USA Volleyball unveils final roster for upcoming World Championship

Twelve current college men’s volleyball players will represent the United Sates at two international tournaments later this summer.

USA Volleyball announced earlier this week its final roster for the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team that will compete at the FIVB Junior Men’s World Championship and the U-21 Pan American Cup.

Among the 12 players to make the final roster includes eight players who helped the United States last year win the NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championships to qualify for the upcoming World Championship. The roster will also feature USC All-American setter Micah Christenson making his second World Championship appearance after helping the United States finishing in fourth place at the 2011 tournament.

This will be one of the most diverse make-ups for U.S. Men’s Junior National Team in recent history with nine colleges represented on the final roster.

Ohio State and Loyola led all colleges with both having two players making the 12-person roster. In addition, USC, Princeton, Long Beach State, BYU, Pepperdine, Penn State, UC Irvine and Harvard each have one player on the roster.

The 12-player roster was selected from an initial roster of 22 players following a weeklong tryout in June.

The United States, which will be led by Ohio State coach Pete Hanson, will compete in the U21 Pan American Cup on July 12-20 in Costa Rica. The World Championship will begin Aug. 22 in Turkey.

U.S. Men’s Junior National Team roster
Setter: Micah Christenson, USC
Setter: Matt West, Pepperdine
Opposite: Ben Patch, BYU
Outside attacker: Michael Henchy, Ohio State
Outside attacker: Thomas Jaeschke, Loyola
Outside attacker: Kyle Russell, UC Irvine
Outside attacker: Aaron Russell, Penn State
Outside attacker: D.J. White, Harvard
Middle attacker: Taylor Gregory, Long Beach State
Middle attacker: Driss Guessous, Ohio State
Middle attacker: Nicholas Olson, Loyola
Libero: Tony Ensbury, Princeton

Alternates
Setter: James Shaw, Stanford
Outside attacker: Greg Petty, Lewis
Middle attacker: Bobby Walsh, Lewis
Libero: Brennan Anderson, Ohio State