COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Eight past and current members of The Big West men’s volleyball programs are competing with the United States national team during this summer’s edition of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL).

USA Volleyball revealed its 25-player U.S. men’s national team roster for the 2022 VNL back on May 13. That initial group included former Long Beach State standouts TJ DeFalco, Kyle Ensing and Josh Tuaniga, Hawai’i great Patrick Gasman, former UC Irvine stars Kyle Russell and David Smith, and current Beach student-athletes Mason Briggs and Spencer Olivier.

Fourteen players from that 25-player list are chosen for each week’s travel roster. Team USA went 4-0 to open the VNL Preliminary Round in Brasilia, Brazil, June 7-11, defeating Slovenia (3-0), the Netherlands (3-0) and Japan (3-2) before rallying from a 1-0 deficit to upset host and world No. 1 Brazil (3-1) on Saturday, June 11. Briggs, Ensing, Gasman, Smith and Tuaniga were present for those contests.

The first-place Americans are in Sofia, Bulgaria, this week to face Serbia (2-2), Iran (2-2), Bulgaria (0-4) and Poland (3-1), June 22-26. DeFalco, Ensing, Russell, Smith and Tuaniga are part of that 14-man squad. Tuaniga is third among all VNL setters with 129 “successful” sets. Russell, an opposite, last played for Team USA in the 2019 VNL and NORCECA Championship.

DeFalco, Ensing and Smith are among eight players on the roster who return from the team that competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. Russell and Tuaniga also have prior VNL experience. Briggs, Gasman and Olivier are VNL newcomers, with Briggs and Olivier among six who plan to return to their college campuses in the fall.

Gasman is the only four-time All-Big West First Team selection (2018-21), with the league having begun its sponsorship of men’s volleyball in 2018. He helped guide the Rainbow Warriors to their first national crown as a sixth-year senior middle blocker in 2021. DeFalco, Ensing and Tuaniga were all also first-teamers in 2018 and 2019, with Ensing The Big West Player of the Year in 2019, and DeFalco the very first Player of the Year in 2018. DeFalco was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II National Player of the Year in 2017 and 2019, with Tuaniga the choice in between in 2018. That outstanding trio, all hailing from Southern California, led Long Beach State to back-to-back national championships in 2018 and 2019.

Briggs and Olivier were members of the 2022 Big West regular-season champion, Big West Championship runner-up and national runner-up LBSU squad. Briggs made the All-Big West First Team as a libero, while Olivier picked up honorable mention. Those awards were reversed in 2021. Each player also garnered an honorable mention in 2020, with Briggs voted The Big West Co-Freshman of the Year. Olivier redshirted as the Beach won it all in 2018, and appeared in four matches when they pulled off the repeat the following season.

Smith played at UC Irvine from 2004-07, directing the Anteaters to a national title as a senior before earning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Russell competed as an ‘Eater from 2012-16, and was a national champion as a redshirt in 2012 and redshirt freshman in 2013.

Following this week’s action, Team USA will be in Osaka, Japan, July 4-9. The men’s VNL Final Round will be July 20-24 in Bologna, Italy. All matches are shown on VolleyballWorld.tv. The team is led for the 10th year by UCLA head coach John Speraw, who moved to his alma mater after guiding UC Irvine to national titles in 2007, 2009 and 2012. The U.S. men are up a spot to No. 6 in the world after their performance in Brazil. They placed seventh in the 2021 VNL, and second in 2019.