This all-things-volleyball notebook includes U.S. Volleyball Nations League rosters, professional volleyball federation updates, news about U.S. players overseas, and information on the upcoming NCAA Men's Tournament.
Volleyball Nations League
Both the U.S. women's and men's teams submitted 30-man rosters for the VNL.
Each round allows coaches Karch Killary and John Spero to bring in 14 players each.
For the Olympics, the roster will be reduced to 12 players, with one alternate. Qualifying matches for the men begin on July 27 in Paris, with the women's competition starting the following day.
VNL is the most important pre-Olympic tournament of the year. The U.S. women's team begins play against Thailand on May 15 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where it will also face China, Brazil and the Dominican Republic.
The second match will be held in Arlington, Texas, the site of last year's final. The U.S. will play Canada on May 28th, Bulgaria on May 31st, Poland on June 1st and Turkiye on June 2nd.
They will then head to Fukuoka, Japan, where they will face France, Netherlands, Italy and Japan starting June 10th.
The finals will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from June 20th to 23rd.
The U.S. men's open tournament will be held in Antalya, Turkiye on May 22nd, with the home team facing Poland, followed by France and Bulgaria.
The second round will see the VNL return to Ottawa, Canada, where they played their round last year. The U.S. men's national team will play Argentina on June 4, followed by games against Italy, Serbia and Canada.
Game 3 will be held in Manila, Philippines, on June 19th, when the United States will face Iran, followed by games against Brazil, Germany, and Japan.
The final will be held in Lodz, Poland from June 27th to 30th.
The list of 30 American women's athletes is as follows:
1. Meeka Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania)
2. Jordyn Poulter (S, 6-2, Aurora, Colorado, Illinois)
3. Avery Skinner (Ohio State, 6-1, Katy, Texas, Kentucky, Baylor)
4. Justin Wong Orantes (L, 5-6, Cypress, California, Nebraska)
5. Ali Franti (Ohio State, 6-1, Spring Grove, Illinois, Pennsylvania)
6. Morgan Hentz (L, 5-9, Lakeside Park, KY, Stanford)
7. Lauren Carlini (S, 6-2, Aurora, Illinois, Wisconsin)
8. Brionne Butler (MB, 6-4, Kendleton, Texas)
9. Madisen Skinner (Ohio State, 6-2, Katy, Texas, Kentucky, Texas)
10. Jordan Larson (Ohio State, 6-2, Hooper, Nebraska, Nebraska)
11. Annie Drews (OPP, 6-4, Purdue, Elkhart, Ind.)
12. Jordan Thompson (OPP, 6-4, Edina, Minn., Cincinnati)
13. Sarah Wilhite Parsons (Ohio State, 6-2, Eden Prairie, Minn.)
14. Anna Hall (MB, 6-2, Lawrence, South Carolina, Louisville)
15. Haley Washington (MB, 6-3, Penn State)
16. Dana Rettke (MB, 6-8, Riverside, Illinois, Wisconsin)
17. Zoe Fleck (left, 5-6, Granada Hills, Calif., UCLA, Texas)
18. Assia O'Neal (MB, 6-3, Southlake, Texas)
19. Jenna Gray (S, 6-1, Shawnee, Kan., Stamford)
20. Daniel Cuttino (OPP, 6-4, Purdue, Indianapolis, Ind.)
22. Katherine Plummer (Ohio State, 6-6, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Stanford)
23. Kelsey Robinson (Ohio State, 6-2, Manhattan Beach, Nebraska)
24. Chiaka Ogbogu (MB, 6-2, Coppell, Texas)
26. Kendall White (L, 5-5, Zionsville, Indiana, Pennsylvania)
28. Ashley Evans (S, 6-1, Liberty Township, Ohio, Purdue)
29. Kalia Lanier (Ohio State, 6-2, Scottsdale, Ariz., USC)
32. Kendall Kipp (Opp, 6-5, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford)
37. Kayla Haneline (MB, 6-3, Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Northern Iowa)
39. Taylor Mims (Opp., 6-3, Billings, Mont., Wash.)
43. Serena Gray (MB, 6-2, Pitt, Temple City, Calif.)
The coaching staff includes head coach Karch Kiraly and assistants Tama Miyashiro, Marv Dunphy, Alfie Left and Erin Virtue.
The list of 30 American men's players is as follows:
1. Matt Anderson (Opp, 6-10, West Seneca, NY, PA)
2. Aaron Russell (Ohio State, Ellicott City, Maryland, 6-9 Penn State)
3. Gabi Garcia Fernandez (OPP, 6-7, San Juan, Puerto Rico, BYU)
4. Jeff Gendrick (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, IL, Loyola Chicago)
5. Kyle Ensing (OPP, 6-7, Valencia, California, Long Beach State)
6. Quinn Isaacson (S, 6-2, Plainfield, Illinois, Ball State)
7. Jacob Pasteur (Ohio State, Maryland, Westminster 6-4, Ohio State)
8. TJ DeFalco (Ohio State, 6-5 Huntington Beach, California, Long Beach State)
9. Jake Haynes (Ohio State, Orland Park, Illinois, 6-10 Ohio State)
10. Kyle D'Agostino (left, 5-9, Tampa, Fla., Stanford)
11. Mika Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, USC)
12. Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Pennsylvania)
13. Patrick Guzman (MB, 6-10, Clovis, California, Hawaii)
14. Mika Maher (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA)
15. Kyle Russell (OPP, 6-9, Loomis, California, UC Irvine)
16. Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
17. Thomas Jeschke (Ohio State, 6-6, Wheaton, Illinois, Loyola-Chicago)
18. Garrett Muagtusia (Ohio State, Oceanside, Calif., 6-5, UCLA)
19. Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, California, Hawaii)
20. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, CA, UC Irvine)
21. Mason Briggs (lost, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
22. Eric Shoji (defeated, 6-0, Stanford, Honolulu, Hawaii)
23. Cody Kessel (Ohio State, 6-5, Colorado Springs, Colorado State, Princeton)
24. Brett Wildman (Ohio State, 6-5, Virginia Beach, Virginia, Pennsylvania)
25. Ethan Champlin (Ohio State, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA)
26. Matthew Knigge (MB, 6-7, New Egypt, Vassar, NJ)
27. Michael Marshman (MB, 6-7, St. Francis, Glenmont, NY)
28. Nicholas Slight (S, 6-3, Storm Lake, Iowa, Grand Canyon)
29. Jordan Ewart (Ohio State, 6-5 Antioch, Calif., Stanford)
30. Daniel Wetter (MB, 6-5, Camarillo, CA, CSUNa)
The coaching staff includes head coach John Spero and assistants Matt Farbringer, Javier Weber and Andy Reid.
Thanks to USA Volleyball for providing the player list and links.
professional volleyball federation
The next games are Friday when the Orlando Valkyries play the Columbus Fury, the Grand Rapids Rise play the Omaha Supernovas and the Vegas Thrill play the San Diego Mojo.
The Atlanta Vibe had the day off until Sunday, clinching first place and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs with it. The top four teams will advance to the semifinals, which will be held in Omaha on May 15th. The first championship match will be held on May 18th.
Here are the current standings for the season, which includes 24 games for each team.
team | record |
1. Atmosphere of Atlanta | 17-5 |
2, Omaha Supernova | 12-7 |
3. Grand Rapids Rise | 10-9 |
4. San Diego Mojo | 8-9 |
5. Orlando Valkyries | 7-12 |
6. Columbus's wrath | 6-11 |
7. Vegas Thrill | 6-13 |
Atlanta setter Marley Monserez has been named PVF Athlete of the Week. She averaged 11.6 assists in the wins over Grand Rapids and Orlando and the loss to Columbus. She is the third member of Vibe to earn this honor this season. Ali Linehan won in Week 1, but then missed the season with an injury. Anna Lazareva won on March 5th.
Italy
We are waiting for the conclusion of the 2023-2024 Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A Tigota final, which was a very close battle between Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and Savino del Bene Scandicci. A professional report was withheld.
Congeliano leads the best-of-five series 2-1 with his next match Saturday in Florence.
Scandicci won the opener in five games as Haley Washington came off the bench to record six kills and hit .857, including a key finish in the final set, 17-15.
Kathryn Plummer had 14 kills and a block for Conegliano, Kelsey Robinson-Cook had 12 kills and Kalia Lanier had one kill as a double sub with setter Maddie Bugg.
Congeliano evened the series with a 23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11 win, while Plummer led the team with 14 kills, 5 kills, 2 blocks, and 2 blocks in the fifth set. He became the second highest scorer. Ace. Robinson Cook had nine kills and an ace, and Lanier added two kills. Washington had a block on Scandicci's sub.
Isabella Haak, a great Swede whose sister Anna played for Miami and Marquette, led Conegliano with a whopping 41 points in the 3-1 victory. Haak recorded 35 kills and just two errors on 54 attempts, and she had four blocks and two aces in a 30-28, 23-25, 29-27, 25-22 victory.
Plummer had 21 kills and two aces, and Robinson Cook had six kills and one block.
Lindsey Radins had three kills for Scandic and one kill and two blocks for Washington.
In the first match, Haak had 26 kills, five blocks, and three aces, and in the second match, she had 24 kills, two blocks, and one ace.
NCAA men's
We pretty much broke it down Sunday when the NCAA men's tournament brackets were announced. Read the story with capsules from all eight teams here. More coverage is planned for the tournament, which begins with Tuesday's quarterfinals.