Four Cougars named to Team USA preliminary roster

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Four former BYU men’s volleyball players have been selected on the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 26-man preliminary roster for the inaugural 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL), USA Volleyball announced this week.

Former players Taylor Sander, Ben Patch and Jake Langlois were added to the roster along with recent graduate Brenden Sander.

Additionally, former Cougar assistant coach Rob Neilson will be an assistant coach for the squad.

The roster will be cut to 21 by May 15. Coaches can choose the 14-man travel team each weekend from the pool of 21.

This is the first year of the Volleyball Nations League, which will include 12 core teams and four challenger teams battling for five weekends in a round-robin format. The top five teams and the host country of France will compete in the Final Round from July 4-8 in Lille, France.

The U.S. Men are ranked No. 2 in the world and will host the VNL from June 15-17 at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Schedule

May 25-27: China, Bulgaria, Argentina in China                                                              
June 1-3: Brazil, Japan Korea in Brazil                                                                   
June 8-10: Canada, Germany, Australia in Canada                                                                          
June 15-17: Serbia, Poland, Iran in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
June 22-24: Italy, Russia, France in Italy   

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)

Head Coach: John Speraw
Team Manager: Andrea Becker
Assistant Coaches: Rob Neilson and Brian Thornton
Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
Team Doctor: William Stetson