U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM TRYOUT
University of Colorado outside hitter Alexa Smith was one of 235 players who attended the U.S. Women’s National Team Open Tryout.
A winning weekend in the USA Gym
For the 235 players who traveled to Colorado Springs in March to participate in the U.S. Women’s National Team Open Tryout, the experience was more than just a brush with the big time. It was a chance to learn from top-level coaches (Karch Kiraly, among them), grow as a player and to have some fun
by Don Patterson & Bill Kauffman photos by Bill Kauffman
32 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT MIGHT happen when you show up at a U.S. Wom- en’s National Team Open Tryout. In 2013, at the urging of a friend’s mom, Kim Hill from Portland, Oregon, was one of 240 attendees. The lanky Pepperdine standout with the live arm impressed the coaches, and that earned her an invitation to train with the USA team. Less than two years later, Hill was chosen the most valuable player at the FIVB World Championships when the U.S. Women won the first gold medal at one of the three major tournaments in the history of the program. She was also a key player on last year’s bronze medal-winning team at the Rio Olympics. This year, hopefuls numbering 235, many of whom have participated in the USAV High Performance pipeline, showed up on the weekend of March 3-5 to show- case their skills for U.S. Women’s National Team Coach Karch Kiraly and his staff of assistants and his outside evaluators. Kiraly made it clear from the start that USA tryouts are more about the volleyball experience than about catching the eye of a national team coach. Here are four first-person accounts and a
visual look at the three-day event that hosted athletes from 84 colleges and nine high schools across the country:
Micaya White Outside hitter, University of Texas Hometown: Frisco, Texas
“I had an amazing experience at the
USAV women’s tryout. Being able to practice and train with girls that you have played against, watched or even idolized is exciting. It’s fun to see old teammates and friends and have the opportunity to play with them. The competition is tight, and everyone is show- ing up to play, so the level of intensity in the gym was insane the whole weekend. The moment you walked in the gym, you could feel it, and it made you get more pumped to play. Everyone was on their ‘A’ game. “I also learned a lot of new things that I will take back with me to college. A key focus was working on passing and transition- ing on and off the net. “USAV tryout really opens your eyes that
everyone can work and improve on some- thing to be a better player than they were last season.”
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