BYU did not just place three players on the United States men’s U23 roster. It placed three different volleyball jobs there.
Freshman middle blocker AJ Cottle, freshman outside hitter Trevor Herget and sophomore Connor Oldani are with Team USA for the U23 Pan American Cup in San Salvador, El Salvador. BYU and Ball State lead all colleges with three selections apiece on the 14-player roster, according to Off the Block’s full roster count.
The number is good. The spread is better.
Cottle gives the U.S. a 6-foot-8 middle. Herget is a 6-foot-3 outside. Oldani is listed by BYU as a 6-foot-5 outside hitter, but the U23 roster identifies him as an opposite. That is one player in the middle and two pin options with different assignments, all from the young half of BYU’s roster.
For a program replacing four seniors after a 21-12 season, this is more useful than an offseason applause line. It is a week of national-team work for three players who could help determine how BYU’s next rotation fits together.
How to follow the three Cougars
Team USA opens Pool B against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 3 p.m. Mountain. It plays Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 5 p.m. Mountain.
The Federación Salvadoreña de Voleibol plans to stream matches on its official Facebook page. BYU Athletics lists the tournament at Palacio de los Deportes Carlos “El Famoso” Hernández in San Salvador.
| Date | Team USA match | Mountain time | What matters for BYU |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, Sept. 23 | Dominican Republic | 3 p.m. | The strongest pool test on paper and the first look at how the three Cougars are used |
| Thursday, Sept. 24 | Trinidad and Tobago | 5 p.m. | Rotation and role clues before the elimination bracket |
| Friday, Sept. 25 | Quarterfinals | To be determined | USA can skip this round only by earning one of the two best pool-winning records |
| Saturday, Sept. 26 | Semifinals | To be determined | A possible medal-round test |
| Sunday, Sept. 27 | Medal matches | To be determined | Final placement and the last competitive receipt |
Nine national teams are divided into three pools. The two best pool winners move directly to the semifinals. The remaining second-place teams and best third-place team enter the quarterfinals. That format makes the opening two matches more than warmups. Set record and pool position can remove an entire elimination match from the path.
BYU’s release calls the event the 2026 Pan American Cup. Independent men’s-college-volleyball outlet Off the Block and Lewis University identify it more specifically as the NORCECA Men’s U23 Pan American Cup. The published dates vary at the edges because team travel and tournament activity begin before the U.S. pool schedule. The firm BYU watch points are Sept. 23 and 24, followed by bracket play through Sept. 27.
Cottle’s selection is an early middle-blocker receipt
Cottle is the easiest of the three to place. BYU lists him as a middle blocker, and the U.S. roster does the same.
He is also the youngest kind of development bet: a 6-foot-8 freshman from Provo whose official BYU roster page does not need an inflated scouting paragraph to look interesting. The height and position already create a clear assignment. He has to close the block, make quick decisions in transition and become available before a setter has to send a predictable high ball to the pins.
The U23 roster has four listed middle attackers. Cottle is joined by Loyola Chicago’s Aidan Klein and Ball State’s Will Patterson and Braydon Savitski-Lynde. That room does not guarantee Cottle a starting job or a fixed number of sets. It gives him repeated training reps against national-team setters and pin hitters while competing with three other college middles for court time.
That is the part BYU fans should save. The current men’s volleyball roster has three players listed strictly at middle blocker: Cottle, Gavin Chambers and Max Philippe. Cottle’s selection does not settle that depth chart. It does give him the strongest public September receipt in the room.
If he earns match time, watch the simple things before counting kills. Does he arrive square to the net? Can he take away space without drifting? Does Team USA trust him on first-tempo swings when the pass is clean? A middle can play a useful set without owning the box score.
Herget gets the cleanest six-rotation test
Herget’s U.S. label matches BYU’s: outside hitter.
That job asks for the widest skill range of the three. An outside has to pass, defend, serve and still terminate high balls when the offense is out of system. One good attacking stretch does not prove the whole package, especially in a short tournament where serve receive can decide whether an outside stays on the floor.
Herget is one of three listed U.S. outside attackers, alongside Loyola Chicago’s Ayden DesLauriers and Stanford’s Aleksey Mikhailenko. That smaller role group makes his usage worth watching closely. He could receive a full rotation, enter as a serving or passing option, or split time across the pins depending on the lineup.
BYU’s roster already has congestion outside. Trent Moser and Connor Oldani carry outside labels. Several other Cougars have outside/opposite combinations. The 18-player roster map identified that flexibility in July but could not turn labels into a rotation.
Herget now gets live evidence. Passing volume against international servers will tell BYU more than another offseason measurement. If he can keep the setter in the middle third of the court and remain available as an attacker, his case changes from “freshman option” to something the next lineup has to account for.
Oldani’s opposite label is the most interesting detail
Oldani carries the one position change worth circling.
BYU lists him as an outside hitter. The U.S. roster published by Off the Block and Lewis lists him at opposite. Those labels are related, but they are not interchangeable. The opposite typically attacks from the right side, blocks against the opponent’s best outside and often carries less serve-receive responsibility than a six-rotation outside.
This does not mean BYU has changed Oldani’s position. It means the national-team staff selected him for a role that reveals another possible use.
The U.S. roster is crowded at opposite. Oldani joins UCLA’s David Decker, Ball State’s Ryan Louis and Braydon Savitski-Lynde in that broad group, though the published sources differ slightly in how they classify the roster. Competition for right-side swings should be real.
Oldani’s value to BYU could come from making the pin room less rigid. A 6-foot-5 sophomore who can train on both sides of the setter gives the Cougars another way to balance passing and attacking. If Herget proves more comfortable in serve receive while Oldani scores and blocks from the right, those roles can fit together rather than compete for one identical slot.
That is analysis, not a projected starting lineup. BYU has not published its next rotation, and a U23 label does not override the school roster. The tournament simply gives fans a useful clue: another staff sees Oldani as more than one kind of pin.
Three selections change the standard for BYU’s young group
BYU’s 2026 roster listed eight freshmen and three sophomores. Cottle, Herget and Oldani come from that 11-player underclassman group.
That makes this trip a development receipt, but it should not become a lazy claim that BYU owns the national pipeline. Ball State also placed three players on the roster. Ten colleges are represented across 14 spots. Selection shows that these three Cougars belong in the U23 pool; it does not promise future All-America honors, a national title or even three BYU starting jobs.
The better conclusion is narrower and more useful.
BYU’s youth bet now includes a national-team middle, a national-team outside and a national-team opposite label. Those players will spend a week solving different problems under match pressure. Cottle has to control the net. Herget has to survive the full outside-hitter menu. Oldani has to show what changes when his work moves to the right pin.
When the Cougars begin their next season, the public record will still need updating. The men’s volleyball hub and schedule tracker will move when BYU publishes new official data. This tournament arrives before that update and gives the offseason something it usually lacks: competitive evidence.
Watch the roles, not just the medals. Three BYU names on one roster is the headline. Three different jobs could be the part that lasts.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics, Sept. 22: Three Cougars set to represent USA in U23 Pan American Cup for BYU’s three selections, pool opponents, venue, Mountain start times, bracket format and official stream path.
- Off the Block, Sept. 6: United States unveils U23 Pan American Cup roster for the independent 14-player roster, college representation count, role labels and the United States’ 2025 silver-medal context.
- Lewis University Athletics, Sept. 3: USA Volleyball names U23 roster for an independently published full roster with heights, schools, regions and the selection-after-training-block context.
- BYU Athletics: official 2026 men’s volleyball roster API for Cottle, Herget and Oldani’s school roster positions, classes, heights and hometowns.
- BYU Sport Nuts: men’s volleyball hub, roster, schedule and 18-player roster map.
