Aaron Joseph Russell (born June 4, 1993) is an American professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player who plays as an outside hitter for

JT Thunders is a men's volleyball team based in Hiroshima city, Hiroshima, Japan. It plays in V.Premier League. The owner of the club is Japan Tobacco. History The club was founded in 1931 as a club of the Ministry of Finance Japan Hiroshima Monopoly ...

and the U.S. national team. He was a bronze medalist at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Rio 2016 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and the 2018 World Championship.

Personal life

Aaron Russell grew up in

Ellicott City, Maryland Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the 2010 census, making it the mo ...

, U.S. His parents are Stewart and Marian Russell. Aaron was born the second of five boys. The other brothers are Peter (1992), Samuel (1995), Tim (1999) and Paul (2002). Peter also plays volleyball professionally. Russell was a top soccer player for Centennial High School in Maryland. The school did not have a boys’ volleyball team so he helped the girls’ team train while playing club volleyball at MVP (Maryland Volleyball Program). In 2015, he graduated from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. On July 30, 2017, he married former Penn State women's volleyball player Kendall Pierce, his college sweetheart.

Career

In 2015, he completed his volleyball career at Penn State, where he was named an AVCA First Team All–American in 2014 and 2015. All four years he helped Penn State reach the NCAA men's championship semifinals. Russell was a member of the Boys’ Youth Team in 2010 and 2011 and a member of the Men's Junior National Team in 2013. He made his debut with the senior national team in 2014. In 2015, he joined his first professional team,

Sir Safety Perugia Sir Safety Umbria Volley is a professional Italian volleyball club based in Perugia. It plays in the highest level of the Italian Volleyball League. In the Italian Volleyball League, the team is known as Sir Safety Susa Perugia, while in the inter ...

. In 2016, Russell took part in his first

as a member of the United States Olympic team and won a bronze medal when the U.S. beat Russia in five sets. Russell was named one of the Best Outside Spikers of the tournament. In June 2018, after 3 years spent playing for Perugia, Russell signed for another Italian team, Diatec Trentino. At the 2018 Club World Championship held in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, he was named the Most Valuable Player for his contribution to Diatec Trentino's 5th gold medal, the most by any club team in the history of the tournament.

Honors

Club

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

2016–17 – with Sir Sicoma Colussi Perugia * FIVB Club World Championship ** Gold medal world centered-2

Poland 2018 – with

Trentino Volley Trentino Volley is a professional Italian volleyball team based in Trento, in northern Italy. It plays in the Italian Volleyball League without interruption since 2000. It has won four times the Italian Volleyball League, the Italian Cup, the Ita ...

CEV Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 it was renamed CE ...

2018–19 – with Diatec Trentino * National championships ** 2017–18 Simple gold cup

Italian SuperCup, with Sir Safety Conad Perugia ** 2017–18 Simple gold cup

Italian Cup, with Sir Safety Conad Perugia ** 2017–18 Gold medal with cup

Italian Championship, with Sir Safety Conad Perugia

Individual awards

* 2016:

– Best outside spiker * 2017: NORCECA Championship – Best outside spiker * 2017: Italian SuperCup – Most valuable player * 2018: FIVB Club World Championship – Most valuable player * 2023: V.League Division 1 – Best server

College

* AVCA First Team All–American – 2014, 2015 * NCAA Championship All–Tournament Team – 2015 * Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA Player of the Year – 2013, 2014, 2015 * EIVA First Team All–Conference – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 * EIVA Championship Most Outstanding Player – 2013, 2015 * EIVA Championship All–Tournament Team – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

References

External links

* * *
Player profile
at ''TeamUSA.org''
Player profile
at ''LegaVolley.it''
Player profile
at ''Volleybox.net'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Aaron 1993 births Living people People from Ellicott City, Maryland Sportspeople from Howard County, Maryland American men's volleyball players Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in volleyball Olympic medalists in volleyball American expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate volleyball players in Italy American expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate volleyball players in Japan Penn State Nittany Lions men's volleyball players Trentino Volley players Outside hitters