COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Volleyball announces the 12-player roster that will represent the United States at the 2017 FIVB Girls U18 World Championship, Aug. 18-27, in Rosario and Santa Fe, Argentina.
The U.S. Girls Youth National Team has been preparing for the past two weeks at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The players are all products of the USAV High Performance pipeline.
At A Glance
Libero: Brooke Nuneviller
Setters: Mica Allison, Nicklin Hames, Selina Xu
Middles: Holly Campbell, Madison Horin, Kendall Kipp,
Outside Hitters: Logan Eggleston, Skylar Fields, Madi Kubik, Taylor Landfair, Madison Williams
“They’re always the best in the gym,” said Head Coach Jim Stone, “and I tell them all the time, ‘you’re big and tall and made of steel, but now you get to play other players that are also big and tall and made of steel.’ Watching just how teams can accept that challenge and learn and grow as a player and as a person; I think that’s the thing I find most intriguing and most enjoyable about the whole process.
“I think everybody’s looking forward to what’s in front of us.”
Stone is leading his fifth U.S. team at the FIVB World Championships over the past 10 years.
In 2013, the U.S. Girls Youth National Team made history, becoming the first U.S. volleyball team of either gender to win a world championship medal at the youth or junior level, taking the silver after losing to China in the final in Thailand. In 2015, the U.S. earned another silver in the World Championship final against Italy.
The U.S., ranked No. 1 in the world, will compete in Pool B along with Russia, the 2017 European U18 champions; Brazil, the 2017 South American champions, plus, Belarus and Mexico.
Pool Matches
Date … Matches
Aug. 19 … USA v. Russia
Aug. 20 … USA v. Belarus
Aug. 21 … USA v. Brazil
Aug. 22 … USA v. Mexico
“I think we have a lot of work to do,” libero Brooke Nuneviller said. “We have a lot to get to if we want to end up with our goal of getting a gold medal. We’ve never done that as a youth team. So I think that we need to work really, really hard if we want to get that goal, but I think we can do it if we push ourselves hard enough.”
Outside hitter Madi Kubik is looking forward to the opportunity.
“Not that many 16-year-olds can say they’ve been to South America to go compete for their country,” she said. “That’s an exciting experience for anyone to have. I think the playing level in our gym is very eye opening coming from our club and our high school teams. I’d say that my goals are to go compete, represent our country well and go win that gold medal.”
Scrimmages
The team has left for Brazil for additional practice and scrimmage with the U18 national teams from Italy (Aug. 12), Japan (Aug. 13) and Brazil (Aug. 15).
“You know, the scariest part as a coach is when you’re sending your team out on the floor for the first international match and it’s the first round of the world championship,” Stone said. “So we’ll get to play three matches in Brazil against Brazil, Japan, and Italy, who are always some of the top five, six teams in the world, so I think it will be good experience for our players before we actually start the World Championship.
“Then we open up with Russia, the European champions, so yeah, we have our work cut out for us.”
Regions
The players represent nine USAV Regions, including three from Great Lakes, two from Southern and Lone Star, and one from Arizona, Iowa, North Texas, Northern California and Southern California.
Four players earned gold medals at the 2016 NORCECA U18 Continental Championship in Puerto Rico, including Eggleston, Fields, Kipp and Nuneviller.
2017 U.S. Girls Youth National Team
# — Name (Position, Ht., Hometown, Club, Region)
3 – Brooke Nuneviller* (L, 5-11, Chandler, Ariz., Aspire, Arizona)
4 – Mica Allison (S/Opp, 6-0, White Heath, Ill., Illini Elite, Great Lakes)
5 – Nicklin Hames (S, 5-11, Maryville, Tenn., K2 Volleyball, Southern)
6 – Selina Xu (S, 6-0, San Carlos, Calif., Vision Volleyball, Northern California)
8 – Madison Williams (OH, 6-1, Mansfield, Texas, Texas Advantage, North Texas)
9 – Logan Eggleston* (OH, 6-3, Franklin, Tenn., Alliance, Southern)
11 – Skylar Fields* (OH, 6-2, Missouri City, Texas, Houston Juniors, Lone Star)
14 – Madi Kubik (OH, 6-2, West Des Moines, Iowa, Central Iowa Select, Iowa)
15 – Kendall Kipp* (M/Opp, 6-5, Newport Beach, Calif., Laguna Beach, Southern California)
16 – Madison Horin (M, 6-3, Munster, Ind., First Alliance, Great Lakes)
17 – Holly Campbell (M, 6-3, Austin, Texas, Austin Juniors, Lone Star)
19 – Taylor Landfair (OH, 6-4, Plainfield, Ill., Elite Sports Performance, Great Lakes)
* Member of the 2016 U.S. Girls Youth National Team
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Jim Stone
Asst. Coach: Michelle Chatman-Smith
Asst. Coach: Michael Gee
Head of Delegation: Lizzy Briones
Technical Coordinator: Herb Summer