Two players from Stanford and another from UCLA are among 17 top collegians training with U.S. Women’s National Volleyball team Coach Karch Kiraly and his staff this week in Anaheim.
Cardinal seniors Kami Miner, a setter from Redondo Beach, and libero Elena Oglivie, as well as Bruins senior middle blocker Anna Dodson are among the group that will train with outside hitter Jordan Larson and setter Jordyn Poulter of the U.S. Olympic team that won a gold medal in the 2021 Tokyo Games.
“Our U.S. women’s national team staff is thrilled for the opportunity to work with this special group of college student athletes and pumped to work in a larger group setting with Jordan and Jordyn,” Mr. Kiraly said in a USA Volleyball press release.
While Larson and Poulter are preparing for this year’s Summer Olympics in Paris, USA Volleyball is keeping eyes on prospects for the future. Volleyball during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is scheduled to take place at Honda Center in Anaheim.
“It will be inspiring to watch these collegiate athletes and their development over the next few years, and to follow those who might work their way into the women’s national team program,” Mr. Kiraly said.
A 1984 and 1988 Olympic gold medalist as a player with the U.S. men’s national team, as well as a 1996 beach volleyball gold medalist, Mr. Kiraly has been the U.S. women’s national coach since 2012 and guided the team to gold in Tokyo.
This week’s training, at the Open Gym Premier facility in Anaheim, is scheduled to include a 9:30 a.m. scrimmage March 16 that will be free and open to the public.
Miner, who led Redondo Union to a 108-14 record during her three-year high school career, and Oglivie helped Stanford to Pacific 12 Conference championships each of the past two years. Miner, the daughter of former USC basketball star Harold Miner, was the conference setter of the year and Oglivie the libero of the year each season.
The 6-foot-5 Dodson, from Fort Collins, Colorado, is a three-time all-Pac-12 selection. She also trained with the women’s national team in Anaheim last summer.
The University of Wisconsin will be represented by three players – Carter Booth, Sarah Franklin, and Devyn Robinson. Cara Cresse and Elena Scott are from Louisville, while Olivia Babcock and Rachel Fairbanks are from Pittsburgh, and Reagan Rutherford and Madisen Skinner from Texas.
The remainder of the group consists of Lauren Briseno of Baylor, Florida State’s Khori Louis, Georgia’s Sophie Fischer, Jess Mruzik of Penn State, and Purdue’s Eva Hudson.
