The Olympic gold medal winning women's volleyball team will arrive in North Texas at the end of May.
The Volleyball Nations League returns to the United States with a stop at Arlington's College Park Center.
Coppell's Chiaka Ogbogu has rejoined the team after winning gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, hoping to help the team win another gold medal. Prior to joining Team USA, he was an All-American at the University of Texas at Austin. In her career she played Coppell High School volleyball from 2013 to 2017, and before that she led her team to state titles in 2011 and 2012.
Other notable Texans to watch in the tournament for Team USA include:
- Assia O’Neal from Southlake, Texas – middle blocker
- Made her senior national team debut in the 2023 Volleyball Nations League.
- At the University of Texas, he was a two-time AVCA First Team All-American and helped win the NCAA Championship in 2022 and 2023.
- Finished at Texas with the most blocks in school history, surpassing All-American teammate Chiaka Ogbogu.
- Avery Skinner from Katy, Texas – outside hitter
- 2023 FIVB Road to Paris Olympic Qualifier helps the U.S. women's team qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics
- Made his senior national team debut at the 2022 Pan Am Cup.
- Win the 2020 NCAA National Championship with the University of Kentucky
- All-American at both the University of Kentucky and Baylor University (played at Kentucky from 2017-20 and final season at Baylor in 2021)
- 2022 Pan Am Cup Best Spiker and Best Scorer
- Brion Butler from Kendleton, Texas – middle blocker
- Butler has been a member of Team USA since 2019 and joined the VNL in 2022.
- Made his senior national team debut at the 2019 Pan American Cup.
- He was a first-team AVCA All-American in 2021 and 2020. 2018 AVCA All-American Honorable Mention Award
- Invited to train with the U.S. senior team in spring 2020 (cancelled due to the new coronavirus)
- 2017 Women's Junior (U20) Representative
- 2015-16 Girls Youth (U18) National Team
- Madisen Skinner from Katy, Texas – outside hitter
- Four-time AVCA All-American. Selected for the top team in 2023
- He played two years at the University of Kentucky, where the team won the 2020 National Championship.
- Transferred to Texas and won national championships in 2022 and 2023
- Selected as the best player at the 2023 National Championship Tournament
- 2023 Honda Sports Award Volleyball Category Winner
- 2019 USA Volleyball Women's Junior National Championship All-Tournament Team
The international tournament brings together the world's top teams and is the last major volleyball tournament before the Paris Olympics, running from May 28 to June 2, and will be the only VNL match in the United States this year.The teams scheduled to compete also include: Volleyball Nations League 2023 Champions Turkiye; Same as Canada, South Korea, Germany, Serbia and Bulgaria and Poland.
