2012 U.S. Women’s Junior National Team Preview The 2012 U.S. Women’s Junior National Volleyball Team (WJNT) is slated to compete at the 2012 NORCECA Women’s Junior (U-20) Continental Championship being held Aug. 21-26 at Managua, Nicaragua.
(Litchfield Park, Ariz.). “She is relatively new to the program from the pipeline standpoint.” Wilde said. “She has gotten more and more solid and was playing well for us both defensively and in the passing role in Des Moines. She made the adjustments we needed on the court.”
The top three teams at this NORCECA (North America, Central American and the Caribbean) event will qualify for the 2013 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship, which will be played in Czech Republic.
The two setters selected to the team are Kelsey Humphreys (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Kelly Hunter (Papillion, Neb.).
The 12-player roster was selected through USA Volleyball High Performance tryouts held across the country this spring. Twenty players were initially selected as prospects for the team before the number was narrowed to 12 after the 2012 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships held July 24-28.
“We have been very satisfied with them. Humphreys is athletic and jumps to the ball well,” Wilde said. “She does a good job leading the team.” The three middle blockers include Haley Fauntleroy (Winnetka, Ill.), Merete Lutz (Houston, Texas) and Haleigh Washington (Idaho Springs, Colo.).
Rod Wilde will serve as the head coach and will be assisted by Charlene Whitted and Blaine Tendler. After working with his team at the High Performance Championship, Wilde is confident in the team’s ability to play well at the NORCECA event.
“One of our strengths is our middles.” Wilde said. “We were able to modify our offense to play to their strengths with Lutz hitting effectively in front of the setter and Washington being extremely effective behind.”
“The 14 days we had training in Des Moines were very productive,” Wilde said. “We were playing some really good volleyball at the end of the tournament. We have three practices once we get down (to Managua) to see where we are at.”
The six outside/opposite hitters (pin hitters) named to the program include Maya McClendon (Louisville, Ky.), Kayla Morin (Portage, Mich.), Amber Rolfzen (Papillion, Neb.), Kadie Rolfzen (Papillion, Neb.), Azariah Stahl (Elkhart, Ind.) and McKenzie Willey (Highland, Utah).
The 12 players who will represent the United States at the NORCECA Women’s Junior Continental Championship include one libero, two setters, three middle blockers and six outside/opposite hitters. The U.S. Women’s Junior National Team program includes athletes who were born in 1994 or 1995.
“The twins (Amber and Kadie Rolfzen) bring a lot of experience to the court, which will be a big factor in our performance.” Wilde said. “They have a lot of international experience.”
The libero selected to the program is Amanda Benson
Benson, Humphreys, Hunter, Lutz, McClendon, 10