U.S. Women Undefeated Heading into VNL Week 2

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 13, 2023) – The U.S. Women’s National Team returns to the court for its second week of Volleyball Nations League (VNL) preliminary round competition today when it plays Croatia at 1:30 p.m. PT.

The U.S. Women went 4-0 in their first week of VNL, winning three of those matches in five sets. The wins improved their world ranking to No. 2.

U.S. Head Coach Karch Kiraly has tweaked the roster for the second week.

Those players returning for the second week of competition are setters Ashley Evans and Micha Hancock, libero Morgan Hentz, outside hitters Khalia Lanier and Avery Skinner, middle blockers Brionne Butler and Asjia O’Neal and opposite Danielle Cuttino.

Making their 2023 VNL debuts are middles Haleigh Washington and Anna (Stevenson) Hall, opposite Jordan Thompson, outside hitters Ali Frantti and Kathryn Plummer and libero Kendall White.

The U.S. Women are the reigning Olympic champions and ranked No. 2 in the world. They have won the VNL three times (2018, ’19, ’21) since its inception in 2018.

The U.S. Women will face No. 30 Croatia, No. 15 Thailand, No. 7 Japan and Brazil, which moved to No. 1 in the rankings thanks to last week’s first round of VNL.

VNL matches will be livestreamed in the United States on VolleyballWorld.tv.

Volleyball Nations League is the world’s premier annual international indoor volleyball tournament. The top 16 teams in the world play four matches a week for three weeks of preliminary competition. The top eight teams at the end of the preliminaries will go to the Final Round.

The United States will host the 2023 Women’s VNL Final Round on July 12-16 at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, which means the U.S. automatically qualifies.

Get tickets for the final round at tickets.volleyballworld.com/arlington.

U.S. Women’s Roster for 2023 VNL Week 2
No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)

1 Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Penn State Univ., Oklahoma)
3 Kendall White (L, 5-5, Zionsville, Ind., Penn State, Hoosier)
5 Ali Frantti (OH, 6-1, Spring Grove, Ill., Penn State, Great Lakes)
6 Morgan Hentz (L, 5-9, Lakeside Park, Ky., Stanford Univ., Pioneer)
8  Brionne Butler (MB, 6-4, Kendleton, Texas, Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
12 Jordan Thompson (Opp, 6-4, Edina, Minn., Univ. of Cincinnati, North Country)
14 Anna (Stevenson) Hall (MB, 6-2, Laurens S.C., Univ. of Louisville, Palmetto)
15 Haleigh Washington (MB, 6-3, Colorado Springs, Colo., Penn State Univ., Rocky Mountain)
20 Danielle Cuttino (Opp, 6-4, Indianapolis, Ind., Purdue, Hoosier)
22 Kathryn Plummer (OH, 6-6, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
26 Asjia O’Neal (MB, 6-3, Southlake, Texas, Univ. of Texas, North Texas)
27 Avery Skinner (OH, 6-1, Katy, Texas, Baylor, Lone Star)
28 Ashley Evans (S, 6-1, Liberty Township, Ohio, Purdue, Ohio Valley)
29 Khalia Lanier (OH, 6-2, Scottsdale, Ariz., Univ. of Southern California, Arizona)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Tama Miyashiro
Second Assistant Coaches: Marv Dunphy, Alfee Reft, Erin Virtue
Performance Analyst: Rianne Verhoek
Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
Team Doctor: William Briner
Team Manager: Coley Pawlikowski

U.S. Women’s Schedule for the 2023 VNL
All matches will be broadcast on volleyballworld.tv

Week 1 (all times PT) at Antalya, Türkiye
May 31: USA def Serbia 3-2 (25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-12)
June 2: USA def. Italy 3-2 (25-16, 14-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9)
June 3: USA def. Korea 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-11)
June 4: USA def Türkiye 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 11-25, 15-9)

Week 2 at Brasilia, Brazil
June 13 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Croatia
June 15 at 10 a.m. USA vs Thailand
June 17 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Japan
June 18 at 6 a.m. USA vs Brazil

Week 3 at Suwon, Korea
June 27 at 11:30 p.m. USA vs Poland
June 28 at 11:30 p.m. USA vs Bulgaria
July 1 at 1:30 a.m. USA vs Germany
July 2 at 1:30 a.m. USA vs China

Final Round on July 12-16 at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas