WNT Update: Lanier Scores 20 for Conegliano

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 22, 2023) – The U.S. Women’s Update helps fans keep track of athletes who were in the gym in Anaheim during the 2023 season.

U.S. players had a great week competing for teams around the world.

ITALY

Prosseco Doc Imoco Conegliano (12-0) with outside hitters Kelsey (Robinson) Cook, Khalia Lanier and Kathryn Plummer and setter Madi Bugg needed five sets to defeat Wash4green Pinerolo (25-21, 24-26, 25-14, 23-25, 15-13) on Dec. 17.

Lanier scored 20 points on 17 kills, two blocks and one ace. Cook played as a substitute and scored one points with a kill. Bugg played as a substitute and Plummer did not play.

Middle blocker Dana Rettke, outside hitter Kara Bajema and Allianz Vero Volley Milano (11-1) swept Il Bisonte Firenze (25-19, 25-22, 25-20) on Dec. 17. Bajema scored 12 points on 23 kills. Rettke scored two points on a block and a kill.

Middle Haleigh Washington scored 15 points as her team Savino Del Bene Scandicci (10-2) beat Roma Volley Club 3-2 (25-16, 25-14, 24-26, 21-25, 15-7) on Dec. 16. Washington scored on a match-high five blocks, eight kills and two aces.

Outside hitters Avery Skinner and Madi Kingdon Rishel helped Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 (7-5) beat Honda Olivero S.Bernardo Cuneo (4-8) with middle Anna Hall and outside hitter Madi Kubik 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 17-25, 26-24). Skinner scored 13 points on 10 kills, two blocks and one ace. Kingdon Rishel added 11 points on 10 kills and one block. For Cuneo, Hall scored six points on four kills and two blocks. Kubik totaled 11 points on 10 kills and one ace.

TÜRKIYE

VakifBank (11-1) with outside hitter Ali Frantti, middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu and opposite Jordan Thompson took the silver medal at the Women’s Club World Champs on Dec. 12-18 in Hangzhou, China.

In the semifinals on Dec. 16, VakifBank beat China’s Tianjin Bohai Bank 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-23). Thompson scored 14 points on 11 kills, two blocks and one ace. Frantti scored 13 points on 10 kills, two blocks and one ace. Ogbogu finished with four points on three kills and one block.

In the final, VakifBank fell to Türkiye’s VakifBank’s Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 15-9). Thompson led all scorers with 33 points on a match-high 31 kills, one block and one ace. Ogbogu added 16 points on 10 kills and a match-high six blocks. Frantti scored four points on three kills and one block.

On Dec. 22, VakifBank improved to 12-1 with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 24-26, 25-19) win over Kuzeyboru and outside hitter Sarah Wilhite Parsons. Frantti led all scorers with 22 points on 18 kills, three blocks and one ace. Thompson started the fourth set and scored seven points on six kills and one ace. Ogbogu scored one point with a kill. For Kuzeyboru, Wilhite Parsons scored 10 points on six kills, a match-high three aces and one block.

Setter Lauren Carlini and Aydın Büyükşehir Belediyespor (4-9) fell to Turk Hava Yollari 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-21) on Dec. 16. Carlini scored two points on a block and an ace.

Galatasaray Daikin with opposite Danielle Cuttino, outside hitter Logan Eggleston and middle blocker Heather Gneiting beat opposite Stephanie Samedy and Muratpaşa Bld. Sigorta Shop 3-2 (25-21, 26-24, 23-25, 27-29, 15-11) on Dec. 16. Eggleston led all scorers with 28 points on a match-high 26 kills, one block and one ace. Cuttino added 26 points on 21 kills and a match-high five blocks. Gneiting did not play.

Samedy scored 15 points for her team on 14 kills and one block. U.S. outside hitter Macaya White started the first set and scored three points on three kills.

GERMANY

Justine Wong-Orantes and SC Potsdam (6-4) fell to Dresdner SC 3-2 (24-26, 25-17, 25-19, 24-26, 15-11) on Dec. 16. Wong-Orantes was credited with 25 receptions, 40 percent positive. U.S. opposite Danielle Harbin started the final two sets and scored 14 points on 10 kills and a match-high four aces. Middle Breland Morrissette started the first three sets and scored six points on four kills, one block and one ace. For Dresdner, U.S. opposite Grace Frohling scored 21 points on 20 kills and one block.

On Dec. 16, middle blocker Kayla Haneline and Allianz MTV Stuttgart (9-1) beat VC Wiesbaden 3-1 (25-12, 25-20, 24-26, 25-15). Haneline played as a substitute and scored two points on two kills. U.S. outside hitter Alexis Hart led all scorers with 18 points on 16 kills, one block and one ace.

For Wiesbaden, U.S. outside hitter Jaidyn Blanchfield scored 15 points on 13 kills and two aces. Opposite Rachel Anderson started the first three sets and scored three points on three kills.

Libero Zoe Fleck and USC Münster (3-6) fell to VfB Suhl Lotto Thüringen 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-22) on Dec. 16. Fleck was credited with 11 receptions, 55 percent positive. Setter Jenna Ewert started the first two sets and scored two points on two kills. Opposite Gloria Mutiri started the first two sets and scored eight points on seven kills and one ace.

For Thüringen, outside hitter Julia Brown scored 13 points on 10 kills, two blocks and one ace.

JAPAN

Opposite Annie Drews and JT Marvelous fell to the NEC Red Rockets in the semifinals of the Empress Cup 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 29-27) on Dec. 16.

BRAZIL

Middle Brionne Butler and Osasco Sao Cristovao Saude (5-2) beat Associação Atlética São Caetano 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-17) on Dec. 18. Butler scored seven points on four kills, two blocks and one ace.

FRANCE

Opposite Taylor Mims and Nantes (9-1) beat Quimper 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-18) on Dec. 19. Mims scored seven points on seven kills. U.S. middle Jaelyn Keene played as a substitute and scored two points on an ace and a kill. For Quiver, U.S. outside hitter Shannon Coughlin scored nine points on nine kills. Outside hitter Jordan Russell added five points on three kills and two aces.

ROMANIA

Setter Ashley Evans and CSM Bucuresti (7-4) lost to CSM Corona Brasov 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-20) on Dec. 16. Evans started the third and fourth sets and scored three points on two kills and one block. The team finished with a .234 hitting efficiency.