COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A pair of Washington State volleyball players are among 12 chosen for the U.S. Collegiate National Team - Europe Tour (CNT-Europe) roster competing this summer, USA Volleyball announced Monday.
Sophomore Casey Schoenlein and freshman McKenna Woodford will train and compete from July 6-16. The CNT-Europe team have schedule training matches against an Italian Federation Team July 7-9, near Milan, Italy, and then will play in the Global Challenge July 11-14 in Pula, Croatia.
“We are very proud of Casey and McKenna for being selected to the U.S. Collegiate National team,” WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said. “The experience they will gain from competing internationally against some of the top players in Europe will prove valuable not only for themselves, but for WSU volleyball as a whole. I know that they will represent both our program and Washington State University very well.”
Schoenlein is a 6-5 outside hitter from Bellevue, Wash. Despite missing the start of the season with an injury, Schoenlein contributed strong performances in the last part of the 2015 season. At Oregon State, she had a career-high 11 kills, hit .435 and tied her career-high of eight blocks that she recorded days earlier against No. 6 Stanford. Schoenlein was fourth on the team with .0.95 blocks per set last season. She was named to the 2015 Pac-12 All-Academic First Team.
Woodford is a 6-4 outside hitter from Chandler, Ariz. She was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, and was a two-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week selection last season. She was named MVP of the Texas Tech Lone Star Showdown, and was named to the Radford Highlander Invitational All-Tournament team. Woodford was second on the team with 3.16 kills per set and 3.74 points per set, and her 0.23 service aces per set was ninth-best in the Pac-12. She had a career-high 22 kills versus No. 1 USC, and tallied a career-high 17 digs at Oregon State.
Schoenlein and Woodford are among the four Pac-12 Conference players selected to the 12-player roster for CNT-Europe, listed below. Players were selected through the U.S. Women's National Team Open Tryouts held last month at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The team's coaching staff will be named later this spring.
2016 U.S. Collegiate National Team - Europe TourName (Position, School, 2016 College Year, Height, Hometown)
Jordan Anderson (OH, UCLA, Sr., 6-0, Flower Mound, Texas)
Ciara Capezio (OH, Iowa State University, Sr., 6-3, Williams Bay, Wisconsin)
Alyssa Goehner (L, University of Minnesota, Jr., 5-11, Lakeville, Minnesota)
Taylor Hughes (S, Ohio State University, So., 6-1, Carroll, Ohio)
Lily Johnson (OH, Missouri State University, Jr., 5-11, Wildwood, Missouri)
Leah Levert (MB, Syracuse University, Jr., 6-2, Savannah, Georgia)
Molly Lohman (MB, University of Minnesota, Jr., 6-3, Mankato, Minnesota)
Katherine Mahlke (OPP, University of Michigan, Jr., 6-2, Downers Grove, Illinois)
Jazzmine McDonald (MB, Indiana University, Sr., 6-2, Indianapolis, Indiana)
Casey Schoenlein (OPP, Washington State University, Jr., 6-5, Bellevue, Washington)
Gabby Simpson (S, University of Colorado, Jr., 6-3, Colorado Springs, Colorado)
McKenna Woodford (OH, Washington State University, So., 6-4, Chandler, Arizona)