U.S. Women Looking to Reclaim NORCECA Crown

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 28, 2023) – The U.S. Women’s National Team heads into the 2023 NORCECA Championship on Aug. 29-Sept. 3 in Quebec looking to reclaim the title it once held.

The U.S. Women have won the NORCECA Championship eight times, but not since 2015. The Dominican Republic won the last two editions in 2019 and ’21.

Tokyo Olympic MVP outside hitter Jordan Larson is part of a group of eight Olympic gold medalists on the roster: setter and Team Captain Micha Hancock, libero Justin Wong-Orantes, outside hitter Kelsey (Robinson) Cook, opposites Annie Drews and Jordan Thompson and middle blockers Chiaka Ogbogu and Haleigh Washington.

They will be joined by veterans Lauren Carlini and setter, Morgan Hentz at libero, Ali Frantti and Kathryn Plummer at outside hitter, and Dana Rettke at middle blocker.

Outside hitter Avery Skinner, who joined the top Women’s National Team this year, will make her NORCECA Championship debut.

The team is led by Head Coach Karch Kiraly, a three-time Olympian and three-time gold medalist as a player who took over as head coach of the U.S. Women in 2013.

Kiraly’s first assistant is Tama Miyashiro, who won a silver medal as a libero with the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team. The second assistants will be Alfee Reft and Erin Virtue.

Seven teams are competing in Quebec, divided in two groups: Pool A consisting of host Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico, while Cuba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and the United States are in Pool B.

The U.S. Women are ranked No. 3 in the world by the FIVB. Besides winning the NORCECA championship, the U.S. Women also want to use the tournament bolster their ranking points and prepare for the Road to Paris Olympic qualifier on Sept. 16-24 in Poland.

NORCECA stands for North America, Central American and the Caribbean.

The tournament will be livestreamed on: cbc.ca/sports/streaming-schedule.

U.S. Women’s Preliminary Roster for 2023 NORCECA Championship

No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1C Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Penn State Univ., Oklahoma)
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)
7 Lauren Carlini (S, 6-2, Aurora, Ill., Univ. of Wisconsin, Great Lakes)
10 Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Univ. of Nebraska, Great Plains)
11 Annie Drews (Opp, 6-4, Elkhart, Ind., Purdue Univ., Hoosier)
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)
22 Kathryn Plummer (OH, 6-6, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
23 Kelsey (Robinson) Cook (OH, 6-2, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Univ. of Nebraska, Southern California)
24 Chiaka Ogbogu (MB, 6-2, Coppell, Texas, Univ. of Texas, North Texas)
27 Avery Skinner (OH, 6-1, Katy, Texas, Baylor, Lone Star)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Tama Miyashiro
Second Assistant Coaches: Alfee Reft, Erin Virtue
Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
Performance Analyst: Rianne Verhoek
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Brandon Siakel
Team Manager: Dana Burkholder
Team Doctor: William Stetson
Massage Therapist: Ricardo Brambila