U.S. Women’s Winter Training Block Starts Jan. 17

Bill Kauffman
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 10, 2011) – The U.S. Women’s National Team will hold its winter training block from Jan. 17 to mid-April at the American Sports Centers in Anaheim, Calif.

U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) will have at least 12 players participating in the three-month session. All but one of the players concluded their collegiate eligibility last month, while the remaining player concluded college eligibility following the 2009 season. Additional players may be added to the roster during the course of the training block.

The roster includes setters Carli Lloyd (Bonsall, Calif.), Jenna Hagglund (West Chester, Ohio) and Lexi Zimmerman (Barrington, Ill.); middle blockers Ashley Benson (Bloomington, Ind.), Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) and Naomi Johnson (Bloomington, Minn.); outside hitters Becky Perry (Austin, Texas), Kari Pestolesi (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Julianne Piggott (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Kaitlin Sather (Santa Rosa, Calif.); opposite Kindra Carlson (Eaton, Colo.); and libero Kayla Banwarth (Dubuque, Iowa). Pestolesi will also see training time at libero.

U.S. Women’s National Training Team Roster
Player (Position, Hometown, College)
Kayla Banwarth (L, Dubuque, Iowa, Nebraska)
Ashley Benson (MB, Bloomington, Ind., Indiana)
Kindra Carlson (Opp, Eaton, Colo., Washington)
Lauren Gibbemeyer (MB, St. Paul, Minn., Minnesota)
Jenna Hagglund (S, West Chester, Ohio, Washington)
Naomi Johnson (MB, Bloomington, Minn., Northwestern)
Carli Lloyd (S, Bonsall, Calif., California)
Becky Perry (OH, Austin, Texas, Washington)
Kari Pestolesi (OH/L, Huntington Beach, Calif., UC Irvine)
Juliane Piggott (OH, Newport Beach, Calif., UC Irvine)
Kaitlin Sather (OH, Santa Rosa, Calif., UCLA)
Lexi Zimmerman (S, Barrington, Ill., Michigan)
Head Coach: Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Assistant Coaches: Karch Kiraly (San Clemente, Calif.) and Paula Weishoff (Irvine, Calif.)

Kayla Banwarth
Banwarth, a 2010 Big 12 honorable mention selection, ended her four-year career at Nebraska with a school-record 1,706-career digs. As a senior, she averaged 4.81 digs per set and was held to single-digit digs in a match just twice in 2010.

Ashley Benson
Benson earned her second consecutive AVCA All-America honor by being named to the first-team as a senior in 2010. She helped Indiana to its first-ever NCAA Sweet 16 appearance last fall after ranking near the tops in the nation for hitting efficiency (.408) and blocks per set (1.40).

Kindra Carlson
Carlson earned her second consecutive AVCA All-American Second-Team honor in 2010 after averaging 4.17 kills per set as a senior with a .317 attack efficiency. She concluded her career with 1,251 kills for eighth-most in school history.

Lauren Gibbemeyer
Gibbemeyer, who missed out on AVCA All-America qualification due to a mid-season injury in 2010, ended her collegiate career by setting a Minnesota school-record 593 total blocks and finishing ninth in career kills with 1,421. She was named 2009 AVCA All-America First-Team and followed it up with a unanimous selection in 2010 to the All-Big 10 First-Team.

Jenna Hagglund
Hagglund, a 2010 Pac-10 honorable mention selection, was a four-year starting setter at University of Washington and compiled the second-most assists in school history with 5,326. She helped the Huskies to two NCAA regional final appearances and four straight 20-win seasons.

Naomi Johnson
Johnson totaled 893 kills and 331 blocks during her four-year career at Northwestern University, which culminated in being named AVCA All-Mideast Region. She helped the Wildcats to the 2010 NCAA Division I Tournament second round after posting a team-best 15 kills against Arizona in the first round.

Carli Lloyd
Lloyd, a three-time AVCA All-American, was named the 2010 AVCA Division I National Player of the Year after leading California to the NCAA Division I title match before falling to Penn State. During her final college season, she averaged 11.83 assists, 0.97 kills, 252 digs and 1.08 blocks per set. For her career, she totaled 5,697 assists, 424 kills, 1,094 digs, 398 blocks and Lloyd is the only player in USA Volleyball history to be named to the U.S. Women’s National A2 Team three consecutive years. She helped lead the USA Blue Team to the gold medal at the USA Volleyball Open National Championships in 2010.

Becky Perry
Perry earned selected to the 2010 AVCA All-America Second Team after posting a career-best 3.74 kills per set average as a senior to rank 10th in the Pac-10. She concluded her career with 1,229-career kills for 10th-best in University of Washington history.

Kari Pestolesi
Pestolesi became the first player in UC Irvine history to earn four All-Big West First-Team honors following her selection as a senior in 2010. Last fall she led the team with 301 kills (2.92 kill average) while also finishing second in digs with 352 and third in aces with 15.

Julianne Piggott
Piggott, who transferred to UC Irvine from UCLA as a junior in 2009, earned AVCA All-American Honorable Mention in 2009. She participated in the U.S. Women’s National A2 Program in 2010 and helped USA A2 Blue to the gold medal at the USA Volleyball Open National Championships.

Kaitlin Sather
Sather, who completed her collegiate eligibility at UCLA following the 2009 season, became the 12th Bruin player to record at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. She was named AVCA Honorable Mention All-American her senior season.

Lexi Zimmerman
Zimmerman was named to the 2010 AVCA All-America Second Team and was a three-time AVCA All-American. She concluded her career with a Michigan-record 5,903-career assists for sixth-best overall in Big Ten history.

Tags: Hugh McCutcheon, Karch Kiraly, Paula Weishoff, U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team