COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (April 25, 2016) – USA Volleyball has selected Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as host for the 2016 NORCECA Women’s U-20 Continental Championship July 26-31. All matches will take place at the on-campus Don Taft University Center.

Earlier this year NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation) awarded the United States hosting rights to the event, which is contested biennially in every even-numbered year.

The tournament winner will qualify for the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U20 World Championship with dates and site to be announced later this year.

“USA Volleyball is excited to host this great event and bring it to Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,” said Lizzy Briones, USA Volleyball coordinator of High Performance and the staff liaison to the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team. “We look forward to this event where our athletes have the opportunity to qualify for their age-group FIVB World Championship next year.”

A maximum of teams are invited to participate in this year’s NORCECA Women’s U-20 Continental Championship. The qualified teams are the United States as host, the top five teams from the NORCECA Women’s U20 Continental ranking and the three zonal champions from AFECAVOL, ECVA and CAZOVA Women’s U20 Regional Championships.

Based on the 2016 qualified field, the countries scheduled to compete are:

  • United States (host)
  • Costa Rica
  • Cuba
  • Dominican Republic
  • French St. Martin (ECVA champion)
  • Guatemala (AFECAVOL vice-champion)
  • Haiti (CAZOVA champion)
  • Mexico
  • Puerto Rico

While the U.S. team has not been selected based on on-going tryouts across the country, the USA Volleyball High Performance Department can pull from players who won the silver medal at the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U18 World Championship. In the first year of a two-year cycle, these players are moving up to the U20 age group for players born in 1998 or 1999.

Team USA won the most recent NORCECA Women’s U20 Continental Championship, beating Cuba in straight sets in the championship match in Guatemala. Rhamat Alhasan, now a star at the University of Florida, was named the most valuable player and Best Blocker of the tournament while current University of Washington star Courtney Schwan was named Best Outside Hitter.

The U.S. Women’s Junior National Team has won the event six out of the nine editions, including five of the last six tournaments. Potential team members are rising up from the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team that finished with the silver medal at the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U18 World Championship.

The tournament schedule will be announced at a later date, as well as how to purchase match tickets.

About Nova Southeastern University (NSU): Located in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic research institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional degree levels. A private, not-for-profit institution with more than 26,000 students, NSU has campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, while maintaining a presence online globally. For more than 50 years, NSU has been awarding degrees in a wide range of fields, while fostering groundbreaking research and an impactful commitment to community. Classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is 1 of only 50 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification, and is also the largest private, not-for-profit institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education’s criteria as a Hispanic-serving Institution.