AIMING HIGH: At left, Pittsburgh’s Jessica Wynn (55) hits down the line away from the block of Northern Arizona’s Kelli Dallman (69). Below, Oregon’s Shellsy Ashen sets during the three-day tryout.
in the FIVB World Grand Prix tournament, the premier annual international women’s tournament featuring 20 of the world’s best teams. “It’s quite rare to go from the open tryout straight to the USA team, but that’s exactly what happened with Kim,” Kiraly said. “She was one of the stars of the tryout, and we said, ‘We’ve got to get her in the USA gym.’” This year’s tryout, held from Feb. 21-23 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, was attended by 247 players, a new record. Players participated in a two-hour ses- sion on Feb. 21, two more two-hour sessions on Feb. 22 – one in the morning, one in the evening – and then a tournament on Feb. 23. From the overall group, U.S. coaches selected between 15-18 players to partake in a national team-like training session on Feb. 23.
“[For that group], we had people at each position,” Kiraly says. “We did some teaching and had some competition. We wanted to give those players a taste of what it’s like in the USA gym.”
Among the athletes at the February tryout was University of Washington outside hitter Krista Vansant, the 2013 AVCA Player of the Year. Kiraly said that her presence alone was likely a source of inspiration for many of the other participants.
“When people see that they may be able to compete with a player like that on some level, they probably come away with a belief of, ‘Why not me?’” he said. “This tryout is a great exposure to high-level volleyball, and it may very well make players decide they should re- ally bear down with their own games.” Unlikely as it is for a player to go directly
from USA tryouts to the national team gym, there are plenty of opportunities that arise from the event. From the tryout group, ath- letes with collegiate eligibility remaining are selected for the U.S. Collegiate National Team (CNT). The top 60 players from the tryout are selected participate in one of three CNT Programs: China Tour (12 players), European Tour (12 players) or training/competition held in conjunction with the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships (36 players) in Minneapolis. All three programs are held in the summer months. Separate of the USA tryouts is another great opportunity for indoor players to train with some of the top talent and coaches in the country – the USA winter training block. This year’s session ran from Jan. 27 to March 19 and included a number of top collegiately players who have completed their eligibility, among them: libero Natalie Hagglund (Uni- versity of Southern California), outside Kelly Reeves (UCLA), MB Katie Slay (Penn State) and setter Lauren Plum (Oregon). Under- classmen who participated included outside hitters Vansant, Taylor Simpson (University of Colorado) and Haley Eckerman (University of Texas).
Overall, Kiraly considers this year’s try- outs to be an overwhelming success. “Lots of players put out great effort and showed a lot of passion all weekend long,” he said. “Even for those who didn’t come away with an invite to the USA gym or to the Col- legiate National Team program, I think it was a great experience.”
MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS: Gopher Sarah Wilhite (W26) attacks against her Min- nesota teammates Erica Handley (R65) and Paige Tapp (N37).
USAVOLLEYBALL.ORG | 71
PHOTO: USAV / BILL KAUFFMAN
PHOTO: USAV / BILL KAUFFMAN
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