U.S. Women Drop Five-Setter to China to Close Out 2025 VNL Week Three

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 13, 2025) – The U.S. Women’s National Team completed Volleyball Nations League (VNL) preliminary play with a 3-2 (18-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 18-16) loss to China on Sunday night at the UT Arlington College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

The U.S. finished 7-5, including 3-1 in front of the home crowd, and qualified for the VNL finals with an eighth-place finish. The U.S. will travel to Poland for the VNL finals where it will meet top-seeded Italy, which finished play with a 12-0 record.

“Giving an opportunity to some of the less experienced players is one of our big goals this summer, so I am really happy we got that. I love the way that we battled tonight,” remarked U.S. head coach Erik Sullivan. “We obviously had some lulls here and there. I thought China woke up and played some really good volleyball and challenged us. I love how we responded to that. It would have been very easy for us to get in that fifth game and not fight. I think when we’ve been in those big moments, we have done a nice job competing.”

The U.S. led in blocks (10-9) and aces (4-1), while China held the edge in kills (67-64).

Outside hitter Sarah Franklin led all players with 32 points on 29 kills and three blocks. She finished with 11 successful receptions and four digs.

“We are going to learn a lot from this and continue to grow. We saw a lot of really good things out there on the court. China did a really good job changing up in the third, fourth and fifth sets. We just need to be better at responding at that,” said Franklin, who is competing in her first VNL this year. “It’s been really fun watching our teammates cheering on all of us who are new this year.”

Opposite Taylor Mims scored her first VNL point when she entered the match in the third set, finishing the night with 10 points on nine kills and a block. Middle blocker Asjia O’Neal scored nine points on seven kills and two blocks, and outside Roni Jones-Perry also contributed nine points with seven kills and two aces. Jones-Perry led the team with 13 successful receptions and added 11 digs.

As it did throughout VNL play, the U.S. got tremendous play from the libero position as Morgan Hentz recorded 20 digs, eight more than the next highest total by any player. Opposite Danielle Cuttino totaled eight points on six kills and two blocks, and middle blocker Brionne Butler scored seven points on five kills and two blocks.

A Franklin block gave the U.S. an 11-5 lead in the first set and the lead was still four points, 15-11, when Jones-Perry scored. China then went on a 5-1 run to even the set at 16. A Franklin kill gave the U.S. the lead back and then Fairbanks served for five consecutive points, which featured an ace and two more serves that turned into overpasses. Franklin led all players with seven points on five kills and two blocks.

A great dig by Hentz led to a Cuttino out-of-system kill that gave the U.S. an 8-6 lead in the second set. Another Fairbanks ace, a China hitting error and a Franklin kill on an overpass concluded a 5-0 U.S. run that made it 11-6. China had a 7-1 run, but the U.S. responded with its own 7-2 streak to take a 20-14 lead. Franklin scored on back-to-back points, keyed by digs from O’Neal to complete the run.

Franklin’s seventh kill and eighth point of the set gave the U.S. a 21-16 lead and Butler scored three of the team’s final four points of the set. Butler’s block made it 22-17, her kill on an overpass gave the U.S. set point, and she ended the set with a kill that went straight down.

Mims scored her first VNL point to even the third set at 16. It was the last tie of the set as China scored the next two points and led the rest of the set. The set win clinched sixth place for China in the VNL standings and set up a quarterfinal match with Japan at the VNL finals. Franklin recorded six more kills to raise her match total to 18 kills and 21 points through three sets.

China took a 9-4 lead in the fourth set and led by as many as eight points, 19-11. China took advantage of the U.S. passing at just a 30 percent rate in the set. Franklin again led the squad with six kills.

The U.S. led 5-3 in the deciding set before China ran off three points in a row. The set was tied nine times, including every other point from 10-10 through 16-16. Mims recorded a block to tie the set at 12 and a kill to even the score at 14-14. An O’Neal kill tied the set at 15 and Franklin’s 29th kill and 32nd point after a great up by Jones-Perry evened the score at 16-16. Mims scored five points on four kills and her block, and Franklin added five more kills.

“I learned a lot,” added Sullivan, who was coaching the U.S. women for the first time in the VNL. “Any time we get these opportunities and experiences to play, I think we learn a lot not just about the personnel on our team, but also our culture and what kind of team we are with a bunch of systems we have implemented. We also learn about our weaknesses as you get exposed in some things. It’s awesome to be able to get back in the gym and tighten that stuff up and try to get better.”

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 Results: Arlington, Texas
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 USA def. Canada, 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 19-17)
July 13 China def. USA, 3-2 (18-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 18-16)

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)