SAO PAULO, Brazil – Playing for her country for the first time, Washington State rising junior Chanelle Molina helped guide Team USA to a gold medal over the week at the inaugural FISU America Games in Brazil. Molina and the Americans went a perfect 4-0 at the games, defeating Mexico, Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil of the week long event to secure the top of the podium. Molina joins a handful of Cougar athletes to earn gold for Team USA over the summer, as WSU volleyball stars, Alexis Dirige, Molina's cousin, and Taylor Mims won gold at the 2018 Global Challenge in Croatia. 

Throughout the four-game tournament the Americans were dominant, defeating their opponents by an average of nearly 44 points per game. Team USA' s largest win came in game two against Uruguay as the Americans cruised to a 116-33 win. In the last and what would be the default championship game, Team USA won a hard-fought battle with the host country Brazil, taking the gold with a 59-42 victory.

Molina enters her junior season as the Cougars' third-leading scorer from a season ago. In two seasons, Molina has averaged 9.5 points and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. She begins her third season at WSU under new head coach Kamie Ethridge on November 2 when WSU hosts Warner Pacific in exhibition play at Beasley Coliseum.