HONOLULU – University of Hawai'i men's volleyball sophomore Kupono Fey is one of 21 players selected to the USA Volleyball Men's Junior National Team. The team will train in Lake Placid, N.Y., in preparation for the NORCECA Under-21 Continental Championships in El Salvador later this month.
 
The team will be trimmed to 12 players in the coming weeks, who will represent the United States at the NORCECA Championships. Southern California head coach Bill Ferguson is the head coach of the junior national team and is assisted by Lewis head coach Dan Friend and Penn State assistant coach Jay Hosack.
 
"It's always an honor to be able to represent your country," Fey said. "When I was on the youth national team it was such a unique experience wearing the USA flag on my chest while listening to the national anthem play before a match. It's an experience that I will never forget. But I'm very excited this year because it is the first time that Junior Olympics doesn't conflict with the national team so now we have all the top talent in our age group competing for a starting spot. It's going to be very competitive this year which is going to give us a great chance to bring home a gold medal against some very good teams in our region."
 
The team will train at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid for two weeks before departing for El Salvador. The NORCECA Continental Championships run July 28-Aug. 3. The U.S. is the defending champions having won it in 2012. The top three teams will qualify for the 2015 FIVB Men's Junior World Championships.
 
Fey was also a member of the 2012 USA Volleyball Boys' Youth National Team which captured the bronze medal at the NORCECA U-19 Continental Championship in Tijuana, Mexico. The team won a five-set thriller over Puerto Rico to take third place and the final automatic spot to the 2013 FIVB Boys' Youth World Championship.