Aaron Russell
Personal information
Full name	Aaron Joseph Russell
Nickname	Ronnie Ron
Nationality	American
Born	(1993-06-04) June 4, 1993 (age 30) Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Hometown	Ellicott City, Maryland, United States
Height	6 ft 9 in (2.05 m)
Weight	216 lb (98 kg)
Spike	140 in (360 cm)
Block	130 in (340 cm)
College / University	Pennsylvania State University
Volleyball information
Position	Outside hitter
Current club	JT Thunders
Number	6
Career
Years Teams 2012–2015 2015–2018 2018–2020 2020–2022 2022–2024 Penn State Nittany Lions Sir Safety Perugia Itas Trentino Gas Sales Piacenza JT Thunders
National team
2014–   United States
Honours Men's volleyball Representing   United States Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro FIVB World Championship 2018 Italy/Bulgaria FIVB World Cup 2015 Japan 2023 Japan 2019 Japan FIVB Nations League 2019 Chicago 2022 Bologna 2023 Gdańsk 2018 Lille FIVB World League 2015 Rio de Janeiro NORCECA Championship 2017 Colorado Springs 2023 Charleston

Aaron Joseph Russell (born June 4, 1993) is an American professional volleyball player who plays as an outside hitter for JT Thunders and the U.S. national team. He was a bronze medalist at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and the 2018 World Championship.

Personal life

Aaron Russell grew up in Ellicott City, Maryland, 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. 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. ^[1]

In 2016, Russell took part in his first Olympic Games 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, 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
  • 2016–17 – with Sir Sicoma Colussi Perugia

• FIVB Club World Championship
  • Poland 2018 – with Trentino Volley

• CEV Cup
  • 2018–19 – with Diatec Trentino

• Domestic
  • 2017–18 Italian SuperCup, with Sir Safety Conad Perugia
  • 2017–18 Italian Cup, with Sir Safety Conad Perugia
  • 2017–18 Italian Championship, with Sir Safety Conad Perugia

Individual awards

• 2016: Olympic Games – 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

See also

• List of Pennsylvania State University Olympians

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aaron Russell.

• Player profile at the European Volleyball Confederation
• Player profile at Olympics.com
• Player profile at Olympedia
• Player profile at TeamUSA.org
• Player profile at LegaVolley.it (in Italian)
• Player profile at Volleybox.net

Awards
Preceded by First award	Best Outside Spiker of Olympic Games 2016 ex aequo Ricardo Lucarelli	Succeeded by Earvin N'Gapeth Egor Kliuka
Preceded by Osmany Juantorena	Most Valuable Player of FIVB Club World Championship 2018	Succeeded by Bruno Rezende