A quarter of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Men’s Volleyball Team who will compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, are from Hawaii.
Kamehameha and Southern California alum Micah Christenson will be joined by Stanford alums Kawika Shoji (‘Iolani) and Erik Shoji (Punahou) on the 12-member team that will open play August 7 against Canada.
According to a press release from USA Volleyball, the average age of the team is 27.8 and there are nine players younger than 30 on the roster, including all three from Hawaii.
Head coach John Speraw cited a lack of experiences as one of the team’s greatest challenges.
“The goal is to make sure we are the best team we can be in Rio,” Speraw said. “In order for us to achieve our goal, we are going to need one of the greatest collective efforts in USAV history. We don’t have the experience that past teams have had. For us to go through this is going to require all of us to be at our very best.”
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