Tyler Joseph Mitchem (born May 24, 1998) is an American indoor volleyball player plays as a middle blocker on the

United States men's national volleyball team The United States men's national volleyball team represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. The team is governed by USA Volleyball. The team has won five Olympic medals, including three gold. History As the birth ...

. On club level, he plays for Le Plessis-Robinson Volley-ball in France.

Personal life

Mitchem is a native of

Bolingbrook, Illinois The village of Bolingbrook is a southwest suburb of Chicago in Will and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 73,922. As of 2010, it is the 17th largest incorporated place in Illinois and the sta ...

and is a high school graduate of

Bolingbrook High School Bolingbrook High School or The Brook is a public four-year high school located in Bolingbrook, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Bolingbrook High School is the second high school in the Valley View Community U ...

. His mother, Jackie, played basketball at

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

, and his father James played basketball at DePaul, helping the team reach the 1979 NCAA Final Four.

Career

Lewis

Mitchem played for the Lewis Flyers volleyball team from 2017–2022. After redshirting his freshman season in 2017, he played for 4 seasons over 5 years, as he used his extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA during the COVID-19 pandemic (the 2020 season was cancelled due to the pandemic). He was named an AVCA All-American second team in 2019 and was a first team selection his 3 final seasons. In 2019, Mitchem led the NCAA in hitting percentage with a .504% and helped Lewis to the 2019 Division I/II NCAA Final Four, where they lost to Hawai'i in the semifinals. In 2021, he helped Lewis to the 2021 Division I/II NCAA Final Four and was named to the All-Tournament Team, after recording 10 kills and 6 blocks in Lewis' semifinal loss versus

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

. In 2022, he tallied a .447 Hitting %, and had 122 Blocks, averaging 1.341 blocks per set. He also garnered multiple other awards in 2022 from ''Off The Block'', including the National Blocker of the Year, the Dain Blanton Diversity Award winner, the Division II National Player of the Year and the Ryan Millar award. Mitchem's 1.34 blocks per set was 3rd in the nation between Division I/II players.

Professional clubs

* Le Plessis-Robinson Volley-ball ( fr) (2022–) On June 4, 2022, Mitchem announced on his Instagram account that he would play his first professional season in France for the 2022–2023 season, with Le Plessis-Robinson club.

National team

Mitchem made his U.S. national team debut in 2021. He participated in the 2021 Men's Pan-American Volleyball Cup and won a bronze medal with the team. In the 2022 FIVB Nations League, Mitchem played in matches versus the Netherlands, Brazil, and Iran, recording 16 total points throughout all matches. He was named to the final roster and though did not see any playing team in the finals week matches, won a silver medal with the team.