University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Bruins Named to Volleyball Nations League Roster
May 28, 2019 | Men's Volleyball
Each week, the U.S. coaching staff will choose 14 players from the 25-man roster to compete in the VNL preliminary matches as well as the final round. The U.S. is hosting the VNL Final Round on July 10-14 in Chicago and automatically qualifies for that event. The U.S. begins VNL preliminary round play on May 31-June 2 in Poland (U.S. vs. Brazil, Poland, Australia). On June 7-9, Russia will host VNL competition (U.S. vs. Italy, Russia, Portugal) followed by France from June 14-16 (U.S. vs. Argentina, Germany, France). The United States will host a preliminary round weekend on June 21-23 in the Chicago area (U.S. vs. Japan, Canada, China). The final preliminary round matches will be played in Bulgaria beginning on June 28 (U.S. vs. Bulgaria, Serbia and Iran).ย
Nine players return from the 2016 Olympic Team roster, including two-time Olympians Matt Anderson and David Smith. Rounding out the group are Taylor Sander, Aaron Russell, Thomas Jaeschke, Max Holt, Micah Christenson, Kawika Shoji and Erik Shoji.
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U.S. Men's Preliminary Roster
1 - Matt Andersonย (Opp, 6-9, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)
2 - Aaron Russellย (OH, 6-9, Ellicott City, Md., Penn State)
3 - Taylor Sanderย (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., BYU)
4ย - Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola of Chicago)
5 - Kyle Ensingย (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State)
6 - Mitch Stahlย (MB, 6-8, Chambersburg, Pa., UCLA)
7 - Kawika Shoji (S, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
8 - T. J. DeFalcoย (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
9 - Jake Langloisย (OH, 6-10, San Jose, Calif., BYU)
10 - Dan McDonnellย (MB, 6-6, Phoenix, Ariz., UC Irvine)
11 - Micah Christensonย (S, 6-6, Honolulu, Southern California)
12 - Max Holtย (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State)
13 - Ben Patchย (Opp, 6-8, Provo, Utah, BYU)
14 - Micah Ma'aย (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA)
16 - Josh Tuanigaย (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
17 - Thomas Jaeschkeย (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola)
18 - Garrett Muagututiaย (OH, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA)
19 - Taylor Averillย (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Hawaii)
20 - David Smithย (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)
21 - Dustin Wattenย (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
22 - Erik Shojiย (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
23 - Larry Tuileta Jr.ย (L, 6-2, Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii)
24 - Kyle Dagostinoย (L, 5-9, Tampa, Fla., Stanford)
25 - Kyle Russellย (Opp, 6-9, Loomis, Calif., UC Irvine)
26 - Michael Saetaย (S, 6-5, South Pasadena, Calif., UC Irvine)
