Women's Indoor Volleyball Preview
The U.S. Women’s National Indoor Volleyball Team is ranked No. 2 in the world behind China, the reigning Olympic Games champion.
Team USA recently won the 2019 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Volleyball Nations League title for the second year in a row. The VNL is the top annual women’s international volleyball tournament. The Americans earned silver at the FIVB World Cup – one of six podium finishes in 2019.
The current roster has a core of six Olympians, including three outside hitters, Jordan Larson, Kim Hill and Kelsey Robinson, two middles in Foluke Akinradewo and Rachael Adams, and opposite Karsta Lowe. The roster also features experience and depth at nearly every position. Jordyn Poulter, Lauren Carlini and Micha Hancock have won major international tournaments for Team USA. At the opposite position, Annie Drews had a breakout campaign in 2019 as she was named most valuable player of the 2019 VNL, Best Opposite of the FIVB World Cup and USA Volleyball’s Female Indoor Player of the Year. Middle Tori Dixon was an alternate on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team.
With the professional club season extending well into May 2019, head coach Karch Kiraly and his staff tested out several new players at the 2019 VNL and have placed younger players into larger roles than they held in previous years. What resulted was eight players making their FIVB-level debuts, including middles Chiaka Ogbogu, Haleigh Washington and Dana Rettke, opposite Jordan Thompson, setter Jordyn Poulter, outside hitter Mikaela Foecke and libero Mary Lake. Each were members of the U.S. team that won a 2019 VNL gold medal. Ogbogu, Poulter and Washington were all part of the silver-winning world cup team while Lake, Rettke and Thompson all went back to their collegiate teams.
The U.S. will have one major competition prior to the Tokyo Games as the Americans seek a third consecutive gold at the VNL.
Updated on July 19, 2020. For more information, contact the sport press officer here.
