COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (August 18, 2025) – USA Volleyball announces the 12 athletes on the 2025 Men’s U21 National Team who are headed to Jiangmen, China, for the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship, Aug. 20-31.

The team begins play Aug. 20 (Aug. 21 in China) against Thailand at 8 p.m. PT. Later pool play matches will be against Türkiye, Egypt, China and Morocco. Watch with a subscription to VBTV.

All athlete on the 2025 team have previous U.S. national team experience:

  • Sterling Foley, Jackson Cryst, Cole Hartke, Trent Taliaferro,  Sean Kelly and Tread Rosenthal were all on the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship team that won gold in 2024. Foley was named MVP and First Best Spiker at the tournament; Cryst was First Best Blocker. The gold medal qualified the team for this year’s World Championship.
  • Sebastiano Sani, Tre Jordan, Kellen Larson, Kainoa Wade, Riggs Guy and Micah Goss all won gold at the 2025 Men’s U21 Pan Am Cup earlier this month.
  • Jordan, Larson and Wade were all part of the 2024 Men’s U21 National Team although they did not compete at the Continental Championship.
  • Larson, Taliaferro, Foley, Kelly, Sani and Rosenthal all played on the 2023 Boys U19 Team that had the program’s best-ever finish at the U19 World Championship (fourth). Hartke was also on the 2023 Boys U19 Team but did not compete at Worlds.

UCLA head coach John Hawks, who led the U21 team to gold at the Pan Am Cup, is also coaching the Worlds team.

2025 Men’s U21 National Team World Championship Roster

Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, School/Club, USAV Region)

1 Kellen Larson (L, 5-9, Irvine, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
3 Cole Hartke (OPP, 6-11, Barrington, Ill., Pepperdine, Great Lakes)
7 Trent Taliaferro (S, 6-5, San Clemente, Calif., UCLA, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
9 Tre Jordan (MB, 6-10, Mesa, Ariz., Univ. of Hawaii, Arizona)
12 Sterling Foley (OH, 6-6, Los Angeles, Calif., Univ. of Southern California, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
13 Sean Kelly (OH, 6-7, Manhattan Beach, Calif., UCLA, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
16 Tread Rosenthal (S, 6-10, Hermosa Beach, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
17 Riggs Guy (OH, 6-3, Newport Beach, Calif., UC Santa Barbara, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
18 Kainoa Wade (OPP, 6-10, Kailua, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii, Aloha Region)
21 Jackson Cryst (MB, 6-10, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
22 Sebastiano Sani (OH, 6-8, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Long Beach State, Chesapeake)
23 Micah Goss (MB, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Irvine, Southern California/Southern Nevada)

Coaches
Head Coach: John Hawks (UCLA)
Assistant Coach: Donan Cruz
Assistant Coach: Matthew Pollock (Pepperdine)
Performance Analyst: Alex Hurlburt (The Volleyball institute)
Athletic Trainer: Rachel Menze (Pepperdine)
Team Lead: Donovan Martinez (NTDP)

Schedule

All times PT
Aug. 20: USA vs. Thailand, 8 p.m.
Aug. 21: USA vs. Türkiye, 11 p.m.
Aug. 22: USA vs. vs. Egypt, 8 p.m.
Aug. 24: USA vs. China, 11 p.m.
Aug. 25: USA vs. Morocco, 11 p.m.
Aug. 26: Round of 16
Aug. 29: Quarterfinals
Aug. 30: Semifinals
Aug. 31: Medal matches