Team USA middle blocker Merrick McHenry is already 6-foot-7 when he is standing still on flat ground. The 24-year-old volleyball star gets his entire chest above the net when he is jumping.
I can’t say I have ever seen a middle with a bigger vertical!!
McHenry played five seasons of college volleyball at UCLA from 2020-2024. He was one of the nation’s top-five recruits in his class and left Westwood with (almost) every honor imaginable. The Texas-native won the Ryan Millar Award as the nation’s top middle attacker in back-to-back years and was named as the MPSF Player of the Year as a senior with the highest hitting percentage in the conference. Nobody could block him.
Merrick McHenry. That’s it. That’s the post. #NCAAMVB pic.twitter.com/QJlbLLe2QH
— Set Point (@Set_PointIE) May 2, 2024
This is McHenry’s first season as a member of the United States Men’s National Team. He was named to the 14-man roster for Week One of the Volleyball Nations League, where the world’s top 18 men’s teams compete over three weeks of preliminary play and the top eight advanced to the Final Round.
As the club prepares for Rio, veteran setter Erok Shoji has been working closely with his middles. They all can jump. They’re pro volleyball players. However, it is super easy to pick McHenry out of hitting lines because he skies so much higher than his teammates.
Merrick McHenry is listed at 6-foot-7, which is actually pretty small for a middle on that level. The standard net height for men’s volleyball is 7 feet, 11 5/8 inches. If his chest is getting above the top tape, his hitting arm makes contact with the set at pretty close to 12.5 feet. At least!
I am unable to track down an exact measurement for McHenry’s vertical but I would estimate at approximately 40 inches. (That could be totally wrong tbh) Whatever the number, it is huge.
I have seen volleyball players get up before. Go watch Wilfredo Leon highlights if you really want to blow your mind. With that being said, I have never seen a middle jump like this! Merrick McHenry can JUMP!