COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 9, 2015) – The U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team, the 2014 FIVB World League champion, will begin defense of the title in Southern California and Hoffman Estates, Ill., this summer.
USA Volleyball will host Iran at the Galen Center in Los Angeles (May 30-31), Russia at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif. (June 5-6), and Poland at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. (June 12-13).
Galen Center Tickets | Walter Pyramid Tickets | USAV World League Page | FIVB World League Page
Tickets are on sale now for both Southern California matches. Individual tickets for the matches in Hoffman Estates will go on sale March 9. Group sales for Hoffman Estates are available now by calling (847) 649-2451.
“Certainly we’re excited that we can have two weekends in Southern California,” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw said. “The travel demands of World League are challenging to the team, so the fact that we can play at home two weekends is great for our guys and their families.
“We enjoy going to Chicago. We get great crowds. This time we hope it is more American than Polish. We need to battle the energy that the Polish fans bring no matter where they are in the world.”
The FIVB World League is an elite annual men’s volleyball competition in which the best teams in the world compete in pool play over six weeks trying to qualify for the Final Round and a first-place prize of $1 million. Teams play six matches in their own country and then six matches in their opponents’ countries.
The top two teams from the top two pools advance to the Final Round (July 15-19) along with the host country and one team from the other six pools.
In 2014, the United States won the second World League title in the history of the program. Outside hitter Taylor Sander (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was named the Most Valuable Player and Best Spiker and David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) was named Best Blocker. Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) led all World League scorers in pool play. The United States also won the 2008 World League, finished second in 2012 and third in 2007 and 1992.
The U.S. Men, ranked No. 5 in the world by the FIVB, played Russia at the Pyramid and Bulgaria at Sears Centre Arena in 2014. They also played Iran at the Galen Center during the 2014 USAV Cup.
Russia is ranked No. 2 in the world, Poland is No. 3 and Iran is No. 10. Poland won the 2015 FIVB World Championship where Russia placed fifth, Iran sixth and the United States seventh.
Russia is the defending Olympic champion.
To see the full schedule, click here.