U.S. Women Slow Down Slovenia at Qualifier

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 19, 2023) – The U.S. Women’s National Team improved to 3-0 at the FIVB Road to Paris Olympic Qualifier as it defeated Slovenia, 3-1 (25-13, 25-13, 20-25, 25-13) on Tuesday in Łódź, Poland.

At the qualifier, eight teams are each playing seven round-robin matches over nine days. The top two teams will qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games.

The U.S. Women will play Korea (0-3) at 5:30 a.m. PT on Wednesday.

The U.S. Women led Slovenia in kills (52-34), blocks (15-10) and aces (5-3). The U.S. scored 23 points on Slovenia’s errors and committed 17.

Middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu and opposite Annie Drews led the U.S. in scoring with 12 points apiece.

Ogbogu, who started the entire match, scored on a match-high seven blocks and five kills.

“Shout out to Slovenia for pushing us and forcing us to find different solutions,” Ogbogu said. “We’ve talked a lot about establishing ourselves as a good block and defense team, and I thought we did a high-level job of executing our defensive game plan. It’s also very easy to block whem my pin hitters set it up for me, so shout out to them too.”

Drews, who entered the match in the second set and stayed in the rest of the time, scored on a match-high 11 kills and one ace.

Outside hitters Kelsey (Robinson) Cook and Kathryn Plummer each scored nine points. Cook, who started the first, second and fourth sets, scored on seven kills, one block and one ace. Cook led in successful receptions with six.

Plummer, who started the third and fourth sets, scored on eight kills (.583 hitting efficienc) and one block.

Outside hitter Jordan Larson scored seven points started the match at scored seven points on five kills and two blocks.

Outside hitter Ali Frantti played as a substitute and scored five points on four kills and one ace. Middle Haleigh Washington played as a substitute and scored five points on two kills and three blocks.

Starting opposite Jordan Thompson and starting middle Dana Rettke each scored four points on four kills.

Starting setter Lauren Carlini combined with backup Asley Evans to set the team to a .342 hitting efficiency. Carlini also scored four points on two kills, one block and one ace. Evans scored with an ace.

Libero Justing Wong-Orantes was credited with 10 digs.

Matches will be shown on VolleyballWorld.tv.

U.S. Women’s Roster for 2023 Road to Paris Olympic Qualifier

No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)
4C 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)
28 Ashley Evans (S, 6-1, Liberty Township, Ohio, Purdue, Ohio Valley)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Tama Miyashiro
Second Assistant Coaches: Alfee Reft, Erin Virtue, Marv Dunphy
Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
Performance Analyst: Rianne Verhoek
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Brandon Siakel
Team Manager: Coley Pawlikowski
Team Doctor: Mark Hutchinson
Athletic Trainer: Jackie Chan
Nutritionist: Shawn Hueglin
Massage Therapist: Luis Hernandez
Mental Performance Coach: Sue Enquist
Performance Analyst: Matthieu Van Der Broeke

U.S. Schedule for the Road to Paris Olympic Qualifier
(all times PT)
Sept. 16 USA def Colombia, 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-13)
Sept. 17 USA def Thailand, 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-18)
Sept. 19 USA def Slovenia, 3-1 (25-13, 25-13. 20-25, 25-13)
Sept. 20 at 5:30 a.m. USA vs Korea (world No. 36)
Sept. 22 at 11:45 a.m. USA vs Italy (world No. 5)
Sept. 23 at 8:30 a.m. USA vs Poland (world No. 7)
Sept. 24 at 8:30 a.m. USA vs Germany (world No. 12)