Sean Rooney was born Nov. 13, 1982 in Wheaton, Ill., where he also grew up. After graduating from Pepperdine University in 2005, Sean pursued beach volleyball on the United States’ domestic tour. But after two seasons, the outside hitter (206cm, 100kg) was ready to return to the hard court and was rewarded in 2008 as he played on the team that won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing and the FIVB World League title in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sean has played the last four winter seasons (2006-2009) in the Russian Super League. Prior to that, he played two seasons for the Hyundai Capital Skywalkers in Korea.

Rooney was named the United States’ Men’s Player of the Year following the 2009 season in which he finished as the team's leading scorer with 258 points on 224 kills, 22 blocks and 12 aces. His 224 kills were by far the best on the team and his hitting average was 0.435.

While at Pepperdine, Rooney led his team to the 2005 NCAA National Championship. He is single.