COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 10, 2024) – USA Volleyball is proud to announce the athletes and staff who will comprise the U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The athlete roster includes nine players with Olympic experience and three newcomers who will compete at the Paris Games, which run July 26-August 11.
Opposite Matt Anderson and middle blocker David Smith will compete in their fourth Olympic Games. Each athlete made his Olympic debut at London 2012 and earned a bronze medal at Rio 2016.
Setter Micah Christenson, middle blocker Max Holt, outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke and libero Erik Shoji have each made a third Olympic roster. Each also has a bronze medal from Rio 2016.
Outside hitters T.J. DeFalco, Aaron Russell and Garrett Muagututia will each compete in a second Olympics. Russell won a bronze medal in Rio but did not compete at Tokyo 2020. DeFalco and Muagututia made their Olympic debuts in Tokyo.
Middle blockers Taylor Averill and Jeff Jendryk, and setter Micah Ma’a will make their Olympic debuts in Paris.
Opposite Kyle Ensing, a 2020 Olympian, will be the team’s official alternate athlete, a new position for 2024. The official alternate is a non-competing athlete who may serve as a last-minute replacement if a player is unable to compete due to injury or illness. In that event, the replaced athlete would not be allowed to compete for the remainder of the competition.
“One of the hardest parts about coaching this team is naming the final 12 athletes who will play at the Olympics,” U.S. Men’s Head Coach John Speraw said. “We travel 14 players to every single tournament during a quad. To narrow it down to 12 is always such a challenge.
“It’s such a tough decision because we have so many talented, hard-working, high-character athletes who have been great teammates and represented the United States very well. Ultimately, we decided that this was the best 12 to go compete for us in Paris.
“Choosing the team now allows us to manage a veteran team and the grind of Volleyball Nations League (VNL) travel to ensure we have a good balance between training, recovery and competition to prepare ourselves for the Games.
“It’s an incredible honor to coach these men. I’ve known all of them for a long time. I have such a high degree of trust in their ability to play the game and respect for how they compete and represent the United States. I know how special this experience is and I’m grateful to these 12 men and to…
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