USA women, with new 14-player roster, opens FIVB Worlds on Saturday

The FIVB Women’s World Championship got underway Friday in Arnhem, Netherlands, as Poland beat Croatia in four and then the host team swept Kenya. 

The USA opens play Saturday when the top-ranked Americans face Kazakhstan. 

The 14-woman roster incudes six players from the team that won gold last summer in the Tokyo Olympics, Kelsey (Robinson) Cook, Jordyn Poulter, Justine Wong-Orantes, Annie Drews, Chiaka Ogbogu and Haleigh Washington. 

All of the others played in the Volleyball Nations League at one time or another earlier this summer.

The setters are Poulter and Lauren Carlini, while Wong-Orantes and Morgan Hentz are the liberos.

The outsides are Cook, Kara Bajema and Ali Frantti.

The opposites are Drews and Danielle Cuttino.

And the middles are Ogbogu, Washington, Hannah Tapp and Anna (Stevenson) Hall, who got married during the VNL final stage.

Also Saturday, Türkiye plays Thailand, Belgium plays Puerto Rico, Italy plays Cameroon, the Dominican Republic plays Korea and Brazil plays the Czech Republic. All the matches can be seen on VolleyballWorld.tv.

The USA will continue Pool C play Monday against Canada and play September 29 against Bulgaria, September 30 against Germany and October 1 vs. Serbia. The second round of pool play is October 2-9 with the quarterfinals October 11.

No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College

2 Jordyn Poulter (S, 6-2, Aurora, Colo., Illinois)
4 Justine Wong-Orantes (L, 5-6, Cypress, Calif., Nebraska)
5 Morgan Hentz (L, 5-9, Lakeside Park, Ky., Stanford)
7 Lauren Carlini (S, 6-2, Aurora, Ill., Wisconsin)
8 Hannah Tapp (MB, 6-3, Stewartville, Minn., Minnesota)
11 Annie Drews (Opp, 6-4, Elkhart, Ind., Purdue)
13 Sarah Wilhite Parsons (OH, 6-2, Eden Prairie, Minn., Minnesota)
15 Haleigh Washington (MB, 6-3, Colorado Springs, Colo., Penn State)
18 Kara Bajema (OH, 6-2, Lynden, Wash., Washington)
20 Danielle Cuttino (Opp, 6-4, Indianapolis, Ind., Purdue)
23 Kelsey (Robinson) Cook (OH, 6-2, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Nebraska)
24 Chiaka Ogbogu (MB, 6-2, Coppell, Texas, Texas)
30 Ali Frantti (OH, 6-1, Spring Grove, Ill., Penn State)
31 Anna (Stevenson) Hall (MB, 6-2, Laurens S.C., Louisville)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coaches: Erin Virtue, Tama Miyashiro, Marv Dunphy
Performance Analyst: Brian Hurler
, Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
, Consultant Coach: Sue Enquist, 
Team Manager: Coley Pawlikowski
, Strength & Conditioning Coach: Brandon Siakel
, Sports Dietitian: Shawn Hueglin
, Massage Specialist: Tony Poland
, Team Doctors: Warren Young and Steven Stovitz

VBM Staff