Long Beach State senior Dean Bittner is one of four former 49ers who will be a part of the U.S. Men’s A2 Volleyball Team that will compete at the Pan American Cup USA Volleyball announced Sunday.  The Pan America Cup will take place May 24-29 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Long Beach State junior Antwain Aguillard trained with the team but will not compete over the Summer.

With all the former Niners on the World League team, you can expect another international seasion filled with updates on the local guys playing abroad.

The United States is the two time defending champion of the Pan American Cup and has won it three times since it started in 2006. Mexico won in 2007.  Bittner was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2009 Pan Am Cup. Hildebrand and Jablonsky are also on the roster for the 2010 FIVB World League, which begins on June 4.

The team’s head coach for the second straight year will be Rick McLaughlin, head men’s volleyball coach at UC Santa Barbara. He will be assisted by John Hawks, the assistant men’s coach at Long Beach State, and Brian Baise, the men’s head coach at Harvard University.

Teams competing this year are: Brazil, Colombia and Canada in Pool A, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the United States in Pool B and Dominican Republic, Argentina and Venezuela in Pool C.

The Pan American Cup begins May 24, but the U.S. Men will play their first pool-play match on May 25 against Mexico. On May 26 they will play Puerto Rico.

2010 U.S. Pan American Cup Roster

1 Dustin Watten (L, 6-0, 162, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)

2 Robert Tarr (OH, 6-6, 200, Cape Canaveral, Fla., Long Beach State)

3 Matt McKinney (OH, 6-9, 225, Santa Ynez, Calif., UCLA)

4 J.D. Schleppenbach (OH, 6-4, 198, Ventura, Calif., Pepperdine)

5 Brian Thornton (S, 6-3, 187, San Clemente, Calif., UC Irvine)

6 Dean Bittner (Opp, 6-7, 187, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)

7 Max Lipsitz (MB, 6-7, 209, Williamsville, N.Y., Penn State)

8 Kawika Shoji (S, 6-3, 194, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)

10 David Smith (MB, 6-7, 190, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)

11 Tyler Hildebrand (S, 6-5, 196, Mesa, Ariz., Long Beach State)

12 Carson Clark (Opp, 6-5, 205, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Irvine)

13 Theo Brunner (MB, 6-7, 205, Ridgefield, Conn., UC Santa Barbara)

16 Jayson Jablonsky (OH, 6-5, 205, Yorba Linda, Calif., UC Irvine)

19 Andrew McGuire (L, 6-0, 160, Manhattan Beach, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)

Head Coach: Rick McLaughlin (UC Santa Barbara)

Team Manager: Chris Birch (Penn State)

Assistant Coach: John Hawks (Long Beach State)

Therapist/Trainer: Brian Baise (Harvard)

Technical Coordinator: Chris Birch (Penn State)

From LBSU reports