2012 U.S. Men’s Name
Matt Anderson Gabe Gardner Kevin Hansen Russell Holmes Max Holt
National Volleyball Team roster 6-10 West Seneca N.Y.
Pos. OH
Opp S
Jayson Jablonsky Rich Lambourne David Lee
Paul Lotman
David McKienzie Jeff Menzel Ryan Millar Evan Patak Reid Priddy Sean Rooney Riley Salmon Taylor Sander Kawika Shoji David Smith Clay Stanley Donald Suxho Robert Tarr
Brian Thornton Scott Touzinsky Jonathan Winder
MB MB OH L
MB OH
Opp OH MB
Opp OH OH L
OH S
MB
OPP S
OH S
OH S
Ht. 6-8
6-5 6-8 6-9 6-5 6-3 6-8 6-7 6-4 6-6 6-8 6-8 6-5 6-9 6-6 6-4 6-3 6-7 6-9 6-5 6-6 6-3 6-6 6-8
Hometown
San Clemente Calif. Newport Beach Calif. Fountain Valley Calif. Cincinnati Ohio Yorba Linda Calif. Tustin Calif. Alpine Calif.
Lakewood Calif. Littleton Colo.
Pleasanton Calif. Richmond Va. Wheaton Ill. League City
College
Penn State Stanford Stanford BYU
Penn State UC Irvine BYU
Long Beach State Long Beach State Long Beach State
Santa Barbara Calif. UC Santa Barbara Alpine Utah
BYU
UC Santa Barbara Loyola Marymount Pepperdine
Texas Pierce College
Huntington Beach Calif. BYU Honolulu Hawaii Saugus Calif.
Honolulu Hawaii Korce Albania
Cape Canaveral Fla. San Clemente Calif. St. Louis Mo. Irvine Calif.
Stanford UC Irvine Hawaii USC
Long Beach State UC Irvine
Long Beach State Pepperdine
Head Coach: Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach Calif.) Assistant Coaches: Gary Sato (Los Angeles Calif.) • John Speraw (Irvine Calif.) • Ron Larsen (Lafayette Calif.) • Team Manager: Rob Browning (Newport Beach Calif.) • Technical Coordinator: Chris Jackson (Phoenix Ariz.) • Medical Support: Aaron Brock (Storm Lake Iowa)
“Whoever decided to move the tournament back, thank you,” Knipe said with a smile. “Sometimes, it’s meant to be.” Timing is a good thing to have on your side, especially for a team that has been on as choppy a journey as the U.S. has been this quadrennial. Truth is, there hasn’t been a whole lot to celebrate since the U.S. players stood on the highest podium in Beijing after winning the program’s first volleyball (indoor) gold medal in 20 years.
IN CHARGE Alan Knipe will be at the helm for the U.S. Men in London. (Photo: Peter Brouillet)
In 2009, they finished sixth in FIVB World League. In 2010, they took eighth in World League and sixth at the FIVB World Champi- onship. Last year, they were seventh in World League and sixth at the World Cup. So where does that leave them in terms of an Olympic gold-medal defense? “Well, we’ve eased the pressure of any expectations,” says outside hitter Reid Priddy, a two-time Olympian who played a huge role in the gold-medal performance in Beijing. “We’ve really struggled and had a lot of growing pains. But as much as we all wanted to win after 2008 and keep it going, I’ll take timing this just right and going on an Olympic run. That’s our focus.”
SET FOR LONDON: Donald Suxho has Olympic Games experience. (Photo: Don Liebig)
Setting the standard In fairness, circumstances have played a significant role in less-than-desired results, including an assortment of injuries, sick- nesses and departures to overseas club teams. The setter position is a great example of how the roster has revolved. Last summer, four players were still very much being considered to run the offense: Donald Suxho (Albania; University of Southern California), Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.; Stanford), Brian Thornton (San Clemente, Calif.; University of California-Irvine) and Jonathan Winder (Irvine, Calif.; Pepperdine). “It has been a merry-go-round of setters,” U.S. assistant coach Gary Sato says. “We’ve had to ask, ‘Who’s healthy? Who’s available? Who’s in the country? Who’s playing well?’” The coaches appear to have found their answer in Suxho, who started at NORCECA and is the projected Olympic starter. He was a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team at Athens, and then-coach Doug Beal subbed him in during a crucial quarterfinal match against Greece in which the U.S. was trailing 2-1 in sets and 20-12 in the fourth game. Suxho gave the team a huge lift, which led to one of the great comebacks in the program’s
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