Oct 18

USAV Reveals Men's World Cup Preliminary Roster

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B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org  

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 18, 2011) – Ten Olympians are on the preliminary roster for the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball  Team that will compete at the FIVB World Cup on Nov. 20-Dec. 4 in Japan.

The top three finishing teams at the FIVB World Cup will qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Most U.S. players are now competing with clubs overseas, but will return around Nov. 7 to begin training for the World Cup. The roster will be cut to 14 players during the training block.

The preliminary roster is highlighted by nine players from the 2008 U.S. Men’s Team that won gold medals at the Olympic Games and FIVB World League: setter Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.), libero Rich Lambourne (Tustin, Calif.), middle blocker David Lee (Alpine, Calif.), middle blocker Ryan Millar (Alpine, Utah), outside hitter and team captain Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.), outside hitter Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.), libero Riley Salmon (League City, Texas), opposite Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawai’i) and outside hitter Scott Touzinsky (St. Louis, Mo.).

Setter Donald Suxho (Korce, Albania) played on the 2004 Olympic Team that finished fourth in Athens.

The team also includes opposite David McKienzie (Lakewood, Colo.), who is on his first U.S. Men’s roster since 2007. He is the third opposite on the roster behind Stanley and Evan Patak (Pleasanton, Calif.).

“We feel like we need some depth there,” U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach, Calif.) said of the opposite position. “Dave is playing at a high level. This gives us three really good opposites.”

Four setters are on the roster: Hansen, Suxho, Brian Thornton (San Clemente, Calif.) and Jonathan Winder (Irvine, Calif.).

“We have two setters that have set most of this year for us in Brian and Kevin,” Knipe said. “That’s the way they come into this training block. Brian had a good World League and I thought Kevin had a good NORCECA. We’ll go from there.”

Other outside hitters on the preliminary roster are Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.), Paul Lotman (Lakewood, Calif.) and Jayson Jablonsky (Yorba Linda, Calif.).

Other middle blockers on the long list are Russell Holmes (Fountain Valley, Calif.), Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) and David Smith (Saugus, Calif.).

The majority of the players on the long list have seen considerable playing time either at the FIVB World League and NORCECA Championship or at the Pan American Cup.

The FIVB Men’s World Cup will be its 11th edition after having been established in 1965. The event became a qualifying event for the Olympic Games in 1991 ahead of the Barcelona Games. Since then the World Cup has been traditionally the first Olympic Games qualifying event for volleyball. Japan has proudly hosted the competition since 1977.

This will be the U.S. Men’s 11th straight appearance in the World Cup after it first appearance in 1973. The U.S. Men won the event in 1985 and finished third in 1991.The U.S. Men have finished fourth in the last four World Cup tournaments, just missing an Olympic qualification slot.

The U.S. Men will open the World Cup in Kagoshima and will play China, Brazil and Russia in their first three matches.

"This is the tournament where you can't complain about pools," Knipe said. "When it comes down to it, you have to play everyone.

"This is a great tournament. It's a deep World Cup."

FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup 2011
U.S. Men's Preliminary Roster

No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
1 Matt Anderson (OH, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)
2 Sean Rooney (OH, 6-9, Wheaton, Ill., Pepperdine)
3 Evan Patak (Opp, 6-8, Pleasanton, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
4 David Lee (MB, 6-8, Alpine, Calif., Long Beach State)
5 Rich Lambourne (L, 6-3, Tustin, Calif., BYU)
6 Paul Lotman (OH, 6-7, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)
7 Donald Suxho (S, 6-5, Korce, Albania, USC)
8 Reid Priddy (OH, 6-5, Richmond, Va., Loyola Marymount)
9 Ryan Millar (MB, 6-8, Alpine, Utah, BYU)
10 Riley Salmon (L, 6-6, League City, Texas, Pierce College)
11 David McKienzie (Opp, 6-4, Littleton, Colo., Long Beach State)
12 Russell Holmes (MB, 6-8, Fountain Valley, Calif., BYU)
13 Clay Stanley (OPP, 6-9, Honolulu, Hawai'i, Hawaii)
14 Kevin Hansen (S, 6-5, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford)
15 Brian Thornton (S, 6-3, San Clemente, Calif., UC Irvine)
16 Jayson Jablonsky (OH, 6-5, Yorba Linda, Calif., UC Irvine)
17 Max Holt (MB, 6-9, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State)
18 Scott Touzinsky (OH, 6-6, St. Louis, Mo., Long Beach State)
19 Jonathan Winder (S, 6-8, Irvine, Calif., Pepperdine)
20 David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)

Head Coach: Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Team Manager: Gary Sato (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: John Speraw (Irvine, Calif.)
Trainer: Ron Larsen (Lafayette, Calif.)
Doctor: Scott Magness and William Stetson
Technical Coordinator: Chris Jackson (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Medical Support: Aaron Brock (Storm Lake, Iowa)
Massage Therapist: Eli Evette
Scout Coach: Frank Ciarelli
Scout Coach: Andy Read

Qualified Teams

Team (Qualification Method, World Ranking as of Jan 15, 2011, Current World Ranking)
Brazil (South America Champion, 1, 1)
Serbia (Europe Champion, 3, 5)
Cuba (NORCECA Champion, 4, 6)
Egypt (Africa Champion, 13, 12)
Iran (Asia Champion, 19, 14)
USA (NORCECA Runner Up, 5, 4)
Italy (Europe Runner Up, 6, 3)
Argentina (South America Runner Up, 8, 9)
China (Asia Runner Up, 11, 10)
Japan (Hosts, 14, 18)
Russia (Wild Card, 2, 2)
Poland (Wild Card, 10, 8)

FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup 2011 Schedule