U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team Update

Volleyball Nations League Recap – all matches played at Rimini, Italy
 
The U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team did not advance after a seventh-place finish and 8-7 record in the preliminary rounds of the Volleyball Nations League and will now head home to prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games which begin July 23. Bruins Garrett Muagututia (UCLA 2007-10) and Mitch Stahl (UCLA 2014-17) each were solid contributors to the U.S. effort during the VNL event. UCLA head coach John Speraw is the head coach of the U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team.

VNL Match Summaries
June 23  –
USA d. Japan 25-21, 25-23, 25-20
Garrett Muagututia saw action at OH and had 12 kills, 4 digs
Mitch Stahl did not record stats
 
June 22 –
USA d. Bulgaria 25-19, 26-24, 25-9
Mitch Stahl saw action at MB and had 3 kills, 1 block, 3 aces
Garrett Muagututia saw action at OH and totaled 13 kills, 6 digs
 
June 21 –
Slovenia d. USA 28-30, 25-19, 21-25, 28-26, 15-13
Garrett Muagututia saw action at OH and had 1 ace, 1 dig
Mitch Stahl played at MB and had 4 kills, 1 ace

June 17 –
USA d. Netherlands 21-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-15, 15-13
Garrett Muagututia played at OH and recorded 17 kills, 3 aces, 7 digs
Mitch Stahl saw action at MB and had 7 kills, 3 blocks, 1 ace, 4 digs
 
June 16 –
France d. USA 25-23, 22-25, 31-29, 25-22
Mitch Stahl played at MB and tallied 6 kills, 3 blocks, 1 ace, 4 digs
Garrett Muagututia did not record stats
 
June 15 -
USA d. Italy 25-15, 25-18, 25-21
Garrett Muagututia did not record stats
Mitch Stahl saw action at MB and had 1 kill, 2 aces, 1 dig
 
June 11 –
Serbia d. USA 25-23, 25-17, 19-25, 27-25
Mitch Stahl did not record stats
Garrett Muagututia played at OH and totaled 4 kills, 1 block, 2 digs
 
June 10 –
USA d. Germany 25-12, 25-18, 29-27
Mitch Stahl played at MB and had 5 kills, 1 block, 3 digs
Garrett Muagututia played OH and recorded 9 kills, 1 block, 1 ace, 3 digs
 
June 9 –
Iran d. USA 25-19, 25-23, 25-23
Mitch Stahl did not record stats
Garrett Muagututia played at OH and registered 11 kills, 1 block, 9 digs
 
Quoting U.S. Head Coach John Speraw:
"It's been a great tournament," Speraw said. "I think we've learned a lot about our team. We've learned a lot about what we need to do over the next couple weeks to get better before Tokyo, one of them is to get healthy too. This tournament was good for us to evaluate our Olympic roster decisions and of course get together again after being apart for two years. I think the VNL was a great tournament for Team USA."

"Go home, rest a little bit, the guys need it," Speraw said. "See some family, that's really important for all of us. Then we have a long list: serve, pass, block , dig, hit, set, there's a lot that we all think about as coaches. We'll go back and have some really good staff meetings and put a list together. We're going to have 10 total practices before we leave for Tokyo, so you have to pick the priorities and try to make those priorities as good as you can and just go compete."

VNL Team Standings (based on points) after preliminary rounds:
1 – Brazil-38
2 – Poland-37
3 – Slovenia-34
4 – France-34
5 – Russia-34
6 – Serbia-28
7 – USA-24
8 – Canada-21
9 – Argentina-20
10 – Italy-19
11 – Japan-19
12 – Iran-18
13 – Germany-14
14 – Netherlands-11
15 – Bulgaria-7
16 – Australia-2