US Men’s National team roster revealed
As the 2011 FIVB Men’s World League is coming up in May, the participating countries are going through the phase of assembling their teams.
The USA Volleyball (USAV) has announced a 25-man roster for the men’s national team for the World League competition.
The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World League is set to take place from May 27 to July 3, while 16 national teams of different countries will be on board to show their thirst for victory.
The US team is a strong contender in the competition. In the previous edition of the FIVB World League, the US team finished sixth but this year they have firm ambition to go higher in the rankings.
The USAV is trying to make a team of best players. Initially, the names of 25 players have been short-listed, which include two liberos.
In the next step of the procedure, five players will be dropped, while the best 20 will move forward. The search for the best players will go on and finally a team of 12-14 players will be announced prior to the official start of World League.
The names of the 25 players, who have been finalized so far, are as follows:
Matt Anderson
Carson Clark
Gabe Gardner
Kevin Hansen
Andy Hein
Russell Holmes
Jayson Jablonsky
Rich Lambourne
David Lee
Paul Lotman
Ryan Millar
Evan Patak
Jonathan Winder
Tyler Hildebrand
Max Holt
Reid Priddy
Sean Rooney
Kawika Shoji
David Smith
Clay Stanley
Donald Suxho
Robert Tarr
Brian Thornton
Scott Touzinsky
Dustin Watten
The US Men’s squad has the support of Head Coach Alan Knipe, who has big plans for the upcoming competition. He wants his team to earn qualification for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Hence, this is extremely important that they pick up a team of only the best players.
In the current US team roster, nine players return from the 2008 Olympic gold-medal team. Out of 9 players, the most highlighted player is opposite Gabe Gardner. The 2008 Olympic Games was his last appearance under the flag of USA.
However, Gardner remained part of Russian and Italian club teams since 2008. The head coach of the US team is happy to have him back in the team. He has a lot of faith that Gabe will show his extraordinary skills on the centre court and will help USA shine.
Speaking of Gabe, the coach Alan Knipe stated:
“Gabe’s a real good volleyball player. I don’t think Gabe was ever fully retired in his mind. We definitely could fill some gaps in that position. Hopefully he will provide us with some different looks. There’s a lot of competition at that spot and that is good for our team”.
The US team has four internationally renowned opposites, six setters, seven outside hitters, six middle blockers and two liberos. The final team roster will be announced soon.
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