Micah Makanamaikalani Christenson (born May 8, 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 Sum ...

player. He is part of the US national team, and is 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 vari ...

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, the 2014 World League and the 2015 World Cup winner. At the professional club level, he plays for Zenit Kazan.

Personal life

Christenson was born in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

to Robert and Charlene Christenson. His parents both attended the

University of Hawaii at Hilo A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, where his father, Robert, played basketball and his mother, Charlene, won three volleyball national championships and was named a two-time All-American. His sister, Joanna, played volleyball at

Southern Utah University Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...

. Christenson began playing club volleyball in 2005 with Asics Quicksilver; he also played basketball and was two time Gatorade Player of the year in Hawai'i. Christenson is married to Brooke Christenson. They have two sons together. Christenson is a Christian.

Career

Christenson was a basketball and volleyball player for Kamehameha Schools Kapālama in Honolulu, graduating in 2011. He led his teams to three state championship titles (basketball in 2009 and 2011, and volleyball in 2011) and played in six state championship games. He attended the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

and played for the

USC Trojans men's volleyball USC Trojans men's volleyball is a collegiate volleyball team that represents the University of Southern California (USC). The team participates as a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), an athletic conference in Division I of ...

team. He was a starter on the U.S. Junior National Team that won a gold medal in the 2010 NORCECA Junior Championship in Canada and also played the FIVB 2009 Boy's Youth World Championship in Italy. In 2011 he played for the U.S. Junior National Team during the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship in Brazil where the team placed fourth. He captained the U.S. Junior National Team to win a gold medal at the 2012 NORCECA Men's Junior Continental Championship in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. He was supposed to play on the 2013 U.S. Men’s Junior National Team but got called up to the senior team instead. He debuted with the U.S. national team at the NORCECA Championship, which

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

won; Christenson was named ''Best Server'' and ''Best Setter'' in this tournament. He also competed in the 2013 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup. In 2014 he won the gold medal at the World League, held in Florence, Italy. He began senior-level competition at age 20. He is the youngest starting setter to ever compete for the U.S. on a national team for both junior level and senior level.''Micah Christenson wins Lloyd Ball Award''
– dailytrojan.com – 2015-04-28 At club level, he played on the team that won 2016-2017 Superlega, Italy's top championship, with Cucine Lube Civitanova. As of 2021, he signed a two-year contract to play in the Russian club, Zenit Kazan. Suffering only one loss in the entirety of the 2020 Russian SuperLeague in their first match against Dynamo Moscow , Kazan was able to win the first season of the Superleague.

Honours

Clubs

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 ...

2017/2018 – with Cucine Lube Civitanova * FIVB Club World Championship ** Silver medal world centered-2

Poland 2017 – with Cucine Lube Civitanova * National championships ** 2016/2017 Simple gold cup

Italian Cup, with Cucine Lube Civitanova ** 2016/2017 Gold medal with cup

Italian Championship, with Cucine Lube Civitanova ** 2018/2019 Simple gold cup

Italian Supercup, with

Modena Volley Modena Volley is a professional volleyball team based in Modena, Italy. It has played in the highest level of the Italian Volleyball League without interruption since 1968. It is the most successful Italian club, having won the national league tw ...

** 2021/2022 Simple gold cup

Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan

Individual awards

* 2013: NORCECA Championship – Best Setter * 2013: NORCECA Championship – Best Server * 2015: FIVB World Cup – Best Setter * 2017: NORCECA Championship – Most Valuable Player * 2018: FIVB World Championship – Best Setter * 2019: FIVB Nations League – Best Setter * 2019: FIVB World Cup – Best Setter * 2022: FIVB Nations League – Best Setter

References

External links

Player profile
at ''TeamUSA.org'' *
Player profile
at ''LegaVolley.it'' * *
Player profile
at ''Volleybox.net'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Christenson, Micah 1993 births Living people Volleyball players from Honolulu Kamehameha Schools alumni American men's volleyball players Olympic volleyball players of the United States Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in volleyball American expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate volleyball players in Italy American expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate volleyball players in Russia USC Trojans men's volleyball players Volley Lube players Modena Volley players VC Zenit Kazan players Setters (volleyball)