Wheaton’s Rooney on U.S. volleyball roster

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team has announced its 25-player roster for the 2012 FIVB World League, and Wheaton standout Sean Rooney is on the roster.

The team can choose 14 players from the 25-player roster to compete in each of the 2012 FIVB World League weekends. Different rosters can be selected for each weekend and the final round.

The 6-foot-9 Rooney is one of nine outside hitters on the roster, along with five middle blockers, five setters, four opposites, plus two liberos.

“I feel really good about the players on our World League roster,” U.S. men’s head coach Aland Knipe said. “Most of them had very successful seasons overseas and will be bringing confidence and lessons learned back to our gym with them.

“While Olympic qualifying is our most important goal for the first part of this season, World League will be a very important tournament for us as well.”

The U.S. men’s and women’s national team trains in Anaheim, Calif.

For the first time in the tournament’s history, the FIVB World League Intercontinental (pool play) Round, still featuring 16 teams across four pools, will be played over four weekends with each country hosting all four teams in their respective pool on one weekend each. This change is due to the timing of the 2012 Olympic Games.

The four pool winners, plus the best second-place team and host Bulgaria will advance to the Final Round on July 4-8 in Sofia.

The United States will host Italy, France and Korea at the Dallas Convention Center Arena on June 29-July 1.

Here is the U.S. Roster

No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)

1. Matt Anderson (OH, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)

2. Sean Rooney (OH, 6-9, Wheaton, Ill., Pepperdine)

3. Evan Patak (Opp, 6-8, Pleasanton, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)

4. David Lee (MB, 6-8, Alpine, Calif., Long Beach State)

5. Rich Lambourne (L, 6-3, Tustin, Calif., BYU)

6. Paul Lotman (OH, 6-7, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)

7. Donald Suxho (S, 6-5, Korce, Albania, USC)

8. Reid Priddy (OH, 6-5, Richmond, Va., Loyola Marymount)

9. Ryan Millar (MB, 6-8, Alpine, Utah, BYU)

10. Riley Salmon (L, 6-6, League City, Texas, Pierce College)

11. Brian Thornton (S, 6-3, San Clemente, Calif., UC Irvine)

12. Russell Holmes (MB, 6-8, Fountain Valley, Calif., BYU)

13. Clay Stanley (OPP, 6-9, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Hawaii)

14. Kevin Hansen (S, 6-5, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford)

15. Gabe Gardner (Opp, 6-8, San Clemente, Calif., Stanford)

16. Jayson Jablonsky (OH, 6-5, Yorba Linda, Calif., UC Irvine)

17. Max Holt (MB, 6-9, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State)

18. Scott Touzinsky (OH, 6-6, St. Louis, Mo., Long Beach State)

19. Robert Tarr (OH, 6-6, Cape Canaveral, Fla., Long Beach State)

20. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)

21. David McKienzie (Opp, 6-4, Littleton, Colo., Long Beach State)

22. Taylor Sander (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., BYU)

23. Jeff Menzel (OH, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)

24. Kawika Shoji (S, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)

25. Jonathan Winder (S, 6-8, Irvine, Calif., Pepperdine)