University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Six Panthers to Participate in U.S. National Volleyball Team Tryouts
2/19/2020 9:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Student-Athletes Travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., for Open Tryouts
PITTSBURGH – Six student-athletes from the three-time defending ACC champion University of Pittsburgh volleyball team will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday through Sunday for the U.S. Women's National Team Open Tryouts at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
Setter Lexis Akeo, defensive specialist Ashley Browske, outside hitter Kayla Lund, right side Chiamaka Nwokolo and middle blockers Anastasia Russ and Sabrina Starks will partake in the tryout.
In 2019, Lund was named to the 28-player roster for the U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team – Anaheim training session after participating in the tryout. She was one of 218 student-athletes – including 56 outside hitters – from 88 colleges who took part in the tryout.
Akeo, Lund and Starks will participate in the White Wave Friday, Feb. 21, from 5:50-7:50 p.m. ET, and Browske, Nwokolo and Russ will take part in the Blue Wave from 8:10-9:50 p.m.
Saturday's two sessions are at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. The final session on Sunday begins at 9:30 a.m. with tournament style play, along with 16-18 athletes selected by the U.S. Women's National Team staff to participate in a "USA" training session. The Sunday session wraps up at 12:30 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
ABOUT THE TRYOUTS
The Panthers are six of 214 student-athletes from 95 colleges participating in the tryout, vying for spots on the U.S. Women's National Team and the U.S. Collegiate National Team program. The breakdown for the tryout includes 67 outside hitters, 48 liberos, 37 setters, 37 middles and 25 opposites.
U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly will direct the entire tryout process.
The 2020 U.S. Collegiate National Team program will have 56 athletes selected with 28 each competing in two training time periods. Both programs will train in Anaheim alongside athletes selected for the U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team and its coaching staff. The CNT Gold will train July 5-12 plus have an international competition in the Southern California area, while the CNT Anaheim group will train June 21-27 and have a Red-Blue intrasquad match in the Southern California area.
Selections for the U.S. Collegiate National Teams will be made by the end of March.
Selected athletes for the U.S. Women's National Team may begin their training in Anaheim, California, as early as the spring of 2020, or when an athlete's scholastic or professional club season has concluded.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Setter Lexis Akeo, defensive specialist Ashley Browske, outside hitter Kayla Lund, right side Chiamaka Nwokolo and middle blockers Anastasia Russ and Sabrina Starks will partake in the tryout.
In 2019, Lund was named to the 28-player roster for the U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team – Anaheim training session after participating in the tryout. She was one of 218 student-athletes – including 56 outside hitters – from 88 colleges who took part in the tryout.
Akeo, Lund and Starks will participate in the White Wave Friday, Feb. 21, from 5:50-7:50 p.m. ET, and Browske, Nwokolo and Russ will take part in the Blue Wave from 8:10-9:50 p.m.
Saturday's two sessions are at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. The final session on Sunday begins at 9:30 a.m. with tournament style play, along with 16-18 athletes selected by the U.S. Women's National Team staff to participate in a "USA" training session. The Sunday session wraps up at 12:30 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Follow @Pitt_VB on Instagram as the six Panthers will take over the team's Instagram Story for the duration of their travels.
- Exclusive content will also be shared on the team's Twitter and Facebook accounts.
- All sessions minus the USA training session on Sunday morning will be streamed live on TeamUSA.org.
- Follow @USAVolleyball on Twitter and other social media platforms and search the #USAVTryout hashtag to stay up to date with the tryouts.
ABOUT THE TRYOUTS
The Panthers are six of 214 student-athletes from 95 colleges participating in the tryout, vying for spots on the U.S. Women's National Team and the U.S. Collegiate National Team program. The breakdown for the tryout includes 67 outside hitters, 48 liberos, 37 setters, 37 middles and 25 opposites.
U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly will direct the entire tryout process.
The 2020 U.S. Collegiate National Team program will have 56 athletes selected with 28 each competing in two training time periods. Both programs will train in Anaheim alongside athletes selected for the U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team and its coaching staff. The CNT Gold will train July 5-12 plus have an international competition in the Southern California area, while the CNT Anaheim group will train June 21-27 and have a Red-Blue intrasquad match in the Southern California area.
Selections for the U.S. Collegiate National Teams will be made by the end of March.
Selected athletes for the U.S. Women's National Team may begin their training in Anaheim, California, as early as the spring of 2020, or when an athlete's scholastic or professional club season has concluded.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Players Mentioned
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