USA Men's NT 2018

TEAM USA 2018

2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League

U.S. Men’s Preliminary Roster

1. Matt Anderson (Opp, 6-9, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)
2. Aaron Russell (OH, 6-9, Ellicott City, Md., Penn State)
3. Taylor Sander (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., BYU)
4. Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola of Chicago)
5. James Shaw (S, 6-8, Woodside, Calif., Stanford)
6. Mitch Stahl (MB, 6-8, Chambersburg, Pa., UCLA)
7. Kawika Shoji (S, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
8. T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
9. Carson Clark (Opp, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Irvine)
10. Dan McDonnell (MB, 6-6, Phoenix, Ariz., UC Irvine)
11. Micah Christenson (S, 6-6, Honolulu, Southern California)
12. Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State)
13. Ben Patch (Opp, 6-8, Provo, Utah, BYU)
14. David Wieczorek (Opp, 6-8, Chicago, Ill., Pepperdine)
15. Brenden Sander (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., BYU)
16. Jayson Jablonsky (OH, 6-6, Yorba Linda, Calif., UC Irvine)
17. Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola)
18. Jake Langlois (OH, 6-10, San Jose, Calif., BYU)
19. Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Hawaii)
20C. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)
21. Dustin Watten (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
22. Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
23. Jonah Seif (S, 6-6, Thousand Oaks, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
24. Michael Brinkley (L, 5-10, Huntington Beach, Calif., UC Irvine)
25. Miles Johnson (Opp, 6-6, Carlsbad, Calif., Ohio State)
26. Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State)

USA Volleyball

There's atleast 6 opposites in this roster(7 if you include Langlois). I am assuming Speraw wants to test a brand new opposite. Patch can be better but was a little underwhelming in Italy). I am surprised Clark is there. I don't think he played club volleyball abroad in this season.

I think Kyle Ensing have the most potential from the new guys, he was impressive in NCAA. We will see.

I am still hoping for Patch to raise his level. His athleticism is off the charts but his technique and serve could be better.

Wieczorek is an OH but he is listed as an opposite.

Quote from Mapuan

Sander and Russell might be benched because of DeFalco and Jaeschke were superb in their respective leagues. Jaeschke showed that he can be a reliable scorer with good ball control unlike Russell. DeFalco has been superb in his collegiate career... not the most athletic but his volleyball IQ is off the charts.

Anderson is still gonna be the main opposite because the other opposites are way too inconsistent. Patch had his chance in Vibo but he blew it. I don't see Ensing as national team material. I don't see any current opposite in the NCAA that can dominate in international volleyball.

Middle position is the weakest sad to say.

NCAA will also be producing some great athletes for other nationalities. Szerzen for France (OH), Gyimah for Canada (MB), and Van Tilberg for Netherlands (OH/OPP).

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Jaeschke was inconsitent in Verona. Russell is USA's best attacker in left side. I don't think he'll be benched unless his condition deterioriates. He's been dealing with minor injuries in the post season and he's still spiking between 45% to 80% per game. His passing could improve but I would rather have Russell than Jaeschke.

Sander is a different matter. He's been benched because they think Kovar-Stankovic duo is better than with him and Candelarro. He should find his rhythm back with the national team before the world championship. He probably needs this the most.

de Falco can be a gem but NCAA is well below a professional league like the Superlega of Italy. Just with the service pressure alone, it could makes good receivers in NCAA look terrible.

I don't think the middle blocker position is USA's weakest position. Max Holt, Mcdonell, Smith abd Jendryk. USA's set up with that.

After Matt Anderson USA barely have no one else. They have to have someone new in this position because Anderson is 31 years old already.

1. Matt Anderson (Opp, 6-9, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)
2. Aaron Russell (OH, 6-9, Ellicott City, Md., Penn State)
3. Taylor Sander (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., BYU)
4. Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola of Chicago)
5. James Shaw (S, 6-8, Woodside, Calif., Stanford)
6. Mitch Stahl (MB, 6-8, Chambersburg, Pa., UCLA)
7. Kawika Shoji (S, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
8. T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
10. Dan McDonnell (MB, 6-6, Phoenix, Ariz., UC Irvine)
11. Micah Christenson (S, 6-6, Honolulu, Southern California)
12. Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State)
13. Ben Patch (Opp, 6-8, Provo, Utah, BYU)
15. Brenden Sander (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., BYU)
17. Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola)
18. Jake Langlois (OH, 6-10, San Jose, Calif., BYU)
19. Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Hawaii)
20C. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)
21. Dustin Watten (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
22. Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
23. Jonah Seif (S, 6-6, Thousand Oaks, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
26. Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State)

What the hell at USA Volleyball not even caring about announcing the team they would take for the first week of VNL. They only have five days before the first match in China..

So the first week it is China, Argentina and Bulgaria. Not the strongest pool for us but Argentina could be a threat depending on their setter. I would probably want some new personnel here. It could be great f time for experiments. I guess we have to bring the best team against Argentina though.

USA is overloaded with OHs and setters for the first week. Opposites we have only 2 pure opposites(excluding Anderson and Langlois).

USA have 4 setters. I think that's too many but Speraw might have other plans. Shaw and Seif are quite tall for a setter huh. I wonder who will get in the lineup. I hope K.Shoji gets left out for this week. Shaw was benched in the italian league. He needs to play more often to adapt into a wider role now that he's 100% for the NT season.

14-Man Travel Roster for May 25-27 in Ningbo, China

3. Taylor Sander
4. Jeff Jendryk
7. Kawika Shoji
8. T.J. DeFalco
12. Max Holt
13. Ben Patch
17. Thomas Jaeschke
18. Jake Langlois
19. Taylor Averill
20C. David Smith
21. Dustin Watten
22. Erik Shoji
23. Jonah Seif
26. Kyle Ensing

usa volleyball

Anderson,Christenson and Russell are out for the China leg.

Quote from elvis

The best middle last season is kofi IMO, and he's Canadian...

I think you'll see Stadick on the NT next quad, he's been in the USA pipeline for a few years.

Another middle who I really like is Stahl, graduated last year and played his first season at Paris. He should have more opportunities next quad.

I hope Speraw considers Stadick.

VNL and 2020 Olympics won't get in the way as it did for De Falco in the world championship.