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 Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and the U.S. national team. He was a bronze medalist at the

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Rio 2016 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, Paris 2024 and the 2018 World Championship.

Personal life

Russell grew up in

Ellicott City, Maryland Ellicott City is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its ...

, U.S. His parents are Stewart and Marian Russell. Russell 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 Pennsyl ...

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

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 of Italy. In 2016, Russell took part in his first

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

as a member of the U.S 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. In 2024, Russell took part in his second

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

as a member of the U.S Olympic team and won a bronze medal when the U.S beat Italy in three sets.

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 tota ...

2016–17 – with Sir Safety Perugia ** Silver medal europe

2024–25 – with Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie * 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. It has played in the Italian Volleyball League since 2000. They have 5 titles in the FIVB Men's Club World Volleyball Championship, tied with Brazil's Sada Cruzeiro as th ...

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 to CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 to CEV Cup. T ...

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

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

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

Italian Championship, with Sir Safety Perugia ** 2024–25 Simple gold cup

Polish SuperCup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been p ...

, with Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie

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 * 2024:

– Most valuable player

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 Arbutus, Maryland Sportspeople from Baltimore County, Maryland Sportspeople from Ellicott City, Maryland American men's volleyball players Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in volleyball Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in volleyball American expatriate volleyball players in Italy American expatriate volleyball players in Japan American expatriate volleyball players in Poland Penn State Nittany Lions men's volleyball players Trentino Volley players Warta Zawiercie (volleyball) players Outside hitters 21st-century American sportsmen Centennial High School (Howard County, Maryland) alumni