USA Volleyball has announced their 12-player roster for the U.S. Women’s Collegiate National Team China Tour that will compete from May 20-31. The athletes were selected at the U.S. Women’s National Team Open Tryout that was held from March 2-4 at the Olympic Training Center. A total of 234 athletes from 89 colleges tried out for a spot on the team.
Many players on the China roster have already been apart of the U.S. Collegiate National team program, as Carlyle Nusbaum and Jenna Rosenthal were both on the 2017 CNT-Thailand roster while Taryn Kloth was a member of the 2017 CNT-Minneapolis roster. This is Rosenthal’s third appearance on a CNT Team as she was also a participant on the 2016 CNT-China Tour roster.
Additionally, Thayer Hall, Rachael Kramer and Molly Sauer competed at the FIVB Women’s U20 World Championships while Madison Lilley was apart of the 2017 Women’s U20 Pan Am Cup team with Hall. Stephanie Samedy represented Team USA at the 2017 NORCECA Women’s U20 Continental Championships.
Florida boasts two players on the roster in Hall and Kramer. Hall has yet to play a collegiate level match but was recently named the 2017 Gatorade Player of the Year and enrolled early at Florida this spring. On the other hand, Kramer had a successful sophomore campaign with 308 kills on a .402 hitting clip.
Other successful picks are freshmen T’ara Ceasar, Dana Rettke and Samedy. Rettke had the biggest impact of the three players on the year, earning a record 9 Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors among other top recognition.
Roster
Name (Position, School, Height, College Eligibility Remaining, Hometown, Youth Club)
- T’ara Ceasar (OH, University of Georgia, 6-1, 3, Panama City, Florida, Prostyle Tallahassee Volleyball Club/Team Florida)
- Thayer Hall (OH, University of Florida, 6-3, 4, Moore, South Carolina, Upward Stars)
- Taryn Kloth (OH, Creighton University, 6-4, 1, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Kairos Elite)
- Rachael Kramer (M, University of Florida, 6-8, 2, Phoenix, Arizona, Aspire Volleyball Club)
- Rebecca Latham (OPP, University of Denver, 6-4, 1, Austin, Texas, Austin Juniors)
- Madison Lilley (S, University of Kentucky, 5-11, 3, Overland Park, Kansas, KC Power)
- Carlyle Nusbaum (OH, Lipscomb University, 5-10, 1, Overland Park, Kansas, ASICS MAVS)
- Julia Patterson (S, University of Arizona, 5-11, 2, Los Alamitos, California, Seal Beach Volleyball Club)
- Dana Rettke (M, University of Wisconsin, 6-8, 3, Riverside, Illinois, 1st Alliance Volleyball Club)
- Jenna Rosenthal (M, Marquette University, 6-6, 1, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, West Bend Volleyball Club)
- Stephanie Samedy (OPP, University of Minnesota, 6-2, 3, Clermont, Florida, Top Select Volleyball Academy)
- Molly Sauer (L, University of Louisville, 5-11, 1, Louisville, Kentucky, KIVA)
Head Coach: Chris Tamas (head coach, University of Illinois)
Assistant Coach: Joe Trinsey (USA Volleyball High Performance)
Assistant Coach: Natalie Morgan (assistant coach, Loyola Marymount University)
Technical Coordinator: Jessica Rae Aschenbrenner (director of operations, University of Denver)
Athletic Trainer: Margaret Marion (University of Illinois)
Head of Delegation: Erin Leaser
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