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12 former college athletes look to win country’s second straight Olympic gold
With the Olympic Games underway in Paris, the NCAA's presence on Team USA is already being felt across several sports. Team USA volleyball will be the latest example this week when pool play begins, and the team aims to repeat its gold medal performance in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
USA women's indoor volleyball is one of 14 Team USA rosters that are made up of 100% NCAA athletes, reinforcing how the college model serves as a vital training ground for Olympic athletes. Current, former or incoming NCAA student-athletes make up 65% of the 592 Team USA members. This includes 21 U.S. teams comprising at least 80% current, former or incoming college athletes.
The player's hail from colleges ranging from the coast of California to Penn State, and they represent 10 different NCAA colleges and four conferences.
"I have nothing but very fond memories of my time in college," Jordyn Poulter, Illinois alumna and setter for the 2020 Tokyo Games team said. "I feel grateful that the path that I had at Illinois brought a lot of different people into my life. Alongside the women that I got to play with, I think just the amount that I learned under various coaches was invaluable to me."
Meet the team
- Jordyn Poulter, setter (Illinois).
- Avery Skinner, outside hitter (Kentucky, Baylor).
- Justine Wong-Orantes, libero (Nebraska).
- Lauren Carlini, setter (Wisconsin).
- Jordan Larson, outside hitter (Nebraska).
- Annie Drews, opposite (Purdue).
- Jordan Thompson, opposite (Cincinnati).
- Haleigh Washington, middle blocker (Penn State).
- Dana Rettke, middle blocker (Wisconsin).
- Kathryn Plummer, outside hitter (Stanford).
- Kelsey Robinson Cook, outside hitter (Nebraska).
- Chiaka Ogbogu, middle blocker (Texas).
NCAA experience
Before earning their gold medal in Tokyo, Team USA members accomplished multiple awards and national titles during their collegiate careers. Among the 12 players, they won eight Division I NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships between 2006 and 2021 and earned 33 AVCA All-America honors in total.
Olympic rookie Rettke is the only five-time AVCA All-American in history and was named fall 2021 AVCA Player of the Year during her decorated collegiate career at Wisconsin.
Teammate Plummer also achieved AVCA Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons with the Stanford Cardinal in 2017 and 2018. Plummer became the 11th Olympian in Stanford program history and continued the Cardinal's streak of having at least one former Cardinal compete on the U.S. Olympic indoor volleyball roster since 1988.
Among the selected members, eight competed in the Big Ten Conference, with Nebraska contributing the most from a single college with three former Cornhuskers. The remaining Team USA members represent the Southeastern Conference (2), the Big 12 Conference (2) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (1).
Their achievements in college extended past the volleyball court. In fact,Skinner was named a finalist for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year Awardfor her success in volleyball and academics as a Kentucky Wildcat and for her community service at the Kentucky Early Childhood Lab.
Defending the gold
Team USA brings a balance of experience and new talent in its quest to defend its gold medal in Paris. The 12-player roster consists of eight members from the Tokyo 2020 team while four women will make their Olympic debut.
Best outside hitter and MVP of the Tokyo GamesJordan Larsonreturns for her fourth Olympics after helping to coach the Nebraska Cornhuskers to a national championship appearance in 2023. The roster continues to build with Olympic star power with the return of the best setter, libero and middle blocker of the Tokyo Games with Poulter, Wong-Orantes and Washington, respectively.
The remaining returning players include Robinson Cook for her third Olympics; Drews, Thompson and Ogbogu for their second; and Carlini, Plummer, Skinner and Rettke, rounding out the team in their first Olympic Games.
Along with the gold medal from Tokyo, the U.S. indoor women's volleyball team brought home silver medals three times in 2012, 2008 and 1984, and bronze medals two times in 2016 and 1992.
Tune in
The women's indoor volleyball competition started Sunday with the preliminary phase, in which the 12 qualified countries are divided into three pools each containing four teams.
Team USA joins Pool A, where it will face off against China (Monday), Serbia(Wednesday) and the host nation France (Aug. 4).
The top two finishers from each pool and the two best third-place teams advance to the final phase, a single-elimination bracket. The final phase begins Tuesday, Aug. 6, with the quarterfinals, and the competition will conclude Sunday, Aug. 11, with the gold medal match.
View the full broadcast schedule for both men's and women's indoor volleyball here.
Women's indoor volleyball schedule (all times are Eastern):
- 11 a.m. Monday, July 29:United States vs. China.
- 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 31:United States vs. Serbia.
- 7 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 4:France vs. United States.
- Tuesday, Aug. 6: Women's Quarterfinals.
- Thursday, Aug. 8: Women's Semifinal.
- Saturday, Aug. 10: Women's Bronze Medal Match.
- Sunday, Aug. 11: Women's Gold Medal Match.
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