Women’s pro volleyball: USA setter Poulter injures knee playing for Novara

This is our weekly update on USA women playing professional volleyball around the world. Most of the players are former NCAA standouts:

The biggest news this past week was not good for USA Volleyball when starting Olympic gold-medalist setter Jordyn Poulter went down with a knee injury.

In a news release from her Italian team, Novara (using Google Translate):

“Among the ranks of Novara, there will be no American director Jordyn Poulter, who injured her left knee during the fourth set of the match in Perugia. The instrumental examinations and specialist visits to which she has been subjected in the past few hours have highlighted the injury of the cruciate and collateral ligaments and the meniscus.
“The next steps of the recovery process will be agreed with the athlete, the agent and the staff of the national team. Recovery times, correctly quantifiable only later, in any case exclude the athlete from returning to the field during the season.”

Italy

Novara won its third match in a row by sweeping Perugia 25-20, 25-15, 23-25, 28-26 and Jordyn Poulter had an ace and a block for Novara (8-2) before leaving with a knee injury in the fourth set. Stephany Samedy led Perugia (2-8) with 13 kills and two blocks while Tori Dilfer added two aces.

Bergamo beat lowly Pinerolo 25-21, 24-26, 25-20, 25-23 as Khalia Lanier led Bergamo (5-5) with 18 kills, a block and an ace. Mac May added three kills as a substitute.

Busto Arsizio won its third match in a row with a 25-20, 25-16, 33-31 sweep over Macerata. Setter Carli Lloyd had two blocks and a kill for Busto Arsizio (4-6) as her team hit .325. Symone Abbott was limited to three kills for Macerata (2-9).

Chieri ended its losing streak by sweeping Vallefoglia 25-21, 25-16, 25-20. Brionne Butler had six kills in as many attacks, three blocks, and an ace for Chieri (7-3). Micha Hancock had one kill for Vallefoglia (3-7), while Merete Lutz made a substitute appearance and had a kill.

Casalmaggiore also won its third match in a row, beating Firenze 25-18, 22-25, 25-20, 25-17. Ali Frantti had 17 kills (.389), a block and an ace while Lauren Carlini added a kill as she led Casalmaggiore (5-5) to hit .356. Rhamat Alhassan had two kills for Firenze (4-7) but only played in set one.

Milano swept Cuneo 25-19, 25-19, 25-22 as Jordan Thompson had 10 kills and two blocks for Milano (9-1). Dana Rettke added six kills and a match-high four blocks. Dani Drews and Anna Stevenson-Hall both had three kills and two blocks for Cuneo (5-5).

Scandicci finished with a sweep, handing Imoco Conegliano its first loss of the season 25-23, 25-22, 25-19. Haleigh Washington had eight kills (.615) and two blocks for Scandicci (7-3). Kelsey Robinson-Cook had 11 kills and a block for Conegliano (11-1). Kathryn Plummer sat out with an illness.

Türkiye

VakifBank won their fourth match in a row as by sweeping PTT 25-12, 25-20, 25-14. Chiaka Ogbogu had 11 kills (.647), two blocks and an ace for VakifBank (8-1). Kara Bajema did not record any stats in a brief substitute appearance.

THY (7-2) moved into third place by getting past SigortaShop 25-17, 25-17, 23-25, 22-25, 17-15. Madi Kingdon had nine kills and an ace. Kelsie Payne led SigortaShop (2-7) with 24 kills and two blocks.

Nilufer pulled off the reverse sweep as they beat Aydin (21-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-8). Sherridan Atkinson had 14 kills, a block and an ace for Nilufer (4-4).

Bolu (2-7) swept Ilbank 25-20, 25-15, 29-27. Tori Dixon had six kills (.556), two blocks, and an ace.

Japan

JT Marvelous (10-2) swept itsweekend series with Himeji without dropping a set. JT Marvelous won the firste 25-16, 25-19, 25-14 as Karsta Lowe appeared in a double substitution, adding nine kills (.750). JT Marvelous won the second 25-20, 27-25, 25-14) and Lowe appeared in the double substitution again and contributed seven kills (.538) for the league leader.

Toyota Autobody Queenseis swept the series from Denso. Queenseis won 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 as Danielle Cuttino was the top scorer with 16 kills and four blocks. Queenseis pulled off the reverse sweep in the second match 23-25, 17-25, 29-27, 25-19, 15-11 and Cuttino led all scorers again with 27 kills, four blocks and an ace for Queenseis (7-5).

Hitachi Rivale split with Okayama. Okayama swept the first match 25-17, 25-17, 25-20. Hannah Tapp was limited to three kills and an ace for Hitachi. In the second, Hitachi won 25-21, 25-18, 20-25, 25-20. Tapp had 10 kills (.526) and two blocks for Hitachi (5-7).

NEC Red Rockets (8-2) swept Kurobe as Sarah Wilhite-Parsons made her season debut. NEC took the first match 23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19. Wilhite-Parsons had eight kills and three blocks. NEC followed that up with another four set win in the second match (23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-20) and Wilhite-Parsons added nine kills, three ace, and two blocks.

France

Cannes bounced back from last week’s defeat to beat Mulhouse 27-25, 25-18, 15-25, 25-20. Carli Snyder was named MVP as she had 25 kills and a block. Madeleine Gates had 10 kills and two blocks. Claire Felix added five kills and two blocks while Jenna Gray had four kills, one block and an ace for Cannes (7-3).

Venelles (6-4) had no trouble dispatching France 2024 25-16, 25-20, 25-9. Samantha Drechsel had six kills, two blocks and two aces. Katelyn Evans did not play.

Nantes won its fifth match in a row by beating Saint Raphael 25-19, 25-23, 16-25, 25-18. Taylor Mims was top scorer as she had 15 kills and three aces for Nantes (9-1). Jaelyn Keene had eight kills (.583), one block, and an ace. Alli Stumler had one kill in a substitute appearance. Malina Terrell led Saint Raphael (4-6) with 15 kills and an ace.

Beziers ended their four match losing streak with a five set win over Levallois (25-27, 25-16, 22-25, 25-13, 15-10). Avery Skinner had 13 kills, three aces, and a block for Beziers (5-5). Justine Wong-Orantes was credited with 46% positive reception. Madison Lilley had one ace as she played the first two sets. Blake Mohler had a match high seven blocks to go along with seven kills (.500).

Volero Le Cannet ended TFOC’s winning streak as they won in a 25-12, 25-23, 25-23 sweep. Shannon Scully had eight kills for TFOC (7-3) while Taylor Fricano had four. Kendall White was credited with 44% positive reception.

Nancy won its third match in a row with a four-set win over Marcq en Barouel (25-13, 21-25, 25-13, 25-18). Annayka Legros was the top scorer with 14 kills (.650), five blocks and an ace. Lauren Page was second top scorer as she added 10 kills (.833), two blocks, and an ace for Nancy (4-6).

Germany

Aachen pulled off the upset of the weekend by sweeping Dresden 25-15, 25-18, 25-18. Ashley Evans had two kills and two aces for Aachen (4-3) as she led them to hit .318 in the match.

Stuttgart bounced back from this first defeat by beating Neuwied 25-15, 25-15, 25-10. Alexis Hart had eight kills (.389) and a block for Stuttgart (6-1). Krystal Rivers and Simone Lee did not play.

Schwerin won its third match in a row by sweeping Straubing 25-8, 25-13, 25-21. Lindsey Ruddins had five kills (.444) and left in the second set for Schwerin (6-1).

Greece

PAOK (8-0) swept league titan Olympiacos 25-21, 25-19, 26-24. Payton Caffrey was the top scorer with 16 kills (.400), a block and an ace. Jaali Winters had five kills for Olympiacos (6-2).

ASP Thetis snapped its losing streak by sweeping ZAON 25-21, 25-17, 25-16. Leah Hardeman had nine kills and a block for Thetis (3-5). Teammate Mariena Hayden had five kills and two aces while Becca Latham added five kills, one block, and an ace.

Panathinaikos swept Aigaleo 25-20, 25-20, 25-17. Adora Anae had six kills for Panathinaikos (6-2).

Markopoulo lost its fourth match in a row, swept by AO Thiras 25-19, 25-18, 25-18. Audriana Fitzmorris did not play for Markopoulo.

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