NORCECA Preview for U.S. Women's Jr. National Team

Candice Kasischke
Intern, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: candice.kasischke@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 24, 2010) – The 2010 U.S. Women’s Junior National Team, which will compete at the 2010 NORCECA Women’s Junior (U-20) Continental Championships July 5-10 in Tijuana, Mexico, contains athletes with a range of experience in the game of volleyball.

U.S. Women’s Junior National Team Head Coach Rob Browning has selected a team based off of not only physical talent, but also based on intangible assets players bring to the court.

“In terms of skill, I like players who can control the ball well and play at a fast tempo,” Browning said. “Players who are generalists (can do everything well) with specialization in a few skills are what I look for. As for intangibles, aside from being a good person, I think there are two main characteristics. First is the desire to be great. Second is the discipline to get there.”

The tryouts for the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team were held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs on May 20-22. A 12-player roster was selected after narrowing down the 20-member training team. The top three teams of this year’s NORCECA tournament will qualify for the 2010 FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship.

After tryouts and training, the time is here for the U.S. team to pull together in full force as it competes in hopes of winning gold at the NORCECA Women’s Junior (U-20) Continental Championship. The team consists of several girls who have been in the High Performance pipeline before, but there also are a few newcomers. Browning expressed that even though previous experience in international competition will be helpful, the girls who will be having their first encounter with international play will fit in just fine. Everyone brings something positive and collectively, the team will mesh together and become a tough team for the other countries to face.

“Our biggest strength without question is that we have a bunch of girls who like to compete and who seem to work very well together,” Browning said. “One area in which we have made a point of pushing the girls to improve is serving. At all levels serving is an important weapon that helps dictate how a match will go.”

The setters, Molly Kreklow (Delano, Minn.) and Carly Thomas (Swansea, Ill.), can both get the job done on the court and do well running a fast offense. Kreklow is the only spring-enrolled college player on the team. She graduated high school early and has a spring season under her belt at the University of Missouri. Thomas was named Best Setter at the 2008 NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Championship and led team to a gold-medal finish.

Middle blockers Haleigh Hampton (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Carly Wopat (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Samantha Cash (San Diego, Calif.) have shown a lot of promise in their attacking and blocking. Wopat signed with Stanford University and Hampton will be playing at Long Beach State. Both of these players can also play opposite if needed. Cash has verbally committed to Pepperdine University.

Copyrighted by: USA Volleyball Head Coach Rob Browning facing the U.S. Women's Junior National Team in May 2010 Outside hitters Stephanie Holthus (Elgin, Ill.), Kelly Reeves (San Diego, Calif.) and Rachel Williams (Los Gatos, Calif.) are the ball-control players who also excel in a fast offense. Sam Wopat (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Jane Croson (Lakewood, Calif.) have big arms and can terminate from the right or left side. Holthus has signed with Northwestern University (Ill.). Twins and Carly Wopat, and Williams have signed with Stanford University. Croson has committed to University of Hawaii and is known along with her beach partner, Summer Ross, as the youngest pair to ever compete in the FIVB Junior (U-21) Beach World Championships.

Opposite Liz McMahon (Liberty Township, Ohio) can be very effective as a hitter and blocker. She puts up an imposing block. The 6-6 attacker has verbally committed to University of Illinois.

Jennifer Bonilla (Reseda, Calif.) will handle the libero duties. She excels in both serve receive and digging. Bonilla has signed with University of Illinois.

Thomas, Bonilla, and the Wopat twins competed in 2009 for the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team at the 2009 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship. Bonilla, Kreklow, Reeves, Thomas and Carly Wopat were members of the 2008 U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team that won gold at the NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Championship.

Hampton, Cash, Holthus and Williams will experience their first international play with a USA National Pipeline Team at this year’s NORCECA Women’s Junior Continental Championship. With the talented line-up, the team is bound to put on competitive play. Browning feels that the team is at no disadvantage as they are heading down to Mexico.

“The clearest advantage is that it is close to home, especially for our players in Southern California,” Browning said. “I don't really know of any disadvantages. In fact, the mindset I want our team to have is that the conditions will be perfect for us to play our best. Certainly the conditions will not be any different for us than they are for the other teams.”

The U.S. Women’s Junior National Team is playing in Group-C and will open the tournament on July 5 against El Salvador. The U.S. team is scheduled to face Guadalupe for its second match on July 6. For the team’s third match, there is an anticipated rival match against Mexico on July 7. Depending on the results the U.S. brings, it could advance to the quarterfinals or classification round which will be on July 8. The semifinal round for the higher ranked winning teams will be on July 9. The final classification and medal-round matches will occur on July 10.

Coaches Matt McShane and Jenn Carey are the chosen assistant coaches accompanying Browning in guiding the team to the NORCECA Women’s Junior Continental Championship. The chemistry amongst the coaching staff will be major asset to the U.S. team.

“I am very excited to have Matt McShane and Jenn Carey as my assistant coaches,” Browning said. “I feel like I have been working with them for a long time. They contribute tremendously to the success of our team and they are fun to be with.”

Browning expects the usual suspects to be strong teams: Cuba, Canada, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Mexico. However, the team has set their attainable goal of leaving with a gold medal from the tournament. The team will arrive in Mexico on July 4 to prepare for two days of training.

“Our main goal is to win the tournament,” Browning said. “There is no question about that goal. The way to get there is to have other goals that are performance related, like winning the serve/serve receive battle and minimizing our errors. All of these girls will be great teammates and will work together to achieve our common goal of winning the 2010 NORCECA Continental Championship. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work with them.”

Tags: Carly Thomas, Carly Wopat, Haleigh Hampton, Jane Croson, Jennifer Bonilla, Junior Nationals, Kelly Reeves, Liz McMahon, Molly Kreklow, NORCECA, NORCECA Continental Championship, NORCECA Girls' Youth Continental Championship, NORCECA Women's Junior Continental Championship, Rachel Williams, Rob Browning, Sam Wopat, Samantha Cash, Stephanie Holthus, U.S. Women's Junior National Team, U.S. Women's Junior National Training Team