De La Cruz on top as Athletes Unlimited Volleyball heads into final weekend
Pro
Lee Feinswog
April 11, 2022
Athletes Unlimited Volleyball wraps up its second season Thursday-Friday-Saturday in Dallas and Bethania De La Cruz appears to be a runaway winner in the points race.
Cruz has 3,361 points after the first four weeks. Dani Drews is next at 2,806, and they are both captains this week.
Sheilla Castro is in third with 2,799, but she has retired and left to go home to Brazil for a wedding.
Sheilla had a happy last match
So the other two captain spots went to fourth-place Natalia Valentin-Anderson (2,778) and Cassidy Lichtman, a first-time captain who has made a late surge and is fifth with 2,528 points.
The captains last week were Sheilla, De La Cruz, Drews and Valetin-Anderson. On Wednesday, De La Cruz hit .330 as a team and swept Sheilla 25-22, 25-16, 25-22 for a total win of 75-60. And De La Cruz led with 15 kills, 12 digs and four aces.
In the second match, Team Valentin-Anderson beat Team Drews 25-18, 25-18, 22-25, 72-61 overall. Leah Edmond the winners with 13 kills, eight digs and two blocks. Erin Fairs had 10 kills and 16 digs. Drews led her team with 18 kills, seven digs and two aces.
Friday, Jenna Rosenthal led Valentin-Anderson with 16 kills as her team beat De La Cruz 22-25, 25-23, 25-21 (72-69). Rosenthal hit .591 and had two blocks and two digs. Valentin-Anderson had 48 assists, 17 digs, a block, two kills and three aces. Edmond had 15 kills and 10 digs.
Carli Lloyd, left, and Ronika Stone joust/AU photo
In the nightcap, Sheilla blasted Drews 25-19, 25-20, 25-16 (75-56) behind 12 kills and 13 digs by Lindsay Stalzer. Aury Cruz had nine kills and 15 digs. Drews had 13 kills and 10 digs, Carli Lloyd had 27 assists and 18 digs, and Morgan Hentz had 20 digs.
Saturday, Sheilla went out in style, as her team swept Valentin-Anderson 75-54. Sheilla had 10 kills, two digs and two assists in her last pro match. Stalzer had 12 kills and seven digs. Edmond led Valentin-Anderson with 12 kills and nine digs.
In the second match, De La Cruz beat Drews 73-64. De La Cruz had 18 kills. Drews had 18 kills.
This week’s schedule

Thursday Team Valentin-Anderson vs. Team Drews, 8 p.m., CBS Sports Network Team De La Cruz vs. Team Lichtman, 10 p.m., CBS Sports Network Friday Team Lichtman vs. Team Drews, 7 p.m., FS2 Team Valentin-Anderson vs. Team De La Cruz, 10 p.m., CBS Sports Network Saturday Team Lichtman vs. Team Valentin-Anderson, 7 p.m., AU Digital Platforms Team Drews vs. Team De La Cruz, 10 p.m., CBS Sports Network
TEAM DREWS Facilitator:Â Deitre Collins-Parker Dani Drews, Outside Hitter Erin Fairs, Outside Hitter Taylor Fricano, Opposite Molly McCage, Middle Blocker Ray Santos, Setter Lianna Sybeldon, Middle Blocker Deja McClendon, Outside Hitter Taylor Bruns Tegenrot, Setter Niki Withers, Opposite Hana Lishman, Libero
TEAM VALENTIN-ANDERSON Facilitator:Â Laurie Corbelli Natalia Valentin-Anderson, Setter Lindsay Stalzer, Outside Hitter Madison Villines, Outside Hitter Erica Wilson, Opposite Taylor Sandbothe, Middle Blocker Eri Xue, Middle Blocker Taylor Morgan, Middle Blocker Amanda Benson, Libero Val Nichol, Setter Noami Santos-Lamb, Outside Hitter
TEAM LICHTMAN Facilitator: Joe Trinsey Cassidy Lichtman, Outside Hitter Leah Edmond, Outside Hitter Falyn Fonoimoana, Opposite Alisha Childress, Setter Morgan Hentz, Libero Ali Bastianelli, Middle Blocker Emma Willis, Middle Blocker Jamie Peterson, Outside Hitter Carli Lloyd, Setter Tina Boe, Middle Blocker
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