U.S. Women Sweep Thailand to Move to 6-0 at VNL

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 15, 2023) – The U.S. Women’s National Team continued its winning ways in Volleyball Nations League (VNL) preliminary round play with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-16) victory over Thailand on Thursday in Brasilia, Brazil.

The U.S. Women have Friday off before returning to the court to face Japan at 1:30 p.m. PT on June 17.

The U.S. Women ran off four consecutive points to break a 16-16 tie on the way to a 25-21 win in the opening set. After extending the lead to two sets to none, the U.S. scored the first six points and cruised to the third set victory and sweep of the match.

Five players registered at least seven kills, led by 14 from opposite Jordan Thompson, as the U.S. team overpowered Thailand’s defense. Outside hitters Avery Skinner (13) and Kathryn Plummer (10) recorded double-digit kill totals.

Middle blockers Asjia O’Neal and Haleigh Washington combined for 15 kills and nine blocks. O’Neal hit .667 with eight kills and no errors in 12 attacks, while leading the team with five blocks. Washington contributed seven kills and four blocks. Setter Micha Hancock had a team-leading three aces and 12 digs.

“We wanted to focus on our blocking on focus on our side. They have a really fast offense and run a lot of things at you so we just wanted to dial in on what we can do,” said O’Neal about facing the Thailand offense that U.S. Head Coach Karch Kiraly called ‘tricky.’ “You just have to calm down at the net. There are so many things coming at you, but someone is going to come into your zone at some point, so being good with your hitter is really the key that we found to be successful.”

Having made her senior national debut in the first week of VNL, O’Neal credits her teammates for her early success. “All the women are really welcoming so the culture is great. I was able to come in and just feel confident and comfortable in what I’m doing,” she described. “Having all these people around me, I feel like I can just go out and play and be myself.”

The U.S. led Thailand in kills (54-29), blocks (11-9) and aces (3-2).

Volleyball Nations League is the world’s premier annual international indoor volleyball tournament. The top 16 teams in the world play four matches a week for three weeks of preliminary competition. The top eight teams at the end of the preliminaries will go to the Final Round.

The United States will host the 2023 Women’s VNL Final Round on July 12-16 at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, which means the U.S. automatically qualifies.

Get tickets for the final round at tickets.volleyballworld.com/arlington.

U.S. Women’s Roster for 2023 VNL Week 2
No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)

1 Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Penn State Univ., Oklahoma)
3 Kendall White (L, 5-5, Zionsville, Ind., Penn State, Hoosier)
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)
8  Brionne Butler (MB, 6-4, Kendleton, Texas, Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
12 Jordan Thompson (Opp, 6-4, Edina, Minn., Univ. of Cincinnati, North Country)
14 Anna (Stevenson) Hall (MB, 6-2, Laurens S.C., Univ. of Louisville, Palmetto)
15 Haleigh Washington (MB, 6-3, Colorado Springs, Colo., Penn State Univ., Rocky Mountain)
20 Danielle Cuttino (Opp, 6-4, Indianapolis, Ind., Purdue, Hoosier)
22 Kathryn Plummer (OH, 6-6, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
26 Asjia O’Neal (MB, 6-3, Southlake, 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)
29 Khalia Lanier (OH, 6-2, Scottsdale, Ariz., Univ. of Southern California, Arizona)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Tama Miyashiro
Second Assistant Coaches: Marv Dunphy, Alfee Reft, Erin Virtue
Performance Analyst: Rianne Verhoek
Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
Team Doctor: William Briner
Team Manager: Coley Pawlikowski

U.S. Women’s Schedule for the 2023 VNL
All matches will be broadcast on volleyballworld.tv

Week 1 at Antalya, Türkiye
May 31: USA def. Serbia 3-2 (25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-12)
June 2: USA def. Italy 3-2 (25-16, 14-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9)
June 3: USA def. Korea 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-11)
June 4: USA def. Türkiye 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 11-25, 15-9)

Week 2 (all times PT) at Brasilia, Brazil
June 13 at USA def. Croatia 3-1 (17-22, 25-22, 25-18, 25-15)
June 15 at USA def. Thailand 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-16)
June 17 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Japan
June 18 at 6 a.m. USA vs Brazil

Week 3 (all times PT) at Suwon, Korea
June 27 at 11:30 p.m. USA vs Poland
June 28 at 11:30 p.m. USA vs Bulgaria
July 1 at 1:30 a.m. USA vs Germany
July 2 at 1:30 a.m. USA vs China

Final Round on July 12-16 at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas