The 2025 Deaflympics are being held in Tokyo, Japan from Saturday, Nov. 15 to Wednesday, Nov. 26. Joey McInerney, a previous Penn State graduate from the class of 2022, will be competing in the men's indoor volleyball event. On the USA Deaf Men's National Volleyball Team roster of 13 players, he will play middle blocker in the event.
During his time at Penn State, McInerney played for the Nittany Lions' club team and won the National Club Championship in 2019. In 2022, he and the team finished second. Despite graduating with a mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering double degree, he knew his passion was on the court. While McInerney knew he wanted to continue playing and pursue the sport he loved from a young age, he didn't know his options.
"After college, I thought I was done with competitive volleyball," McInerney said according to Fox43 in 2023 when first hearing of his post-college opportunities.
When his father heard about tryouts for the Deaflympic team, McInerney had a chance to continue his passion on an international level and eventually found his home with Team USA.
"It’s just been a great experience," McInerney said. "I don’t know where I would be without the volleyball community."
His first time playing on the international court was for the 2024 World Deaf Volleyball Championships in Japan. McInerney was praised for his front row defense with teammate Marty Boyd in the event:
"[McInerney] especially had a great game. Despite his recent change of position he has been a force at the net offensively and defensively."
Now selected to Deaflympics' Team USA, this will be his first time repping red, white, and blue and also the blue and white Nittany Lions on this court level. The fourth-place finish at the World Deaf Volleyball Championships and silver medal at the USA Volleyball Open National Championship, McInerney is ready for him and his team to land a first place, gold finish.
The Nittany Lions celebrated and congratulating McInerney on his accomplishments, posting photos of him with his fellow Team USA teammates on Instagram and Facebook.
"I'm really excited to see the future," McInerney said to Fox43. "I think, [during] the next four-year cycle, we could dominate. Hopefully, [we] win the World Deaf Volleyball Championship and, hopefully, win that gold [in the Deaflympics] . . . [I have] a whole new appreciation for it, so it's really cool to get that opportunity [to play for Team USA]."