2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League

U.S. Women Set FIVB Volleyball Nations League Roster

U.S. Women Set FIVB Volleyball Nations League Roster

The U.S. Women’s National Team has set its 26-player preliminary roster for the inaugural FIVB Volleyball Nations League.

Apr 20, 2018 by Kolby Paxton
U.S. Women Set FIVB Volleyball Nations League Roster

The 26-player preliminary roster is set for the U.S. women’s national team in advance of the inaugural FIVB Volleyball Nations League that opens the 2018 season.

Watch the FIVB Volleyball Nations League LIVE on FloVolleyball

The group, which includes seven Olympians who won bronze at the 2016 Rio Games, looks like this:

Setters (4)

Lauren Carlini (Aurora, IL), Lexi Dannemiller (West Chester, OH), Micha Hancock (Edmond, OK), Carli Lloyd (Bonsall, CA)

Opposites (4)

Annie Drews (Elkhart, IN), Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, IL), Krystal Rivers (Birmingham, AL), Aiyana Whitney (Norwood, NJ)

Outside Hitters (8)

Michelle Bartsch-Hackley (Champaign, IL), Megan Courtney (Dayton, OH), Kim Hill (Portland, OR), Madi Kingdon (Hermosa Beach, CA), Jordan Larson (Hooper, NE), Kelsey Robinson (Manhattan Beach, CA), Kadie Rolfzen (Papillion, NE), Sarah Wilhite (Eden Prairie, MN)

Middle Blockers (7)

Rachael Adams (Cincinnati, OH), Foluke Akinradewo (Fort Lauderdale, FL), Tori Dixon (Burnsville, MN), Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, MN), Molly McCage (Spring, TX), Chiaka Ogbogu (Coppell, TX), Paige Tapp (Stewartville, MN)

Liberos (3)

Amanda Benson (Litchfield Park, AZ), Caroline Knop (Pasadena, CA), Justine Wong-Orantes (Cypress, CA)



The roster will be trimmed to 21 players by May 5, after which point the team will be required to select 14 players to participate each week. Every country in the Volleyball Nations League is required to announce its 14-player roster two days before each week’s round of matches.

The VNL is moving into its first year in place of the FIVB World Grand Prix. The league will feature five weeks of preliminary round matches, with 16 teams participating in one of four round-robin groups around the world.

The U.S. women enter the season ranked No. 2 in the world by the FIVB and will open against No. 22 Poland on May 15 in Lincoln, Nebraska, on the University of Nebraska campus.

The Volleyball Nations League season, in its entirety, will be streamed live on FloVolleyball

U.S. Women’s National Team Preliminary Volleyball Nations League Roster

1 – Micha Hancock (S, 5-foot-11, Penn State, Edmond, Oklahoma)
3 – Carli Lloyd (S, 5-11, California, Bonsall, California)
4 – Justine Wong-Orantes (L, 5-6, Nebraska, Cypress, California)
5 – Rachael Adams (M, 6-2, Texas, Cincinnati, Ohio)
6 – Tori Dixon (M, 6-3, Minnesota, Burnsville, Minnesota)
7 – Lauren Carlini (S, 6-2, Wisconsin, Aurora, Illinois)
8 – Lauren Gibbemeyer (M, 6-2, Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota)
9 – Madi Kingdon (OH, 6-1, Arizona, Hermosa Beach, California)
10 – Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Nebraska, Hooper, Nebraska)
11 – Annie Drews (OPP, 6-4, Purdue, Elkhart, Indiana)
12 – Kelly Murphy (OPP, 6-2, Florida, Wilmington, Illinois)
13 – Sarah Wilhite (OH, 6-1, Minnesota, Eden Prairie, Minnesota)
14 – Michelle Bartsch-Hackley (OH, 6-3, Illinois, Champaign, Illinois)
15 – Kim Hill (OH, 6-4, Pepperdine, Portland, Oregon)
16 – Foluke Akinradewo (M, 6-3, Stanford, Plantation, Florida)
17 – Megan Courtney (OH/L, 6-1, Penn State, Dayton, Ohio)
18 – Aiyana Whitney (OPP, 6-5, Penn State, Norwood, New Jersey)
20 – Amanda Benson (L, 5-7, Oregon, Litchfield, Park, Arizona)
21 – Paige Tapp (MB, 6-1, Minnesota, Stewartville, Minnesota)
22 – Molly McCage (MB, 6-3, Texas, Spring, Texas)
23 – Kelsey Robinson (OH, 6-2, Nebraska, Manhattan Beach, California)
24 – Kadie Rolfzen (OH, 6-3, Nebraska, Papillion, Nebraska)
25 – Chiaka Ogbogu (OH, 6-2, Texas, Coppell, Texas)
27 – Caroline Knop (L, 5-8, Florida, Pasadena, California)
28 – Krystal Rivers (OPP, 5-11, Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama)
29 – Lexi Dannemiller (S, 5-11, Michigan, West Chester, Ohio)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coaches: Luka Slabe, Tama Miyashiro, Erin Virtue
Technical Coordinator: Jeff Liu
Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
Team Manager: Jimmy Stitz

FIVB Volleyball Nations League (Women's) Schedule

Week 1 - May 15-17
Pool 1 (Ekaterinburg, Russia): Russia, Argentina, Netherlands, Thailand
Pool 2 (Ningbo, China): China, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Korea
Pool 3 (Lincoln, Nebraska, USA): USA, Italy, Poland, Turkey
Pool 4 (Barueri, Brazil): Brazil, Germany, Japan, Serbia

Week 2 - May 22-24
Pool 5 (Toyota, Japan): Japan, Belgium, Netherlands, USA
Pool 6 (Suwon, Korea): Korea, Germany, Italy, Russia
Pool 7 (Macau, China): China, Poland, Serbia, Thailand
Pool 8 (Ankara, Turkey): Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic

Week 3 - May 29-31
Pool 9 (Apeldoorn, Netherlands): Netherlands, Brazil, Korea, Poland
Pool 10 (Kraljevo, Serbia): Serbia, Belgium, Russia, Turkey
Pool 11 (Bangkok, Thailand): Thailand, Dominican Republic, Germany, USA
Pool 12 (Hong Kong): Argentina, China, Italy, Japan

Week 4 - June 5-7
Pool 13 (Rotterdam, Netherlands): Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Italy, Serbia
Pool 14 (Jiangmen, China): China, Brazil, Russia, USA
Pool 15 (Nakhon Ratchasrima, Thailand): Thailand, Japan, Korea, Turkey
Pool 16 (Bydgoszcz, Poland): Poland, Argentina, Belgium, Germany

Week 5 - June 12-14
Pool 17 (Stuttgart, Germany): Germany, China, Netherland, Turkey
Pool 18 (Walbrzych, Poland): Poland, Dominican Republic, Japan, Russia
Pool 19 (Eboli, Italy): Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Thailand
Pool 20 (Santa Fe, Argentina): Argentina, Korea, Serbia, USA