U.S. Women Fall to Poland in Four Sets in 2025 VNL Week Two

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 19, 2025) –The U.S. Women’s National Team started strong before falling to Poland, 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-18) in 2025 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) play on Thursday in Belgrade, Serbia.

The U.S. (2-4) will have a day off before facing the Netherlands on Saturday, June 21 at 7:30 a.m. PT. Poland moved to 5-1 with the win.

Outside hitter Logan Eggleston led the U.S. with 24 points on 22 kills and two blocks. Middle blocker Brionne Butler led all players with six blocks, adding five kills and two aces to finish with 13 points. Libero Morgan Hentz played a tremendous match on defense, leading the team with nine digs and making multiple great plays to keep points alive.

The U.S. totaled 12 blocks to just seven for Poland and were nearly even in kills (50-48 Poland), but yielded 10 aces, including five in the fourth set.

“We would want to go back and pass some better balls at the end,” said Eggleston, when asked what she would have liked her team to do differently. “We lost the serve and pass game, which is super important, so we will get back in the gym and work hard to get ready for Holland on Saturday.”

“We just need to be more consistent. That is the frustrating piece. I don’t feel like we competed at a level that we held ourselves to the last three or four matches that we played,” remarked head coach Erik Sullivan. “We need to get back and regroup a little bit and make sure we are ready for our next match. Serve and pass is always important. We can’t give up three- and four-point runs and expect to be in sets, so that’s always going to be a focus for us.”

Outside hitter Sarah Franklin scored eight points on seven kills and a block playing the final two sets, opposite Logan Lednicky earned her eight points on six kills and two blocks, and middle blocker Molly McCage tallied five points on three kills and a pair of blocks. Amber Igiede and Roni Jones-Perry each scored two points, and Olivia Babcock and setter Ella Powell each had one.

With its fifth block of the first set, the second by Lednicky, the U.S. took a 15-11 lead. Poland evened the score at 16 before Eggleston scored three consecutive points to give the U.S. the lead for good. Two Butler kills, an Eggleston ace, and a free ball that fell in between four Poland players after a great dig by Hentz sealed the set victory.

Eggleston scored nine points on seven kills and two aces, Lednicky scored six points on four kills and a pair of blocks, and Butler added two kills and two blocks for four points.

An early ace gave Poland a 7-4 lead in the second set. An Eggleston kill on a back row attack gave the U.S. its last lead of the set, 13-12. Lednicky scored by putting a ball through the block to even the score at 17, but Poland finished the set on an 8-3 run.

Poland led for most of set three. Franklin, playing her first set of the match, scored after a great up by Hentz for an 8-7 lead and again when she hit the end line on an out-of-system attack to give the U.S. its final lead of the set, 9-8. A Butler ace closed the gap to one, 12-11, and another Butler block cut the deficit to two later in the set, 17-15. Poland ended the set on an 8-2 run. Franklin scored four points on three kills and a block.

Butler’s sixth block of the match, after another great save by Hentz, and ace gave the U.S. a 9-5 lead in the fourth set before Poland scored the next five points. Eggleston’s 23rd point of the match put the U.S. ahead 15-14 but Poland again scored five consecutive points to take control of the set. Eggleston recorded six kills in the set and Franklin added four.

Week Two Roster for 2025 VNL

U.S. Women’s Preliminary Roster for 2025 VNL
No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)
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)
13 Amber Igiede (MB, 6-3, Baton Rouge, La., Univ. of Hawaii, Delta)
16 Dana Rettke (MB, 6-8, Riverside, Ill., Univ. of Wisconsin, Great Lakes)
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)
24 Olivia Babcock (Opp, 6-4, Los Angeles, Calif., Pitt, Southern California)
27 Ella Powell (S, 6-0, Fayetteville, Ark., Univ. of Washington, Delta)
28 Logan Lednicky (Opp, 6-3, Sugar Land, Texas, Univ. of Texas A&M, Lone Star)
29 Molly McCage (MB, 6-3, Spring, Texas, Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
32 Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres (S, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Texas, Aloha)
33 Logan Eggleston (OH, 6-2, Brentwood, Tenn., Univ. of Texas, Southern)

Reserve
15 Rachel Fairbanks (S, 6-0, Tustin, Calif., Pitt, Southern California)

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

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-xx)
June 21 at 7:30 a.m. vs. Netherlands
June 22 at 7:30 a.m. vs. France

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)