USA NT 2020

    2019 was a pretty good year for the USAWNT. We added a couple more hardwares to closed out a very fruitful decade. We defended our VNL title and secured a silver at the World Cup. We saw quite a few new faces, some high profile departures, a couple of unexpected early retirements, a welcome return and some exciting breakout performances. We saw a more flexible Karch during the NT season and most importantly we now have a significantly "deeper" pool for almost every position. And with that...



    Let's talk USA 2020.


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    USA Wide Roster



    Setter : Lauren Carlini, Micha Hancock, Jordyn Poulter, Samantha Seliger-Swenson



    OH:     Jordan Larson, Kelsey Robinson, Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, Kim Hill, *Megan Courtney, Mikaela Foecke, *Kathryn Plummer, Madi Kingdon, Sarah Wilhite, Roni Jones-Perry, *Simone Lee, Kadi Rolfzen



    OPP: Annie Drews, Karsta Lowe, *Jordan Thompson, Danielle Cuttino, Krystal Rivers


    MB: Foluke Akinradewo, Chiaka Ogbogu, Tori Dixon, Haleigh Washington, Hannah Tapp, Rachael Adams, Rhamat Alhassan, Dana Rettke, Jenna Rosenthal, *Brionne Butler



    LIB: Justine Wong-Orantes, Mary Lake, Amanda Benson



    So we have 3 high profile (Murphy, Lloyd, Gibby) exits from NT and another 2 (Whitney, P.Tapp) who are most likely done and alredy moved on from the sports. I think we might see a few more get dismissed from the fringe roster in the coming months and then sadly a couple more vets will probably bow out after the OG. That's a lot of openings for aspiring NT players.


    Looking forward to the open try-outs this February.

    What do the * represent?


    Also, Krystal is OPP, not OH.


    Excited for what's in store for us this year. May all our athletes do well in their club teams. VNL 2020 and Tokyo OG's will be hard, but these girls will be there to give it their shot. :super:

    I noticed almost every US girls are still good friends, always supporting and commenting each other on Instagram, Gibby and Carli included. I mean, social media is a fake world and all but I wonder why would they still be friends if there were some drama within the team? Would it be that maybe Carli and Gibby saw that their level is not up to par others level anymore and decided they should leave? Maybe they had some beef with Kiraly but it doesn’t seem there were freud between the players.


    I am not trying to suggest or make up something out of my mind. Just trying to understand the situation.

    Quote from Umu11

    I noticed almost every US girls are still good friends, always supporting and commenting each other on Instagram, Gibby and Carli included. I mean, social media is a fake world and all but I wonder why would they still be friends if there were some drama within the team? Would it be that maybe Carli and Gibby saw that their level is not up to par others level anymore and decided they should leave? Maybe they had some beef with Kiraly but it doesn’t seem there were freud between the players.


    I am not trying to suggest or make up something out of my mind. Just trying to understand the situation.

    I don't think there was drama between the girls.. Maybe something more like between the players and coaches

    I don't think there was drama at all. Simply put, Gibby and Carlini just didn't want to have to fight for their spots in rosters anymore and decided to call it quits. Several talents inside the gym were getting things done more than them and it was enough to hang the shoes.

    The only drama Queen in USA NT is Karch. Not single girl but Karch.

    IMO,Carli and Gibby saw the writing on the wall during the VNL 2019-how Carlini/ Poulter and Chiaka/Washington/Rettke seemed to be much more effective- and after taking into consideration their performance in the WCH (which was a disaster for both of them,especially Carli) decided they probably had no future in the NT. The coaching staff may or may not have something to do with this decision but I can't picture a big drama between them either.And I highly doubt it was a dispute or a problem between the girls themselves,considering that according to instagram and Kelsey's vlogs all the players,especially those who play in Turkey,always hang out together and are supportive of each other.

    i heard a comment during a match in BRA league recently that fawcett left the team and said she'd not play there as long as karch was the coach... not sure what truth is there, but she seemed to me like a better option than murphy all those years that karch insisted on murphy as the starting OPP...


    also i don't get all the hype about plummer. at the pan am games, they tried 3 OPP. cuttino got the most playing time, but rivers was far and above, the most efficient of the 3. plummer couldn't kill the ball when she came on court, she was slow and ponderous. and now people are clamoring for her as the great savior of the NT?????

    I don't have a high expectation for Tokyo 2020, I just wish the girls could bring out the best of their games, and no regrets.

    Many USA fans seem obsessed with particular players judging only from results that have practically no meaning. After the WCH loss they were like that with Hooker, until she showed during the club season that she wasn't even close to her prime.Then came Jordan Thompson,who at least showed some good results during the VNL and the IOQT,but has never been tested against top competition in a major tournament,but the fans seem to have decided that she should be the starting OPP in Tokyo and that she is the key to gold (which she may be,but its impossible to state such things with only the results we've seen so far). Let's not even go to Plummer's case,who showed poor results during the Pan Am and has yet to even play with the A team in any tournament...

    USA is my favorite team not only because I'm half American but also because all the players contribute and are important. It's disrespectful IMO of fans to say things like "USA's only hope is X" as if all the other players suck and have achieved nothing over the years.Especially if said X has shown very little or nothing so far.

    Congratulations to Annie Drews!


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    • Best Server
    • Best Opposite
    • Most Valuable Player
    • V.League 1 Star Conference Champion
    • V.League 1 Final Stage Champion

    More awards and lines added to her wiki :cup: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Drews

    --

    Does anyone have any word on what's next for her? Will she stay at home for the rest of the season or will she sign another contract in Europe?

    Really good season of American players in Japan, Tapp did pretty well too...


    If I was Drews I would go to the gym, but I think she will go to Europe to play the rest of the season

    Quote from sloth

    Really good season of American players in Japan, Tapp did pretty well too...


    If I was Drews I would go to the gym, but I think she will go to Europe to play the rest of the season

    I am not well-versed on how transfer windows schedule out but if the transfer window is still open, why not? Unless she did choose Japan in order to have a short season and then prepare for the NT season during the rest of the period.

    It’s better for me imo they face tougher opponents in the eliminations. Allows them to know their weaknesses early on, rather than too late when they won’t have a chance to adjust.

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    Tryouts for NT are right around the corner. We'd probably see the list of invitees any day now. I expect to see Hentz, White, Lanier, Edmonds, Fitz maybe Quade and even Kramer from the recent pool of grads. Who are you guys excited about? Any predictions? I would really like to see them invite more players with remaining ncaa eligibilty to train with the main team like they did with Lake, JT and Rettke last year instead of just the collegiate team.


    First one to throw her hat in the ring is Nebraska's Kenzie Maloney. Shes in the USA gym now so thats another name to add on the lists of trained liberos looking for a spot with the NT.

    Hentz! :obey:


    I like her more than I like Plummer, and I like her a lot :rose:


    What do they do in this tryouts?

    I remember USA started to call Kim Hill after a tryout, but I don't know how it works...