U.S. Men Load Charleston Roster with 9 Olympians

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Sept. 3, 2023) – Nine Olympians highlight the 14-player roster for the U.S. Men’s National Team competing this week at the NORCECA Continental Championship at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Teams competing at the Continental Championship will receive points toward their world rankings, which will help determine who qualifies for the 2024 Olympic Games.

The U.S. Men, ranked No. 1 in the region and No. 2 in the world, are hosting teams from Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Suriname.

Nine Olympians are on the roster: setter Micah Christenson, opposite Matt Anderson, libero Erik Shoji, outside hitters T.J. DeFalco, Thomas Jaeschke, Garrett Muagututia and Aaron Russell, and middle blockers Max Holt and David Smith.

They are joined by setter Micah Ma’a, opposite Jake Hanes, libero Tim McIntosh, and middle blockers Taylor Averill and Jeff Jendryk.

McIntosh is making his debut with the senior U.S. Men’s National Team.

“We feel pretty good. We’ve had a nice four weeks of training,” U.S. Men’s Head Coach John Speraw said. “We feel like we have improved quite a bit in specific aspects of the game. Now we have a chance to get on the court and see how the training block worked.”

Speraw’s assistant coaches will be Matt Fuerbringer and Javier Weber.

The U.S. Men will also use the tournament to prepare for the Road to Paris Olympic qualifying tournament on Sept. 30-Oct. 8 in Tokyo, Japan.

The U.S. Men have won the NORCECA title nine times, most recently in 2017. In 2021, the U.S. Men finished fifth.

Tickets for the 2023 Continental Championship are still available online. For those who can’t make it to Charleston, matches will be livestreamed at youtube.com/@VolleyballSource.

U.S. Men’s Roster for the 2023 NORCECA Continental Championship

No. Player (Position, Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1 Matt Anderson (Opp, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State, Western Empire)
2 Aaron Russell (OH, 6-9, Ellicott City, Md., Penn State, Chesapeake)
4 Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)
6 Timothy McIntosh (L, 6-0, Miami, Fla., Sacred Heart, Florida)
8 T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
9 Jake Hanes (OPP, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State Univ., Great Lakes)
11 Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Southern California, Hawaii)
12 Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State, Ohio Valley)
14 Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)
17 Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)
18 Garrett Muagututia (OH, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
19 Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)
20 David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., Univ. of California Irvine, Southern California)
22 Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford Univ., Hawaii)

Head Coach: John Speraw
Assistant Coaches: Matthew Fuerbringer and Javier Weber
Performance Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
Team Leader: Nate Ngo
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot
Mental Performance Coach: Peter Naschak
Team Doctor: Daniel Green