Name: Aaron Russell
Position: Outside Hitter
Sport: Volleyball
Discipline(s): Volleyball
Height: 6-9 (205cm)
Weight: 225 (98kg)
Birthplace: Baltimore, Md.
Hometown: Ellicott City, Md.
High School: Centennial High School
College: Penn State (2015)
Olympic Experience
  • 2016 Olympic Games (bronze medal; named to Men's Volleyball Dream Team)
World Championship Experience
  • 2018 World Championship (bronze medal)
Other Career Highlights
  • Named USAV 2019 Co-Player of the Year with Matt Anderson; Russell was the U.S. Men's 2nd leading scorer for the season and helped them qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games
  • Named Best Spiker at the 2014 NORCECA World Championship Qualifier where he made his national team debut
  • Started 27 sets at the 2016 Olympic Games and finished third among all players in kills with 96 kills and 30 errors on 197 attempts (.335 hitting efficiency). He finished fifth among all scorers with 107 points on 96 kills, seven blocks and four aces.
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  • DID YOU KNOW?
  • Named MVP of the 2018 FIVB Club World Championship as he led Italy's Trentino to the title
  • Helped the U.S. Men win bronze at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League and the World Championship
  • Named Best Spiker as the U.S. Men won gold at the 2017 NORCECA Continental Championship
  • In 2015, won the inaugural Karch Kiraly Award, presented by Off the Block blog, as the best outside attacker in NCAA DI-II men's volleyball
  • Helped Penn State reach the 2013, 2014 and 2015 NCAA Men’s DI-II National Championship tournaments
  • Named 2014 and 2015 AVCA First Team All-American and 2013, '14 and '15 Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA Player of the Year
  • A member of the 2013 Men’s Junior National Team that competed at the FIVB U21 World Championship
  • A member of the 2011 Boys’ Youth National Team that won a bronze medal at the U19 Pan American Cup; scored a team-best 45 points
  • A member of the 2010 Boys' Youth National Team that finished second at the NORCECA U19 Championship. Russell was named best blocker
  • Was a top soccer player for Centennial High in Ellicott City, Md. The school did not have a volleyball team. He helped the girls’ team train
  • Played club volleyball for the Maryland Volleyball Club under Olympic gold medalist Aldis Berzins. Credits Berzins, Ric Lucas and his father for helping him succeed in the sport
  • Began playing both beach and indoor volleyball in 2008
Personal: Parents are Stewart and Marian Russell. ... Born in 1993... Is the second-oldest of five brothers. The other brothers are Peter (1992), Samuel (1995), Tim (1999) and Paul (2002)... Peter also plays volleyball professionally... Aaron married Kendall Pierce in 2017. She was part of Penn State's women's volleyball team from 2012-15... Trained with the girls volleyball team at his high school because it did not have a boys' volleyball team
More

THE BIG BLURB
"There are some similarities. They both move similarly, they follow the same path. Matty played middle in high school, then moved to outside. They both have the ability adapt to whatever role the team needed of them." – Penn State Head Coach Mark Pavlik comparing Aaron Russell and Matt Anderson

The Quote
“It was relieving. And the way we did it too, winning World Cup… that whole summer our main goal was to win so we can accomplish that and also qualify for the Olympics. So after we did that, I mean it was definitely a great moment for us and it was a difficult tournament, too. I think we really discovered how good we are and how good we can be.” - Aaron Russell on qualifying for the Olympic Games

RELATED LINKS
Ellicott City's Russell Russell Preparing for Olympics with USA Volleyball – The Baltimore Sun
Aaron Russell Stands out at World Cup – USA Volleyball
Aaron Russell can’t play high school volleyball – The Washington Post