U.S. Women Continue Winning Ways at VNL with Sweep of Bulgaria

ARLINGTON, Texas (May 31, 2024) – After two days off from competition, the U.S. Women’s National Team returned to the court and won its third consecutive match in Volleyball Nations League preliminary play with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-22) triumph over Bulgaria on Friday night.

The U.S. Women (4-2), ranked fourth in the latest FIVB world rankings, come back tomorrow to face first-place (7-0) and world’s third-ranked Poland at 2:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. CT. Poland has dropped just one set in this year’s VNL and defeated the U.S. in last year’s VNL bronze medal match. Bulgaria, which broke a four-match losing streak with a 3-2 win over Korea on Wednesday, fell to 1-5.

MATCH STATISTICS (PDF)

Outside hitter and Texas native Avery Skinner had a tremendous match in her home state, leading all players with 17 kills and 19 points, adding 10 digs and a team-high four successful receptions.

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Outside hitter Ali Frantti, who was one of three U.S. players to total 10 points, is embracing her veteran status. “I want to help the new women out. It feels weird to be older, but I am trying to take on more of a leadership role and I am excited for it,” said Frantti, who was playing with former Penn State teammates Micha Hancock and Haleigh Washington. “In the second set, I was looking at the lineup and thinking this was six, seven, eight years ago we were doing this. It has been great to play with Micah and Haleigh for all these years. It’s really a special moment for us.”

Middle blocker Washington finished with 10 points, hitting .615 with nine kills and one error in 13 total attacks, while setter Hancock led the team with three blocks, scored seven points, totaled 10 digs, and ran the offense that hit .453 with a 20-kill advantage, 51-31.

Though she usually plays outside hitter, Khalia Lanier made her debut at opposite for the U.S. Women and finished with 10 points on 10 kills while scoring the winning point in each of the final two sets.

“Khalia did a really nice job in a position she doesn’t play very much,” U.S. Head Coach Karch Kiraly said. “Credit to (setter) Micha Hancock for having confidence in Khalia to get that kill to finish out the second set and the third.”

“I’m happy to get an opportunity, wherever it is,” Lanier said. “I think I started with two errors. I definitely had to work out some kinks. But it feels good to be on the court, no matter what position, in a USA jersey.”

Libero Morgan Hentz was one of three U.S. players with double-digit digs, leading all players with 11. Middle Asjia O’Neal finished with seven points on five kills and joining Skinner and Frantti with two blocks.

The U.S. finished with a dominating 19-7 advantage in kills in the first set, more than offsetting six blocks by Bulgaria. Frantti and Skinner each registered five kills with Washington adding four.

A Hancock block gave the U.S. an early 8-3 lead and her dump shot for a score later in the set keyed a 5-1 run that extended the lead to seven points, 20-13.

Bulgaria jumped out to an 11-8 lead in the second set, prompting a timeout by Kiraly. The U.S. responded by scoring six of the next seven points to take a 14-12 lead. The run was highlighted by a back set from Washington to Skinner, who put the ball away to even the set at 12 and a tough O’Neal serve that led to Skinner scoring on an overpass to conclude the run.

Bulgaria’s ninth block of the match cut the lead to three points, 22-19, but O’Neal recorded a block going from the right-side pin all the way outside and followed that with a kill to raise the lead back to five points. After Bulgaria fought off three set points, the U.S. finished the set on a kill from Lanier.

Skinner led all players with seven points in the second set on six kills and a block, and Washington added five points. O’Neal and Lanier each contributed three kills in the set.

With the U.S. using its sixth different lineup in as many matches, Kiraly was encouraged by what he saw through two sets. “We haven’t been together that long and it’s not that easy. It’s the same for all the teams in VNL. You have to get it together quickly and see if we can run a really smooth offense. So far, we’ve seen some really nice glimpses,” he said.

Asked what he would deem a success apart from winning, Kiraly stated, “One thing is always that we look the same no matter whether we won the point or lost the point. No matter how great or how poor we were, we flush that and bring a really good version of ourselves to the next point.”

The U.S. trailed for much of the third set, taking its first lead, 16-15, on back-to-back Bulgaria hitting errors. A Hancock kill on a dump followed by consecutive aces made it 19-16, but Bulgaria stormed back by scoring the next four points to retake the lead.

Trailing by one point, the U.S. finished the match on a 6-2 run with Skinner and Lanier each recording three kills.

Volleyball Nations League is the world’s premier annual international indoor volleyball tournament. The top 16 teams in the world play four matches a week for three weeks of preliminary competition. The top eight teams at the end of the preliminaries will go to the Final Round.

U.S. Women’s Roster for 2024 VNL Week 2
No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)

1 Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Penn State Univ., Oklahoma)
2 Jordyn Poulter (S, 6-2, Aurora, Colo., Univ. of Illinois, Rocky Mountain)
3 Avery Skinner (OH, 6-1, Katy, Texas, Univ. of Kentucky and Baylor, Lone Star)
4 Justine Wong-Orantes (L, 5-6, Cypress, Calif., Univ. of Nebraska, Southern California)
5 Ali Frantti (OH, 6-1, Spring Grove, Ill., Penn State, Great Lakes)
6 Morgan Hentz (L, 5-9, Lakeside Park, Ky., Stanford Univ., Pioneer)
10 Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Univ. of Nebraska, Great Plains)
12 Jordan Thompson (Opp, 6-4, Edina, Minn., Univ. of Cincinnati, North Country)
15 Haleigh Washington (MB, 6-3, Colorado Springs, Colo., Penn State Univ., Rocky Mountain)
16 Dana Rettke (MB, 6-8, Riverside, Ill., Univ. of Wisconsin, Great Lakes)
18 Asjia O’Neal (MB, 6-3, Southlake, Texas, Univ. of Texas, North Texas)
22 Kathryn Plummer (OH, 6-6, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
24 Chiaka Ogbogu (MB, 6-2, Coppell, Texas, Univ. of Texas, North Texas)
29 Khalia Lanier (OH, 6-2, Scottsdale, Ariz., Univ. of Southern California, Arizona)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Tama Miyashiro
Second Assistant Coaches: Marv Dunphy, Alfee Reft, Erin Virtue
Performance Analyst: Rianne Verhoek
Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
Team Doctor: Lori Boyajian-O’Neill, William Briner, James Suchy
Consultant Coaches: Sue Enquist, Katy Stanfill
Team Manager: Coley Pawlikowski
Sports Dietitian: Shawn Hueglin
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Brandon Siakel
General Managers: Peter Vint and John Crawley

U.S. Women’s Schedule for the 2024 Volleyball Nations League
Matches will be shown live and on-demand on VolleyballWorld.tv
(All times PDT)

Week 1 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
May 15 USA def Thailand 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-12, 25-18)
May 16 China def USA 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-19)
May 17 Brazil def USA 3-1 (25-22, 25-16, 18-25, 25-19)
May 19 USA def Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18)

Week 2 in Arlington, Texas
May 28 USA def Canada 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 25-20)
May 31 USA def Bulgaria 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-22)
June 1 at 2:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. CT USA vs Poland
June 2 at 1 p.m. PT/3 p.m. CT USA vs Türkiye

Week 3 in Fukuoka, Japan
June 10 at 11:30 p.m. USA vs France
June 12 at 8 p.m. USA vs Netherlands
June 14 at 11:30 p.m. USA vs Italy
June 16 at 2:45 a.m. USA vs Japan

Final Round: June 20-23 in Bangkok, Thailand.