U.S. Women's National Team Stops Dominican Republic at 2025 VNL

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 10, 2025) – The U.S. Women’s National Team earned its second win as many nights with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-20) victory over the Dominican Republic in a key Volleyball Nations League (VNL) matchup on Thursday at the UT Arlington College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

The U.S. (6-4) will have a day off before meeting Canada on Saturday, July 12, at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are still available for the final two U.S. matches. Buy your tickets now.

“Bunch of good things,” said U.S. head coach Erik Sullivan. “Loved that we got some production out of players off the bench. I feel like it’s a total group effort right now, both last night and tonight. We need to find some consistency. We still have too many periods of times when we’re just giving easy points away. We need to shore that up a little bit. But I’m overall very happy with how we’re competing right now. Playing a team that’s a little bit slower in their offensive tempo (compared to Thailand) gave us an opportunity to get in front of them a little bit more. Our middles did a really nice job of closing up the block and getting straight up and over.”

The U.S. led in each major statistical category, including 50-41 in kills, 14-10 in blocks and 6-4 in aces.

Outside hitter Avery Skinner again led the U.S., scoring 18 points on 15 kills, two aces and a block. Middle blocker Tia Jimerson made her VNL debut and shared the match-high with four blocks to go with nine kills and an ace for 14 points playing the first three sets.

“It’s just about us being in system and (Jordyn) Poulter being able to see the other side and feeding it to me. We have been working really hard in the gym and today we wanted to show our chemistry and hard work, and I think we did that,” stated Jimerson, who appreciated making her debut before the home crowd. “It’s amazing, and I am just so grateful for the opportunity to be out here and compete with these women.”

Poulter finished with 39 assists and an ace in leading the effective U.S. offense. Avery Skinner and fellow outside hitter Logan Eggleston helped the U.S. stay in system often with eight and five successful receptions, respectively. Libero Morgan Hentz led all players with 13 digs, many in spectacular fashion, and opposite Stephanie Samedy added 11 digs.

Eggleston ranked second on the team with 10 kills. Samedy scored eight points on six kills and two blocks, while middle blocker Brionne Butler shared the team lead with four blocks while also contributing a pair of kills. Madi Skinner scored five points on four kills and a block, and middle blocker Dana Rettke scored four points on two kills, a block and an ace while only playing the fourth set. Outside hitter Sarah Franklin also totaled four points with three kills and a block as seven different U.S. players recorded at least one block.

The Dominican Republic led 15-12 in the first set before the U.S. scored the next two points. From that point forward, neither team led by more than two points in the set. An Avery Skinner kill off a free ball set up by a strong Jimerson serve tied the set at 18 and a Butler block evened the score at 19.

Avery Skinner put a ball down on a back row attack after a good pick up by Hentz to finally give the U.S. the lead back, 23-22, but the Dominican Republic scored the final three points to take the set. Avery Skinner led the U.S. with seven points on six kills and a block.

Behind strong serving from Madi Skinner, the U.S. jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the second set. Avery Skinner scored on another back row attack, Jimerson scored on a slide, and back-to-back blocks by Franklin and Jimerson stretched a 6-2 lead to 10-2.

Trailing 12-3, the Dominican Republic successfully challenged asking for a block touch and it started a 7-2 run that cut the lead to four points, 14-10. After a U.S. timeout, Samedy scored to stop a four-point streak, but the U.S. gave up the next four points to shrink the lead to one, 15-14.

A Butler kill stemmed the tide and sent the U.S. on its own four-point run. A great cover by Samedy led to a kill by Eggleston, who had recently entered the match, and another Jimerson block put the lead back at five points, 19-14.

Two Jimerson kills, one on another slide and the second on an overpass made it 22-16 and a great Hentz dig set up Avery Skinner to tool the block for a seven-point lead. Avery Skinner again paced the U.S., this set with six points on four kills and two aces, while Jimerson contributed five points on three kills and a pair of blocks.

Another great Hentz dig set up an Eggleston kill down the line that staked the U.S. to a 7-3 lead to start the third set. A Poulter ace stretched the lead to six at 14-8 and a 6-2 run from that point, culminating with a Roni Jones-Perry ace off the tape, gave the U.S. a double-digit lead, 20-10.

The Dominican Republic scored the next five points but could get no closer. Strong serves by Eggleston on the final two points led to a Madi Skinner kill on an overpass and Jimerson’s fourth kill and seventh point of the set. Eggleston added five kills.

It was the Dominican Republic’s turn to start quickly in the fourth set as it took a 7-4 lead behind some sterling defense. The U.S. scored the next four points with a Butler block tying the score. Another Butler block capped a 7-1 run that put the U.S. ahead 11-8.

The lead was cut to one, 15-14, before the U.S. scored three consecutive points, the last when Rettke and Madi Skinner each got their hands on a block that forced the Dominican Republic to call its final timeout. Avery Skinner scored on back-to-back kills, the second against a triple block, to make it 22-17.

Great defense on the following point eventually led to a back row attack by Eggleston to extend the lead to six, 23-17. The Dominican Republic scored the next three points before a service error followed by an Eggleston kill ended the match.

U.S. Women’s Week Three Roster for 2025 VNL

No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)
2 Jordyn Poulter (S, 6-2, Aurora, Colo., Illinois, Rocky Mountain)
3 Avery Skinner (OH, 6-1, Katy, Texas, Kentucky, Lone Star)
6 Morgan Hentz (L, 5-9, Lakeside Park, Ky., Stanford Univ., Pioneer)
7 Lexi Rodriguez (L, 5-5, Sterling, Ill., Univ. of Nebraska Great Lakes)
8 Brionne Butler (MB, 6-4, Kendleton, Texas, Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
9 Madisen Skinner (OH, 6-2, Katy, Texas, Univ. of Kentucky and Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
11 Taylor Mims (Opp, 6-3, Billings, Mont., Washington St., Evergreen)
15 Rachel Fairbanks (S, 6-0, Tustin, Calif., Pitt, Southern California)
16 Dana Rettke (MB, 6-8, Riverside, Ill., Univ. of Wisconsin, Great Lakes)
18 Asjia O’Neal (MB, 6-3, Southlake, Texas, Texas, North Texas)
20 Danielle Cuttino (Opp, 6-4, Indianapolis, Ind., Purdue, Hoosier)
21 Roni Jones-Perry (OH, 6-0, West Jordan, Utah, BYU, Intermountain)
22 Sarah Franklin (OH, 6-4, Lake Worth, Fla., Univ. of Wisconsin, Florida)
25 Tia Jimerson (MB, 6-3, Sugar Hill, Ga., Univ. of Ohio, Southern)
33 Logan Eggleston (OH, 6-2, Brentwood, Tenn., Univ. of Texas, Southern)
34 Stephanie Samedy (Opp, 6-2, Clermont, Fla., Minnesota, Florida)

Coaches
Head Coach: Erik Sullivan
Assistant Coach: Mike Wall
Second Assistant Coach: Brandon Taliaferro
Second Assistant Coach: Tayyiba Haneef-Park
Second Assistant Coach: Joe Trinsey
Team Manager: Rob Browning
Team Doctors: William Briner, James Suchy, Chris Lee, Andrew Gregory
Physiotherapist: Kara Kessans
Physical Trainers: Shawn Hueglin, Shannon Boone
Mental Performance Coach: Andrea Becker, Katy Stanfill
Performance Analyst: Virginia Pham

Week 3 Schedule: Arlington, Texas (all times PDT)
Matches will be shown on VBTV, Big Ten Network and/or CBS Sports Network. Please check listings for BTN and CBSN.

July 9 USA def. Thailand, 3-1 (28-26, 21-25, 27-25, 25-15)
July 10 USA def. Dominican Republic, 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-20)
July 12 at 5:30 p.m. USA vs. Canada
July 13 at 5:00 p.m. USA vs. China

Week 1 Results: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
June 4 Italy def. USA, 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 30-28)
June 5 Brazil def. USA, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19)
June 6 Czechia def. USA, 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 27-25)
June 8 USA def Korea, 3-0 (25-13, 28-26, 25-17)

Week 2 Results: Belgrade, Serbia
June 18 USA def. Serbia, 3-2 (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 22-25, 15-11)
June 19 Poland def. USA, 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-18)
June 21 USA def. Netherlands, 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-19)
June 22 USA def. France, 3-2 (25-22, 26-24, 20-25, 21-25, 15-13)