Ellicott City's Russell to Start in World Championships

Ellicott City's Aaron Russell is one of the best young volleyball players in the country.

This week he's in Turkey as a member of the U.S. men's junior national team, which begins a quest for a world championship on Thursday.

Russell, a Centennial graduate, stands at 6-foot-8, and plays outside hitter—a position that requires a strong vertical leap and the ability to spike the ball with ferocity. He hopes he can help lead the U.S. to a medal at the world championships, but he said he never dreamed he'd have this opportunity.

"I never really considered that I'd play internationally," said Russell. "Even in college I thought I would be like my dad."

Russell comes from a volleyball family. His older brother, Peter, plays on the team with him at Penn State University. His father, Stewart, also played volleyball for Penn State.

"When I was a baby, our parents would hang a net across our kitchen floor and we would play balloon volleyball there," said Russell.

But it wasn't just his family that taught Russell the game. Stewart's friend and beach volleyball partner Ric Lucas lives across the street from the Russell family. Lucas has two sons who are about the same age as Aaron and his brother Peter. Together they grew up playing volleyball.

"Growing up, Mr. Lucas and my dad would teach us the basic skills and techniques," said Russell.

Russell said he remembers the Lucas boys, his brother and him playing against women's teams when they were in grade school. At tournaments, the boys would take opportunities to play on open nets in between games, hitting volleyballs back and forth.

Russell said he really started taking volleyball seriously in 2008, after his brother joined the Maryland Volleyball Program. The Lucas boys also played on the team. "It looked like a lot of fun," said Russell.

In high school, Russell never had the opportunity to represent Centennial on the court because Howard County high schools don't have men's volleyball programs.

Instead, he played goalie for the varsity soccer team, eventually being selected to all-county teams his junior and senior years.

Russell said he and his friends would ask school administrators why there wasn't a men's program and they would say there weren't enough schools interested.

John Davis, Howard County school's athletic director, said the reason there are no men's programs in the county is due to Title IX restrictions, which mandate proportional resources for men's and women's sports.

"We are compliant with Title IX right now," said Davis. "If we were to add another boy's sport we would be out of compliance."

Davis added, "We don't have enough money right now to support a new sport. I don't see that changing in the near future."

Russell shrugged off not being able to play in high school. He said with his brother Peter and the Lucas boys on the team it would have probably been unfair to other schools. Instead, he concentrated on his club team where he played as a middle blocker—a position typically reserved for the tallest person on the team.

In 2010, Russell was named the best blocker at the 2010 NORECA U-19 Continental Championship in Mexico. In that tournament, the U.S. youth team finished second, falling to a Cuba squad that went a perfect 5-0.

Since then, Penn State's coach Mark Pavlik moved Russell from the middle position to outside hitter. Russell said the switch was easy because of the fundamentals he learned from his father and Mr. Lucas. As an outside hitter, Russell also plays from the back row, requiring soft hands for passing and digs.

"Aaron is such a skilled player we thought he would serve us and his team better as an outside hitter," said Pavlik. "Last year was his first full year hitting at the antenna. Not only to make that move, but be one of the best under 21s at that position says a lot about his work ethic and ability as a volleyball player."

Now, Russell is making a name for himself as one of the best young outside hitters in the game. He'll be on the first team squad for the U.S. in the junior world championships.

At Penn State, Russell is a star. He racked up a team high 366 kills in 31 matches for the Nittany Lions during the 2013 season.

Pavlik, recently compared his ability to one of Penn State's greatest players ever—Matt Anderson—who starred on the U.S. Men's National team in the 2012 Olympic games and led the Nittany Lions to a NCAA championship in 2008.

"There are some similarities," said Pavlik. "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."

"I have a lot of growth to go through," said Russell. "It would be cool if I could be as good as him one day."

Right now, Russell says he hopes the U.S. team can medal in the world championships. After that, he's aiming for an NCAA championship with his brother at Penn State.

The Penn State team lost in the NCAA semifinals last year. This season he'll be a junior and his brother Peter will be a senior.

"This year we see losing in the semis as not an option," said Russell. "We definitely want to get to the finals. I think we can potentially win it."