a .385 hitting percentage, six aces and 155 digs… Contributed a team-high 14 solo blocks and 145 total blocks to bring his career total to 625. 2011 – Named Blocker of the Year in Off

the Block’s inaugural season of the award… Played in 105 sets and started all 28 matches… Tallied 234 kills, 23 assists, seven aces, 44 digs and a team-high and NCAA-leading 160 blocks. 2010 – Started 25 of 30 matches… Broke the BYU all-time record for total blocks achieved against thenNo. 10 UC Santa Barbara, with 15… Ranked second on the Cougars with 151 blocks. 2009 – Started all 30 matches… Led the team with 169 blocks, averaging 1.47 per set… Led the team with a .387 attack percentage, ranking sixth in the conference… Named Walk On of the Year at the Y Awards. CLUB/HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS: Started playing volleyball in 2002 for ASICS Rainbow… Played for Kauai High School from 2002-2005. PERSONAL: Born Va’afuti Gaugau Tavana Jr. in 1987 in Auckland, New Zealand… Parents are Dr. Tofa Tavana Namulauulu G. Vaafuti and Palagi Tavana… Has two brothers, Dennis Murray (1980) and Devin Matauaina (1991), and four sisters, Taufao Faith (1976), Lupeautino Phaedra (1978), Justina Puluafi (1982) and Delsa Julie (1985)… Graduated from BYU in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in commercial management… Favorite foods are kalo and palusami… Favorite book is Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson… He most admires his dad because, “he has always been a great example of hard work and dedication.”

Courtesy of NORCECA

No. 9 Murphy Troy Opposite * 6-8 St. Louis, Mo. College: USC Birth Year: 1989 Joined Team: 2012

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2013 – NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League. 2012 – Pan American Cup (Gold Medal). 2011 – World University Games in Shenzhen, China... London International Invitational (Bronze medal)... Pan American Cup (Silver Medal) 2008 – NORCECA Continental Championships, El Salvador (Bronze medal). 2007 – FIVB World Youth Championships, Baja, Calif. and Mexico. 2006 – NORCECA Continental Championships, Dominican Republic (Silver medal) INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2013 – Played in six sets of the NORCECA Championship and finished with 27 points on 21 kills, two blocks and four aces... Played in 13 sets in World League primarily as a backup, finishing with 33 points on 30 kills, one ace and two blocks.. Played the winter of 2012-13 for Andreoli Latina in Italya’s Serie A League. 2012 – Started 14 sets of the Pan American Cup and finished with 46 points on 37 kills, two blocks and seven aces... Played the winter of 2011-12 for Andreoli Latina in Italy’s Serie A League. 2011 – Competed for the United States at the World University Games in Shenzhen, China. Played in 25 sets and scored a total of 71 points on 62 kills, five blocks and four aces... Competed at the Pan American Cup in Canada. Finished with 18 points on 15 kills, one block and two aces. 2009 – Captain of the Men’s Junior National Team that took bronze at the NORCECA Continental Championships in El Salvador. 2007 – Captain of the Boys’ Youth National Team that competed in the FIVB World Championships in Baja, Calif. and Mexico. 2006 – Member of the Boys’ Youth National Team that took silver in the NORCECA Continental Championships in the Dominican Republic. COLLEGIATE HIGHLIGHTS: 2011 – Named 2011 AVCA Men’s Division I-II National Player of the Year and MPSF Player of the Year and AVCA All-America First-Team honoree... Received the 201011 Pac-10 Tom Hansen Conference Medal for the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership... Helped lead USC to a 23-3 record, the MPSF regular season title with a 20-2 league mark, and the No. 1 seed heading into the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship semifinal, where it was upset by fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara... Going into that semifinal match, Troy led USC in kills (358) and aces (37) and was fourth in digs (140) and blocks (57). In his career, the USC co-captain had 1,884 kills, 655 digs, 249 blocks and 142 aces. His kills, aces and 32 matches with 20-plus kills were USC rally scoring era career records. 2010 – Started all 26 matches in which he appeared (19 at opposite hitter and seven mid-season matches at outside hitter). Led USC with 481 kills while hitting .255, plus he had 27 aces (second on USC), 179 digs (third on USC) and 77 blocks (third

on USC)... Made the 2010 Volleyball Magazine All-American second team and All-MPSF third team. 2009 – Started 18 matches at outside hitter and the final 14 at his more natural opposite hitter)... Made the AVCA All-American first team, Volleyball Magazine All-American first team and All-MPSF first team (USC’s first such honoree at either level since 2000)... Made the NCAA All-Tournament team (he had 50 kills, hit .465 and had 11 digs)... Hit .319 and led USC in kills (615) and aces (43), and also had 192 digs and 50 blocks ... His 615 kills, 5.04 kill average, 29 matches in double figure kills and 16 matches with 20-plus kills are USC rally scoring era season records. 2008 – As a first-year freshman, started all of 2008 at outside hitter and made the 2008 Asics/Volleyball Magazine All-American honorable mention and All-MPSF third team... Started all 29 matches and led USC in aces (35), was second in kills (430) and third in digs (144) .. He also had 65 blocks. CLUB/PREP HIGHLIGHTS: 2007 – Helped his St. Louis (Mo.) University High team to the 2007 Missouri Class 4 State Volleyball championship ... He was named the 2007 Volleyball Magazine AllAmerican first team, Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 list and St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro Player of the Year while posting 171 kills, 22 blocks and 117 digs as a senior despite missing the early part of the season with a broken foot. 2006 – Made the St. Louis Post Dispatch All-Metro First Team. PERSONAL: Born Murphy Edward Troy in 1989 in St. Louis, Mo. ... Parents are John Troy and Sally Miller... Has a brother Phineas (1985) and a sister Sadie (1987)... Began playing volleyball in 1999 with Midwest Select Volleyball Club... Favorite book is Catcher in the Rye... Favorite sports team is the St. Louis Cardinals and favorite athlete is Albert Pujols... Hobbies include basketball and football... Most admired person is his mother... Has a yellow Labrador named Buster... Was named a 2009 Marks Scholar.

that finished fifth at the 2011 Pan American Games.

John Speraw

In 2012, Speraw returned as the assistant coach for the FIVB World League and filled in as head coach for the 2012 World League team for four overseas pool play matches while then head coach Alan Knipe was dealing with a family emergency. The U.S. Men went on to win the silver medal in the FIVB World League Final Round.

Head Coach * First Year Hometown: Los Angeles

John Speraw, a two-time Olympic assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team, was named the program’s head coach for the Olympic Games quadrennial culminating at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, on March 25, 2013. Speraw, 42, also continues as the head men’s volleyball coach at UCLA in a dual role with the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team. He accepted the head job at his alma mater in June 2012. “I am very happy that John has accepted our offer to be the U.S. Men’s head coach,” Beal said. “He’s the right person for the job for this quad at this time. He’s a terrifically talented coach who has had a remarkable level of success at the college level. He knows the current U.S. Men’s player pool very well from his experiences over the last two quads. He has mentored under both Hugh McCutcheon and Alan Knipe.” Speraw said he felt ready for the challenge of leading two men’s volleyball teams.

Speraw assisted Knipe at the 2012 Olympic Games in London where the U.S. Men placed fifth after winning its preliminary pool with a 4-1 record. The U.S. Men go into 2013 ranked fifth in the world by the FIVB. Speraw served as head coach of the U.S. Men’s Junior National Volleyball Team that won the silver medal at the NORCECA Men’s Junior (U-21) Continental Volleyball Championship in 2004 and the team that placed sixth at the 2005 FIVB Junior World Championship. He served as an assistant for the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team (1998 and 2001), the World University Games Team (1997 and 1999) and the Pan American Games Team (1999, 2007). As UC Irvine’s men’s volleyball coach, Speraw transformed the program into a national power. Under his direction, the Anteaters won three NCAA Men’s National Collegiate Volleyball Championship titles in the last six years and advanced to the NCAA Championship four times, won two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) regular season titles and a pair of MPSF Tournament championships. USAV/Matt Brown

“Now that I’ve been at UCLA for almost a full season, it is apparent that (coaching both teams) is doable,” Speraw said. “The support and resources at UCLA are beyond what I have imagined. I have two great assistant coaches (at UCLA) in Brad Keller and Andrea Becker and an amazing staff. “I am excited to take on this new role with USA Volleyball,” Speraw said. “I am honored to have been selected to coach this elite group of talented U.S. players and I appreciate UCLA’s support in allowing me to pursue this tremendous opportunity.” The U.S. Men’s National Team moved to Anaheim in 2006 and it is now the Official Host City for both the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Volleyball Teams. Speraw joined the U.S. Men’s staff in 2007 under then head coach Hugh McCutcheon. In 2008, he traveled with the U.S. Men to the Olympic Games in Beijing where they won the gold medal. After 2008, he worked with the U.S. Men as needed, including a stint as the head coach of a young team

In 2008, Speraw received a Pillar Award, which showcases outstanding achievement in ethical leadership at the12th Annual Ethics in America Awards. In 2011, he was given the U.S. Olympic Achievement Award, an honor that recognizes the colleges and universities whose coaches and student-athletes have won Olympic medals. Prior to UCI, Speraw served in various roles with the UCLA men’s volleyball program for 12 years. He played middle blocker for the Bruins from 199295 and was a member of two national championship teams. He was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team in 1995 when he had 11 kills and eight blocks in the championship victory over Penn State. Speraw became a volunteer assistant coach with the Bruins before assuming a full-time assistant’s position in 1998. He graduated from UCLA in 1995 with a bachelor of science degree in microbiology and molecular genetics. Speraw is the co-author of the book “Exercise for Your Muscle Type: The Smart Way to Get Fit.”

Matt Fuerbringer

Mike Wall

Assistant Coach * First Year

Hometown: Costa Mesa, Calif.

Hometown: Santa Barbara, Calif.

Matt Fuerbringer joined the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team staff as an assistant coach on April 1, 2013.

Mike Wall joined USA Volleyball in June, 2013 to serve as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National Team.

Fuerbringer, 39, has almost 10 years of experience coaching junior club volleyball and has spent the last year as the volunteer assistant coach under Speraw at UCLA. He is well-known for being a pro beach volleyball player and came close to making the 2012 U.S. Olympic Beach Volleyball Team. He played indoor volleyball for Stanford University and also professionally overseas.

Wall (Santa Barbara, Calif.) comes to USA Volleyball from the Arizona State women’s volleyball team where he served as an assistant coach. He has also been a part of the Gold Medal Squared Volleyball Program since 2003.

“I was honored and humbled to be asked to be an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team,” Fuerbringer said. “Coaching is what I have always wanted to do and working with John at UCLA has helped me realize I’m ready to take my coaching career to the next level.” “Matt is an absolutely outstanding coach even though he doesn’t have much formal experience,” Speraw said. “He’s been a professional on the beach and an excellent player on the beach for a long time. He’s got great presence. He’s articulate and intelligent.” Speraw, who was named the U.S. Men’s National Team head coach on March 25, 2013, has known Fuerbringer since the two played against each other in college. Speraw was a middle blocker at UCLA and Fuerbringer played outside hitter at Stanford. Prior to working with Speraw at UCLA, Fuerbringer coached at Mizuno Long Beach, a program directed by his wife Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer, and founded Team Rockstar three years ago. Fuerbringer grew up in Costa Mesa, Calif., and played volleyball and basketball at Estancia High School. At Stanford, Fuerbringer was a four-time AVCA All-American and a member of the 1997 NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship team. His final block sealed the first NCAA men’s volleyball title for Stanford. After Stanford, Fuerbringer played professional indoor volleyball from 19992003. Fuerbringer has played pro beach volleyball since 2003. In 2012, he and partner Nick Lucena were edged out for the United States’ final Olympic Games berth in a battle that came down to the final qualification tournament. Fuerbringer and Lucena finished fifth in the FIVB Olympic rankings and were the highest ranked team not to go to London because the United States was limited to two teams per gender.

“Mike has high-level experience both in volleyball and in business,” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw (Los Angeles) said. “His talents will be invaluable to us both on the court and in the office as we work to build the U.S. Men’s National Team program.” “I’m honored and excited to be joining John, Matt Fuerbringer and the USA men’s volleyball program for the next three years,” Wall said. “Our staff is committed to working hard for this group of athletes. I’m looking forward to the challenge. From 2006-2008 Wall served as the first assistant coach for Arizona State University women’s volleyball. In 2012, Wall rejoined the program, helping Arizona State reach the NCAA Division I Women’s National Championship Tournament. In 2005, Wall served as the first assistant coach at the University of Utah. The Utes won the MWC Tournament, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Before Utah, Wall coached at Saint Mary’s College. While on the Gaels’ staff, he helped the team to a 24-4 overall record. Prior to his stint at Saint Mary’s, Wall was an assistant coach at UC-San Diego in 2003-04. There he helped UCSD to its best season in program history. Wall has played volleyball at the international level as well. He participated in the 2001 FIVB World League Tournament with the U.S. Men’s National Team. After finishing his senior campaign at Brigham Young, Wall returned to the U.S. National Team to take part in the Dallas and Italian tours. From 2002-04, Wall played volleyball overseas. He began playing in the Swiss National League A in 2002-03 and spent part of 2004 playing for San Sebastian Volleyball Club in Puerto Rico. Wall played college volleyball at Brigham Young where he was an opposite from 1997-2002 and was a part of two NCAA National Championship squads. In 2001 and 2002, Wall was named an AVCA First Team All-American. After beating UCLA in three sets to take the 2002 NCAA championship, Wall was named the Final Four MVP and BYU’s Most Competitive Athlete.

Matt Fuerbringer and Joy Fuerbringer-McKienzie have two children, Charlie and Mateo.

Aaron Brock

Anton Willert

Director, Sports Medicine and Performance to the U.S. National Teams Eighth Year

Technical Coordinator First Year

Hometown: Berlin, Germany

Hometown: Storm Lake, Iowa Anton Willert serves as the technical coordinator for the U.S. Men’s National Team. “It’s an honor to be a part of the Olympic team coaching staff for the quad,” Willert said. “It is an opportunity to work with a great team and one of the best coaches in the world. I’m looking forward to spending all of my time supporting the team.” Willert, a native of Berlin, Germany, spent the last year and a half as the team manager and video coordinator for the men’s and women’s volleyball programs at the University of Hawaii, where he is working toward a master’s degree in communicology. In 2009-10, Willert was an assistant coach for Team-Berlin and 2nd Division VC Olympia in Germany’s Premier League . He spent the 2010-2011 season as an assistant coach for the German junior national team. He was also an assistant coach for 1st Division VC Olympia volleyball club in Premier League during this time. From 2007-10, Willert served as the head coach of 3rd Division BBSC volleyball club. While he was at the helm, the team won the Berlin-Brandenburg regional championship in 2009. He holds two bachelor’s degrees; one in journalism/mass communication from Freie University in Berlin, and the other in business studies from the University of Potsdam in Brandenburg. Both were earned in 2011. As a player, he was a libero and outside hitter and a member of BTSC volleyball club, which won four German championships. He graduated CoubertinGymnasium in 2007, and his team won third place at the High School World Championship in 2006.

Aaron Brock of Storm Lake, Iowa, is in his seventh year in 2012 as the full-time certified athletic trainer for the U.S. Men’s National Team at its headquarters at the American Sports Centers in Anaheim, Calif. In 2009, he added the title of Director of Sports Medicine and Performance to the U.S. National Teams. In 2008, he was working with the U.S. Men’s Team as it won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing and its first FIVB World League title. The U.S. Men’s Team had its best season of the next four-year Olympic quadrennial in 2012 as it achieved a 5-0 match record to win the NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament on May 7-12 in Long Beach, Calif. The U.S. Men won their pool in the 2012 FIVB World League. The team advanced to the Final Round where it won the silver medal. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the U.S. Men again won their pool, advancing to the quarterfinals where they fell to Italy. They finished tied for fifth. Before joining the U.S. Men’s Team in 2006, Aaron worked with the U.S. Water Polo Team at the 2003 Pan American Games and the 2004 Olympic Games. He also has experience with high school and NCAA Division I and Division III sports teams as well as professional football and basketball teams. Aaron, who was a four-sport high school athlete in Storm Lake, Iowa, went to the University of Iowa for both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Aaron is married to Kelly and has sons named Noah (born 2007) and Cameron (born 2010) along with a daughter named Bayla (2012). He lives in Tustin, Calif. Aaron’s day starts around 8 a.m. when he writes up rehabilitation and treatment protocols. He also gets the players ready for practice with taping and stretching exercises. Once practice starts, he runs a 15-minute injury-prevention session that includes core abdominal and back exercises and proprioception exercises for ankle and knee stability. Finally, there are shoulder exercises to generate strength and wake up the muscles. Players who can’t practice due to injury will go to the athletic training room and do rehab. Brock monitors practice in case there is an injury. After practice, Brock runs a stretching session. Then it’s time for more treatments for the athletes who are playing and practicing while injured.

Becker received her PhD in Sport Studies from the University of Tennessee in 2007 where she also worked in the volunteer athletic department providing sport psychology services to athletes, coaches and teams. In final year at Tennessee, she was honored with the Edward A. Capen Research Award and the Extraordinary Professional Promise Award. She received her BS and MS degrees in Kinesiology and Sport Performance from Sacramento State, where she was honored with the A.W. Hobt Teaching Award for the 2004-05 academic year.

Andrea Becker Consultant Coach

Hometown: Martinez, Calif.

Andrea Becker serves as a consultant coach for John Speraw and the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team. Becker also serves as an assistant coach for the men’s volleyball team at UCLA, where Speraw is the head coach. Becker also served as an assistant men’s volleyball coach at UC Irvine in 2012 when the Anteaters marched to their third NCAA championship, has been hired in the same capacity at UCLA, Head Coach John Speraw announced Wednesday. Becker is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton but is taking a sabbatical while helping UCLA and the U.S. Men’s Team. In 2012, Becker helped UC Irvine capture the NCAA championship. UCI finished with a 26-5 record, won the MPSF Tournament crown and defeated top-ranked USC in three sets to capture its third national championship in six years.

Becker is an active member of the Association of Applied Sport Psychology and the National Assn. for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity. She has published her research in The Sport Psychologist, where she also serves on the editorial board. She is also co-author of Focused For Fastpitch, a softball-specific mental training book. She has written extensively about successful coaches, and coaching techniques and behaviors. In addition, she has several papers in progress, including a study of the role of optimism in coaching effectiveness. On the public speaking circuit, Becker has given numerous lectures and scholarly presentations both locally and nationally on successful coaching methods, sport research and training, and the practice of sport and exercise psychology. Becker was a four-year softball player at Sacramento State, where she played 118 games and started 102 primarily as a middle infielder. She was a four-year National Fastpitch Coaches Association Scholar All-American as well as a two-year CoSIDA Academic All-American. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Sacramento State in 2001.

FIVB Photo

All-Time U.S. Men's Indoor Volleyball Olympians 1964 (Tokyo) 9th Place Mike Bright Barry Brown Keith Erickson William Griebenow Richard Hammer Jacob Highland Ron Lang Charles Nelson Mike Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hara Ernie Suwara John Taylor Pete Velasco, Jr. Head Coach: Harry Wilson Assistant Coach: Burt DeGroot 1968 (Mexico City) 7th Place John Alstrom Mike Bright Wink Davenport Smitty Duke Tom Haine John Henn Butch May Danny Patterson Larry Rundle Jon Stanley Rudy Suwara Pete Velasco, Jr. Head Coach: Jim Coleman Assistant Coach: John Lowell Trainer: Joe Abrahams 1984 (Los Angeles) Gold Medal Aldis Berzins Craig Buck Rich Duwelius Dusty Dvorak Karch Kiraly Chris Marlowe Pat Powers Steve Salmons Dave Saunders Paul Sunderland Steve Timmons Marc Waldie Head Coach: Doug Beal Assistant Coach: Bill Neville Assistant Coach: Tony Crabbe Team Manager: Mark Miller 1988 (Seoul) Gold Medal Craig Buck Bob Ctvrtlik Scott Fortune Karch Kiraly Ricci Luyties Doug Partie Jon Root Eric Sato Dave Saunders Jeff Stork Troy Tanner Steve Timmons Head Coach: Marv Dunphy Assistant Coach: Gary Sato Assistant Coach: Jim Coleman Team Manager: Gary Moy

1992 (Barcelona) Bronze Medal Nick Becker Carlos Briceno Bob Ctvrtlik Scott Fortune Dan Greenbaum Brent Hilliard Bryan Ivie Doug Partie Bob Samuelson Eric Sato Jeff Stork Steve Timmons Head Coach: Fred Sturm Assistant Coach: John Cook Assistant Coach: Gary Sato Team Manager: Kevin Ring 1996 (Atlanta) 9th Place Lloy Ball Bob Ctvrtlik Scott Fortune John Hyden Bryan Ivie Mike Lambert Dan Landry Jeff Nygaard Tom Sorensen Jeff Stork Ethan Watts Brett Winslow Head Coach: Fred Sturm Assistant Coach: Rudy Suwara Assistant Coach: Rod Wilde Team Manager: Eric Daly 2000 (Sydney) 11th Place Lloy Ball Kevin Barnett Tom Hoff John Hyden Mike Lambert Dan Landry Chip McCaw Ryan Millar Jeff Nygaard George Roumain Erik Sullivan Andy Witt Head Coach: Doug Beal Assistant Coach: Marv Dunphy Assistant Coach: Rod Wilde Team Leader: Jim Coleman

2004 (Athens) 4th Place Lloy Ball Kevin Barnett Brook Billings Phil Eatherton Gabe Gardner Tom Hoff Ryan Millar Reid Priddy Riley Salmon Clay Stanley Erik Sullivan Donald Suxho Head Coach: Doug Beal Assistant Coach: Hugh McCutcheon Assistant Coach: Rob Browning Assistant Coach: Carl McGown Team Consultant: Marv Dunphy Team Leader: Al Monaco Athletic Trainer: Nick Metskas 2008 (Beijing) Gold Medal Lloy Ball Gabe Gardner Kevin Hansen Tom Hoff Rich Lambourne David Lee Ryan Millar Reid Priddy Sean Rooney Riley Salmon Clay Stanley Scott Touzinsky Head Coach: Hugh McCutcheon Assistant Coach: John Speraw Assistant Coach: Ron Larsen Technical Consultant: Marv Dunphy Technical Consultant: Carl McGown Technical Coach: Jamie Morrison Team Doctor: Chris Koutures Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock 2012 (London) 5th Place Matt Anderson Sean Rooney David Lee Rich Lambourne Paul Lotman Donald Suxho Reid Priddy Brian Thornton Russell Holmes Clay Stanley David Smith David McKienzie Head Coach: Alan Knipe Team Manager: Rob Browning Assistant Coach: John Speraw Assistant Coach: Gary Sato Assistant Coach: Ron Larsen Technical Coordinator: Chris Jackson Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock Scout Coach: Andy Read Scout Coach: Mike Sealy

USA All-Time Versus International Competition USA Men's Volleyball Team Record vs. World (1981-2012) Country Argentina Australia Bahamas Barbados Brazil Bulgaria Cameroon Canada Chile China Costa Rica Cuba Cuba "B" Czech "B" Czech Rep. Denmark Domin. Rep.

Egypt Finland France Germany

Great Britain

Greece Guatemala Haiti Honduras India Iran Iraq Italy Jamaica Japan Korea Libya Mexico Neth. Ant.

Netherlands

Panama Poland Portugal

Puerto Rico

Romania Russia Russia "B"

Serbia/Mont.

Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Thailand Trin & Tob Tunisia Ukraine Venezuela Virgin Is. Total

Overall Record 43-8 17-1 1-0 9-0 64-75 23-13 2-0 94-34 2-0 44-12 3-0 76-69 0-3 1-0 20-5 3-0 14-0 13-0 13-1 39-18 18-6 1-0 12-8 6-0 4-0 1-0 1-0 2-0 1-0 26-42 1-0 137-59 49-7 1-0 27-0 2-0 24-31 7-0 33-18 3-0 28-1 1-0 56-46 1-0 11-13 1-0 4-0 16-5 10-4 1-0 2-0 9-0 1-1 12-3 2-0 992-483

1981 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 7-5 0-0 0-0 7-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-6 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

1982 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-0 8-1 1-0 3-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 4-2 0-0 11-4 6-1 1-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-3 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-1 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0

1983 2-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 4-0 0-0 8-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-6 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-4 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 11-2 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0

1984 3-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 7-8 4-0 0-0 2-2 0-0 5-0 0-0 5-7 0-0 1-0 5-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 8-0 4-0 0-0 3-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-1 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

1985 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-1 6-0 0-0 4-3 0-0 1-0 0-0 9-4 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 8-0 4-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 3-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 8-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0

1986 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 9-5 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 6-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 12-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 22-13 47-16 44-16 55-18 56-11 47-9 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986

1987 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 11-3 0-0 0-0 5-0 0-0 6-0 0-0 6-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 2-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 6-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 49-9 1987

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-0 0-0 0-0 2-2 0-0 2-1 0-0 14-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-1 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 8-0 11-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 9-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-1 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 64-8

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 5-1 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 8-1 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 3-7 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 8-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-4 0-1 1-0 0-5 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-7 0-2 0-0 5-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-5 0-0 3-4 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 5-2 1-0 0-1 0-0 1-3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-3 0-0 6-6 3-2 0-0 2-0 0-0 4-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

0-0 0-0 1-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-4 1-12 1-4 1-5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-5 1-1 6-4 6-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-1 0-0 3-2 2-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-8 1-5 2-0 4-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 2-1 0-0 2-2 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-2 0-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-1 0-4 0-2 1-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 7-7 3-9 5-4 7-3 0-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-4 0-0 0-2 3-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-1 1-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 1-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 2-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-0 2-2 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 8-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-1 0-0 3-2 0-0 0-0 4-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 39-19 21-37 29-23 26-31 18-38 27-26 36-27 28-8 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 1-2 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 11-8

5-0 3-1 0-0 0-0 2-2 0-0 0-0 7-1 0-0 6-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-1 3-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 4-1 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 2-4 3-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-0 3-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-1 0-0 47-19 1997 1998

2-0 3-0 0-0 1-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 3-3 0-0 1-0 0-0 4-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-3 1-0 6-1 2-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0

2-1 4-0 0-0 0-0 4-4 2-1 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 4-2 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 4-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 4-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0

1-1 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-5 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-4 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0

0-0 4-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-1 0-0 3-1 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-4 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 1-1 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0

0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 5-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 1-0 5-1 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 32-15 28-18 15-17 19-17 23-6 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

2-0 5-1 4-1 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 2-0 1-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-1 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 2-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 1-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-1 1-0 4-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 2-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 3-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 20-9 27-6 18-14 2004 2005 2006

3-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 2-1 2-0 0-0 1-0 2-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 3-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 1-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-0 0-0 3-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-0 1-0 3-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 5-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-1 0-0 0-0 2-0 1-1 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-1 2-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 1-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 4-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 33-8 29-5 16-6 2007 2008 2009

1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 4-0 3-1 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 14-7 2010

2-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 2-6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 3-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 2-3 0-0 6-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 26-15 2011

1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 2-2 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-2 0-0 0-0 4-0 0-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 25-7 2012

International Volleyball Fact Sheet Introduction: Volleyball has major international competitions every year and, at its highest level, is a physically demanding sport played by some of the world’s most elite athletes. Of course, volleyball is also a popular recreational activity enjoyed by more than 38 million persons in the United States (more than any team sport but basketball) and more than 800 million persons globally, making it the world’s most popular participant sport. This fact sheet is designed to provide more understanding about international volleyball and its major competitions, including the Olympic Games.

Top 40 teams in the FIVB World Ranking:

International Governing Body: The international governing body for volleyball is the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FIVB is the world’s largest sports federation, with more than 200 member nations. Under the direction of its president, Dr. Ruben Acosta of Mexico, the FIVB oversees the administration of volleyball throughout the world and is responsible for producing several major events, including the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, World League and World Grand Prix. National Governing Body: The national governing body (NGB) for volleyball in the United States is USA Volleyball, formerly known as the United States Volleyball Association. Founded in 1928, USA Volleyball is responsible for the administration of all forms of volleyball in the United States, including producing the annual USA Open Volleyball Championships, Junior Olympic Championships and the USA Outdoor National Championships. As mandated by the 1978 Amateur Sports Act, USA Volleyball is responsible to the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and the FIVB for training and nominating the teams which represent the United States in the Olympic Games and other important volleyball competitions worldwide. Major Competitions: The four major events on the international volleyball calendar are the Olympic Games (men and women, indoor and beach), World Championships (men and women, indoor and beach), World Cup (men and women, indoor), World League (men, indoor) and World Grand Prix (women, indoor). All events are conducted quadrennially, with the exceptions of the annual World League/Grand Prix and the biennial Beach World Championships. World Rankings: Following the decision of the FIVB Board of Administration, a new system of point attribution based on a new scale has been implemented for the FIVB World Ranking of Volleyball National Teams. The following competitions are now included: • Senior World Championships included for four years - 25 percent reduction each year. Points are also granted for the qualification matches, to the best non-qualified teams. • Olympic Games included for four years - 25 percent reduction each year. Points are also granted for the qualification matches, to the best non-qualified teams. • World Cup included for two years - 50 percent reduction the second year. • Senior Continental Championships included for two years - 50 percent reduction the second year; points are also granted for the qualification matches to the best non-qualified teams. • Men’s World League / Women’s World Grand Prix included for one year.

Men’s Teams As of Oct. 7, 2013

Women’s Teams As of Oct. 7, 2013

1 Brazil 345 2 Russia 342 3 Italy 286 4 USA 183 5 Poland 176 6 Bulgaria 173 7 Cuba 171 7 Argentina 171 9 Serbia 169 10 Germany 120 11 Canada 79 12 Iran 68 13 Tunisia 66 14 Australia 64 15 Egypt 63 16 France 59 17 Japan 51 18 China 49 19 Cameroon 45 20 Puerto Rico 45 21 Republic of Korea 44 22 Czech Republic 40 22 Mexico 40 24 Colombia 33 25 Spain 32 26 Morocco 31 27 Algeria 26 27 Chile 26 29 Dominican Republic 25 30 Finland 24 31 Venezuela 23 31 Netherlands 23 31 Paraguay 23 34 India 20 34 Thailand 20 36 Slovakia 19 37 Belgium 18 38 Slovenia 16 38 Portugal 16 38 Romania 16 41 Bahamas 15

1 Brazil 320 2 USA 305 3 Japan 291 4 Italy 252 5 China 229 6 Russia 195 7 Serbia 153 8 Dominican Republic 130 9 Germany 126 10 Republic of Korea 122 11 Turkey 103 12 Thailand 64 13 Kenya 58 14 Algeria 56 15 Poland 50 15 Peru 50 17 Puerto Rico 46 18 Netherlands 43 18 Argentina 43 20 Canada 40 21 Cuba 39 22 Belgium 37 23 Kazakhstan 36 24 Croatia 34 25 Czech Republic 33 26 Cameroon 32 27 Tunisia 30 28 Mexico 29 29 Colombia 26 29 Costa Rica 26 31 Senegal 25 31 Trinidad & Tobago 25 33 Egypt 24 33 Venezuela 24 35 Bulgaria 22 36 Belarus 18 37 Azerbaijan 17 38 Romania 16 38 Chile 16 40 Chinese Taipei 15 40 France 15

International Volleyball Fact Sheet Olympic Games: Volleyball made its debut in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. Twelve teams in both the men’s and women’s draw earn the right to compete:

2002: Brazil (USA, ninth) 2006: Brazil (USA, 10th) 2010: Brazil (USA, sixth)

Past Olympic Champions (Men) 1964: Soviet Union (USA, ninth) 1968: Soviet Union (USA, seventh) 1972: Japan, (USA, DNQ) 1976: Poland (USA, DNQ) 1980: Soviet Union (USA, DNQ) 1984: USA 1988: USA 1992: Brazil (USA, third) 1996: Netherlands (USA, ninth) 2000: Yugoslavia (USA, 11th) 2004: Brazil (USA, fourth) 2008: USA 2012: Russia (USA, fifth)

Past World Champions (Women) 1952: Soviet Union (USA, DNP) 1956: Soviet Union (USA, ninth) 1960: Soviet Union (USA, sixth) 1962: Japan (USA, DNP) 1966: Japan (USA, second) 1970: Soviet Union (USA, 11th) 1974: Japan (USA, 12th) 1978: Cuba (USA, fifth) 1982: China (USA, third) 1986: China (USA, 10th) 1990: Soviet Union (USA, third) 1994: Cuba (USA, sixth) 1998: Cuba (USA, 13th) 2002: Italy (USA, second) 2006: Russia (USA, ninth) 2010: Russia (USA, fourth)

Past Olympic Champions (Women) 1964: Japan (USA, fifth) 1968: Soviet Union (USA, eighth) 1972: Soviet Union (USA, DNQ) 1976: Japan (USA, DNQ) 1980: Soviet Union (USA, DNP) 1984: China (USA, second) 1988: Soviet Union (USA, seventh) 1992: Cuba (USA, third) 1996: Cuba (USA, seventh) 2000: Cuba (USA, fourth) 2004: China (USA, fifth) 2008: Brazil (USA, second) 2012: Brazil (USA, second) World Championships: The World Championships are held every four years in the second year after the Olympics. The site, usually separate for the men’s and women’s competitions, is determined by the FIVB based on bids received from interested cities. The 24 berths for the men and women are gained in the following manner (2006 information is provided in parenthesis where available): • Host country • Defending World Champions • FIVB determined the appropriate number of qualification spots for each continent/zone based on performance at the 2002 World Championships and the number of teams registered for the 2006 World Championships. Each continent/zone played a World Championships Qualification Tournament in early 2002. Past World Champions (Men) 1949: Soviet Union (USA, DNP) 1952: Soviet Union (USA, DNP) 1956: Czechoslovakia (USA, sixth) 1960: Soviet Union (USA, seventh) 1962: Soviet Union (USA, DNP) 1966: Czechoslovakia (USA, 11th) 1970: East Germany (USA, 18th) 1974: Not held 1978: Soviet Union (USA, 19th) 1982: Soviet Union (USA, 13th) 1986: USA 1990: Italy (USA, 13th) 1994: Italy (USA, third) 1998: Italy (USA, ninth)

World Cup: The World Cup is held every four years, in the year prior to the Olympic Games. Though originally held at various sites, it has been hosted by Japan since 1977. Prior to 1991, the World Cup took place in the year immediately following the Olympics. The 12 berths in the World Cup for men and women are gained in the following manner: • Host country (Japan- Men and Women) • Defending World Cup champion • Winners of the five zone championships • The highest-placed team (of each zone) not qualified for the Olympic Games in accordance with the ranking of the zone championships. Past World Cup Champions (Men) 1965: Soviet Union (USA, DNP) 1969: East Germany (USA, DNP) 1973: Soviet Union (USA, seventh) 1977: Soviet Union (USA, 10th) 1981: Soviet Union (USA, DNQ) 1985: USA 1989: Cuba (USA, fourth) 1991: Soviet Union (USA, third) 1995: Italy (USA, fourth) 1999: Russia (USA, fourth) 2003: Brazil (USA, fourth) 2007: Brazil (USA, fourth) 2011: Russia (USA, sixth) Past World Cup Champions (Women) 1973: Soviet Union (USA, sixth) 1977: Japan (USA, seventh) 1981: China (USA, fourth) 1985: China (USA, DNQ) 1989: Cuba (USA, DNQ) 1991: Cuba (USA, fourth) 1995: Cuba (USA, seventh) 1999: Cuba (USA, ninth) 2003: China (USA, third) 2007: Italy (USA, third) 2011: Italy (USA, second)

International Volleyball Fact Sheet Zone Championships: The volleyball world is divided into five international zones.The United States is in the NORCECA (North America Central America Caribbean) Zone, with championships held every other year at various sites. The other zones are Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. The frequency of zone championships competition varies in each of the five sections. Any nation in a particular zone may participate in its zone championships whenever such a competition is conducted. Past NORCECA Champions (Men) 1969: Cuba (USA, third) 1971: Cuba (USA, second) 1973: USA 1975: Cuba (USA, third) 1977: Cuba (USA, fifth) 1979: Cuba (USA, fifth) 1981: Cuba (USA, second) 1983: USA 1985: USA 1987: Cuba (USA, second) 1989: Cuba (USA, third) 1991: Cuba (USA, second) 1993: Cuba (USA, second) 1995: Cuba (USA, second) 1997: Cuba (USA, second) 1999: USA 2001: Cuba (USA, second) 2003: USA 2005: USA 2007: USA 2009: Cuba (USA, second) 2011: Cuba (USA, second) 2013: USA Past NORCECA Champions (Women) 1969: Mexico (USA, bronze) 1971: Mexico (USA, DNP) 1973: Cuba (USA, third) 1975: Cuba (USA, second) 1977: Cuba (USA, third) 1979: Cuba (USA, second) 1981: USA 1983: USA 1985: Cuba (USA, second) 1987: Cuba (USA, second) 1989: Cuba (USA, third) 1991: Cuba (USA, second) 1993: Cuba (USA, second) 1995: Cuba (USA, second) 1997: Cuba (USA, second) 1999: Cuba (USA, second) 2001: USA 2003: USA 2005: USA 2007: Cuba (USA, second) 2009: Dominican Republic (USA, fourth) 2011: USA 2013: USA

World League and World Grand Prix: The World League features the top 12 men’s volleyball teams in the world in competition for a total purse that has grown to $15 million since the inaugural season in 1990. Teams are divided into three, four-team pools and each country playing the other teams in their pool four times (twice at home, twice on the road). The winner and runner-up in each pool advance to a seeded playoff round. The regular season is usually played in May and June with playoffs in early July. The World Grand Prix is the women’s counterpart to the World League, and offers a total purse of $2 million to its 12-team field. Teams play in different four-team pools each weekend, at round-robin tournaments hosted by cities throughout Asia. The three teams with the best records join the host country for the Grand Prix Finals. The regular season is played in August and early-September with playoffs in mid-September. World League Champions 1990: Italy (USA, fourth in pool) 1991: Italy (USA, third in pool) 1992: Italy (USA, first in pool, third overall) 1993: Brazil (USA, fifth in pool) 1994: Italy (USA, fourth in pool) 1995: Italy (USA, fourth in pool) 1996: Netherlands (USA, DNP) 1997: Italy (USA, DNP) 1998: Cuba (USA, DNP) 1999: Italy (USA, DNP) 2000: Italy (USA, first in pool, sixth overall) 2001: Brazil (USA, third in pool, tied-ninth overall) 2002: Russia (USA, DNP) 2003: Brazil (USA, DNP) 2004: Brazil (USA, DNP) 2005: Brazil (USA, DNP) 2006: Brazil (USA, third in pool) 2007: Brazil (USA, third in finals) 2008: USA 2009: Brazil (USA, sixth) 2010: Brazil (USA, eighth) 2011: Russia (USA, seventh) 2012: Poland (USA, second) 2013: Russia (USA, 12th) World Grand Prix Champions 1993: Cuba (USA, seventh regular season) 1994: Brazil (USA, fifth regular season) 1995: USA 1996: Brazil (USA, fifth) 1997: Russia (USA, eighth) 1998: Brazil (USA, eighth) 1999: Russia (USA, DNP) 2000: Cuba (USA, sixth) 2001: USA 2002: Russia (USA, sixth) 2003: China (USA, third) 2004: Brazil (USA, third) 2005: Brazil (USA, eighth) 2006: Brazil (USA, seventh) 2007: Netherlands (USA, eighth final, seventh preliminary) 2008: Brazil (USA, fourth) 2009: Brazil (USA, ninth) 2010: USA 2011: USA 2012: USA 2013: Brazil (USA, sixth)

USA Volleyball Fact Sheet

Name: USA Volleyball Location: Colorado Springs, Colo. Founded: 1928 Membership: Approximately 275,000 Mission: USA Volleyball is the National Governing Body (NGB) for all disciplines of volleyball in the United States and is officially recognized by the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). As mandated by the Amateur Sports Act, USA Volleyball is responsible for the growth of the sport in America at the grassroots and most elite levels. USA Volleyball is the parent organization of the USA National Teams. Chief Executive Officer: Doug Beal Head Coach USA Women: Karch Kiraly (First year as head coach with women’s team) Head Coach USA Men: John Speraw (First year as head coach with men’s team) Major 2013 National Team Events: Senior Men’s Volleyball FIVB World League (May 31-July 21 in Various countries) NORCECA Continental Championship (Sept. 23-29 in Langley, Canada) FIVB Grand Champions Cup (Nov. 19-24 in Japan)

Indoor High Performance and USAV Juniors (Youth and Junior) FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship (June 21-30 in Czech Republic) FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship (June 27-July 7 in Mexico) USAV Girls’ Junior National Championships (June 28-July 5, Dallas, Texas) NORCECA Boys’ Youth Championship (July 2-7, Mexico) USAV Boys’ Junior National Championships (June 27-July 4 in Dallas, Texas) USAV High Performance Championships (July 23-27 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) FIVB Girls’ U18 World Championship (July 26-Aug. 4 in Thailand) FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship (Aug. 22-Sept. 1 in Turkey)

Senior Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup (June 8-17 in Peru) USA Volleyball Cup vs. Japan (July 10, 12, 13 in San Diego/Long Beach/San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) FIVB World Grand Prix (Aug. 2-Sept. 1 in Various countries) Beach NORCECA Continental Championship (Sept. 14-22 in Omaha, Neb., USA) FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour (various countries) FIVB Grand Champions Cup (Nov. 12-17 in Japan) NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour (various countries) FIVB U23 World Championships (June 5-9 in Myslowice, Poland) Other USAV Events FIVB U21 World Championships (June 19-23 in Umag, Croatia) NCVF Collegiate Club Championships (April 4-6 in Dallas, Texas) FIVB U19 World Championships (July 11-14 in Porto, Portugal) USAV Beach Collegiate Challenge (March 14-17 in Chula Vista, Calif.) World University Games (July 5-17 in Kazan, Russia) USAV Beach Collegiate Challenge (April 20-21 in Hermosa Beach, Calif.) USAV High Performance Championships (July 17-20 in Hermosa Beach, Calif.) USA Volleyball Open National Championships (May 24-29, Lousiville, Calif.) USA Beach Junior Tour (various locations) About USA Volleyball: Founded in 1928, USA Volleyball is a Colorado incorporated non-profit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB) as the National Governing Body for the sport of Volleyball in the United States. USA Volleyball is responsible for both the Olympic disciplines of indoor volleyball and beach volleyball. USA Volleyball has over 275,000 registered members, 12,000 teams and 5,300 clubs nationwide. With an annual budget in excess of $17 million dollars, USA Volleyball supports the USA men’s and women’s senior national team programs, youth and junior national teams, national championship events, coaching education and certification programs, grassroots development, and programs for the disabled and Paralympic Teams. USA Volleyball has a rich tradition of success as evidenced by winning an Olympic medal in every Olympic Games since 1984 and capturing numerous World Cup, World Championship and Continental Championship titles. USA Volleyball is committed to and works toward opportunity for all to participate. It is an advocate for all Americans endeavoring to assure universal access to opportunities at all levels of the game. For more information please visit www.usavolleyball.org. Other: USA Volleyball consists of 40 regional volleyball associations which manage grassroots playing opportunities for the USA Volleyball membership and is affiliated with 36 member organizations (i.e. NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA, YMCA) that provide playing opportunities at a variety of levels.