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Micah Christenson
Micah Christenson
Personal information
Full name	Micah Makanamaikalani Christenson
Born	May 8, 1993 (age 31); Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight	194 lb (88 kg)
Spike	137 in (349 cm)
Block	130 in (340 cm)
College / University	University of Southern California
Volleyball information
Position	Setter
Current club	Zenit Kazan
Number	11
Career
2012–2015; 2015–2018; 2018–2021 ; 2021–	USC Trojans; Volley Lube; Modena Volley ; Zenit Kazan
National team
2013–	United States
Honours
Men's volleyball
Representing United States
Olympic Games
FIVB World Championship
FIVB World Cup
FIVB World League
FIVB Nations League
NORCECA Championship

Micah Makanamaikalani Christenson (/ˈkrɪstʃənsən/ KRISS-chən-sən; May 8, 1993)^[1] is an American professional volleyball player who plays as a setter for Zenit Kazan and the U.S. national team. He was a bronze medalist at the Olympic Games Rio 2016, Paris 2024 and the 2018 World Championship; the 2014 World League, 2015 World Cup and 2023 World Cup winner.

Personal life

Christenson was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Robert and Charlene Christenson. His parents both attended the University of Hawaii at Hilo, 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. 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.^[2]

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 and played for the USC Trojans men's volleyball 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.

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 U.S. won; Christenson was named Best Server and Best Setter in this tournament.^[3] 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

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.

Honors

Club

CEV Champions League
- 2017–18 – with Cucine Lube Civitanova
FIVB Club World Championship
- Poland 2017 – with Cucine Lube Civitanova
Domestic
- 2016–17 Italian Cup, with Cucine Lube Civitanova
- 2016–17 Italian Championship, with Cucine Lube Civitanova
- 2018–19 Italian Supercup, with Modena Volley
- 2021–22 Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan
- 2022–23 Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan
- 2022–23 Russian Superleague, 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
2023: FIVB Nations League – Best setter
2023: NORCECA Championship – Most valuable player

References

^ "CHRISTENSON Micah". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
^ Ackerman, Jon (May 28, 2020). "MAGAZINE: U.S. Volleyball Star Micah Christenson is Christlike & Competitive". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
^ Evans, B.J. (September 28, 2013). "U.S. Men Win 2013 NORCECA Championship". TeamUSA.org. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013.
^ "USA upset Brazil to claim second World League title". FIVB.org. July 20, 2014.
^ Tucker, Haily (April 28, 2015). "Micah Christenson wins Lloyd Ball Award". DailyTrojan.com.

External links

Micah Christenson at the European Volleyball Confederation
Micah Christenson at Volleybox.net
Micah Christenson at LegaVolley.it (in Italian)
Micah Christenson at Olympics.com
Micah Christenson at Olympedia (archive)
Micah Christenson at Team USA (archive October 3, 2022) (archive August 15, 2014)

Awards
Preceded by Luciano De Cecco	Best Setter of FIVB World Cup 2015 2019	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Lukas Kampa	Best Setter of FIVB World Championship 2018	Succeeded by Simone Giannelli
Preceded by Benjamin Toniutti	Best Setter of FIVB Nations League 2019	Succeeded by Fabian Drzyzga
Preceded by Fabian Drzyzga	Best Setter of FIVB Nations League 2022 2023	Succeeded by Antoine Brizard