PULLMAN, Wash. – Two Washington State University volleyball players will be among the 215 athletes from 88 colleges to participate in the three-day open tryouts for the U.S. Women's National Team, and U.S. Collegiate National Teams March 1-3, at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs.
 
Cougars participating in the tryouts are juniors Ashley Brown and Alexis Dirige.
 
Ashley Brown is a 5-9 junior setter from Prosper, Texas. During the 2018 campaign she helped guide the offensive attack from the setter position, totaling 1,364 assists, which ranked 16th overall in the nation. Ashley currently ranks eighth all-time in WSU Volleyball history in total assists with 2,108 overall. Brown also ranks 10th all-time in career assists per set at 8.23. Brown went on to total 341 digs in 2018, second-best for the Cougars, along with 30 service aces, ranking third overall on the squad. She saw her best match of the season in a against No. 21 Arizona on the road, totaling a career-high 59 assists and notched 11 digs for a double-double in the five-set victory. Brown was also a member of the 2018 U.S. Women's Collegiate National Volleyball Team - Detroit (CNT-Detroit) elite roster a year ago.
 
Alexis Dirige is a 5-2 junior libero from San Francisco. Dirige anchored the defensive ground game in 2018, leading Washington State with a team-high 562 digs, ranking fourth overall in the Pac-12, and 55th in the nation as well. She currently ranks third overall in WSU Volleyball history in total career digs with 1,617, and is also third all-time in digs per set at 4.23. Dirige posted a season-high 27 digs against Oregon on the road in a five-set thriller, while totaling three assists, and one kill as well. Alexis is no stranger to USA Volleyball, earning a selection in 2018 to the U.S. Women's Collegiate National Volleyball Team - Europe Tour (CNT-Europe) elite roster, who went on to win the 2018 European Global Challenge, in Pula, Croatia.
 
The position breakdown of the women at the tryouts are 46 liberos, 42 middles, 56 outsides, 30 opposites and 44 setters. Three-time Olympic gold medalist and U.S. Olympic Hall of Famer Karch Kiraly and the U.S. Women's National Team staff will lead the tryout process. USA Volleyball will announce the selections by the end of March once roster spots are accepted and confirmed.

USA Volleyball will use #USAVtryout as the official tryout hashtag for photos, notes, quotes and stories posted to its social media platforms Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram under the handle @USAVolleyball.

Live streaming video from the open tryouts will begin March 1 at 1 p.m. PT. For more information about the tryouts, visit the official event website.