Volleyball today: USA women’s, men’s VNL rosters; PVF, NCAA men, Italy updates

In this all-things-volleyball notebook, we’ve got USA Volleyball Nations League rosters, Pro Volleyball Federation updates, news about USA players internationally and a nod to the upcoming NCAA men’s tournament.

Volleyball Nations League

Both the USA women’s and men’s teams have submitted their 30-player rosters for VNL. 

For each round, coaches Karch Kiraly and John Speraw, respectively, can bring 14 of those players.

For the Olympics, the rosters must be pared to 12 with one alternate. Play begins in Paris with men’s preliminary matches on July 27 and the women starting the next day.

VNL is this year’s most signifcant pre-Olympics tournament. The USA women begin play against Thailand on May 15 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they also play China, Brazil and the Dominican Republic.

The second leg is in Arlington, Texas, site of last year’s finals. The USA plays Canada on May 28, Bulgaria on May 31, Poland on June 1 and Türkiye on June 2.

Then they head to Fukuoka, Japan, and starting June 10 play France, Netherlands, Italy and Japan.

The finals are in Bangkok, Thailand, June 20-23.

The USA men open play in Antalya, Türkiye, on May 22, when the play Poland, followed by France, Bulgaria and the home team.

The second round is back in Ottawa, Canada, where VNL had a round last year. The USA men play Argentina on June 4, followed by matches against Italy, Serbia and Canada.

The third leg is in Manila, Philippines, where the USA plays Iran on June 19, and then Brazil, Germany and Japan. 

The finals are in Lodz, Poland, June 27-30.

Here is the USA women’s 30-player roster:

1. Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Penn State)
2. Jordyn Poulter (S, 6-2, Aurora, Colo., Illinois)
3. Avery Skinner (OH, 6-1, Katy, Texas, Kentucky, Baylor)
4. Justine Wong-Orantes (L, 5-6, Cypress, Calif., Nebraska)
5. Ali Frantti (OH, 6-1, Spring Grove, Ill., Penn State)
6. Morgan Hentz (L, 5-9, Lakeside Park, Ky., Stanford)
7. Lauren Carlini (S, 6-2, Aurora, Ill., Wisconsin)
8. Brionne Butler (MB, 6-4, Kendleton, Texas, Texas)
9. Madisen Skinner (OH, 6-2, Katy, Texas, Kentucky, Texas)
10. Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Nebraska)
11. Annie Drews (Opp, 6-4, Elkhart, Ind., Purdue)
12. Jordan Thompson (Opp, 6-4, Edina, Minn., Cincinnati)
13. Sarah Wilhite Parsons (OH, 6-2, Eden Prairie, Minn., Minnesota)
14. Anna Hall (MB, 6-2, Laurens, S.C., Louisville)
15. Haleigh Washington (MB, 6-3, Penn State)
16. Dana Rettke (MB, 6-8, Riverside, Ill., Wisconsin)
17. Zoe Fleck (L, 5-6, Granada Hills, Calif., UCLA, Texas)
18. Asjia O’Neal (MB, 6-3, Southlake, Texas, Texas)
19. Jenna Gray (S, 6-1, Shawnee, Kan., Stanford)
20. Danielle Cuttino (Opp, 6-4, Indianapolis, Ind., Purdue)
22. Kathryn Plummer (OH, 6-6, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Stanford)
23. Kelsey Robinson (OH, 6-2, Manhattan Beach, Nebraska)
24. Chiaka Ogbogu (MB, 6-2, Coppell, Texas, Texas)
26. Kendall White (L, 5-5, Zionsville, Ind., Penn State)
28. Ashley Evans (S, 6-1, Liberty Township, Ohio, Purdue)
29. Khalia Lanier (OH, 6-2, Scottsdale, Ariz., USC)
32. Kendall Kipp (Opp, 6-5, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford)
37. Kayla Haneline (MB, 6-3, Plattsmouth, Neb., Northern Iowa)
39. Taylor Mims (Opp, 6-3, Billings, Mont., Washington State)
43. Serena Gray (MB, 6-2, Temple City, Calif., Pitt)

The coaching staff includes head coach Karch Kiraly and assistants Tama Miyashiro, Marv Dunphy, Alfee Reft and Erin Virtue.

Here is the USA men’s 30-player roster:

1. Matt Anderson (Opp, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)
2. Aaron Russell (OH, 6-9, Ellicott City, Md., Penn State)
3. Gabi Garcia Fernandez (Opp, 6-7, San Juan, Puerto Rico, BYU)
4. Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Chicago)
5. Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State)
6. Quinn Isaacson (S, 6-2, Plainfield, Ill., Ball State)
7. Jacob Pasteur (OH, 6-4, Westminster, Md., Ohio State)
8. T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
9. Jake Hanes (Opp, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State)
10. Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Florida, Stanford)
11. Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, USC)
12. Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State)
13. Patrick Gasman (MB, 6-10, Clovis, Calif., Hawai’i)
14. Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawai’i, UCLA)
15. Kyle Russell (Opp, 6-9, Loomis, Calif., UC Irvine)
16. Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
17. Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola-Chicago-)
18. Garrett Muagututia (OH, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA-
19. Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Hawai’i)
20. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)
21. Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
22. Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Stanford)
23. Cody Kessel (OH, 6-5, Colorado Springs, Colo., Princeton)
24. Brett Wildman (OH, 6-5, Virginia Beach, Va., Penn State)
25. Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA)
26. Matthew Knigge (MB, 6-7, New Egypt, N.J., Vassar)
27. Michael Marshman (MB, 6-7, Glenmont, N.Y., St. Francis)
28. Nicholas Slight (S, 6-3, Storm Lake, Iowa, Grand Canyon)
29. Jordan Ewert (OH, 6-5, Antioch, Calif., Stanford)
30. Daniel Wetter (MB, 6-5, Camarillo, Calif., CSUN)

The coaching staff includes head coach John Speraw and assistants Matt Feurbringer, Javier Weber and Andy Read.

Thanks to USA Volleyball for the player lists and links.

Pro Volleyball Federation

The next matches are Friday when Orlando Valkyries play at the Columbus Fury, the Grand Rapids Rise are at the Omaha Supernovas and the Vegas Thrill go to the San Diego Mojo.

The Atlanta Vibe, on a break until Sunday, have clinched first place and the No. 1 playoff seed that goes with it. The top four teams make the semifinals, set for May 15 in Omaha. The inaugural championship match is May 18.

Here are the current standings for the season that includes 24 matches per team:

Atlanta setter Marlie Monserez is the PVF player of the week. She averaged 11.6 assists in victories over Grand Rapids and Orlando and a loss to Columbus. She is the fourth member of the Vibe to win the honor this season. Alli Linnehan won in week 1, Leah Edmond won on February 6 and Anna Lazareva won on March 5.

Italy

We held off our international women’s pro report to wait for the end of the fantastic, closely fought 2023-2024 Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A Tigotà Finals between Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and Savino Del Bene Scandicci.

Congeliano leads the best-of-five series 2-1 with the next match Saturday in Florence.

Scandicci won the opening match in five as Haleigh Washington came off the bench to get six kills, hitting .857, including key finishes in the 17-15 final set. 

Kathryn Plummer had 14 kills and a block for Conegliano, Kelsey Robinson Cook at 12 kills and Khalia Lanier had one kill in the double sub with setter Madi Bugg.

Congeliano rallied to even the series with a 23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11 victory and Plummer was her team’s second-highest scoreer with 14 kills — five in the fifth set — two blocks and an ace. Robinson Cook had nine kills and an ace and Lanier added two kills. Washington was a Scandicci sub and had a block.

Isabella Haak, the incredible Swede whose sister Anna played at Miami and Marquette, led Conegliano with a whopping 41 points in a 3-1 victory. Haak had 35 kills with just two errors in 54 attacks and had four blocks and two aces in the 30-28, 23-25, 29-27, 25-22 victory.

Plummer had 21 kills and two aces and Robinson Cook had six kills and a block.

Scandicci’s Lindsey Ruddins had three kills and Washington had a kills and two blocks.

In the first match, Haak had 26 kills, five blocks and three aces and in the second registered 24 kills, two blocks and an ace.

NCAA men

We pretty much broke it down Sunday after the NCAA men’s tournament bracket was announced. Read that story here, which includes capsules on all eight teams. We have much more coverage to come for the tournament that starts with Tuesday’s quarterfinals.