Five Huskers to Attend U.S. National Team Tryouts

LINCOLN, Neb. - Five members of the 2015 Nebraska volleyball team will participate at the USA Women's Volleyball National Team Open Tryouts, set for Feb. 20-22 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. 

Rising senior Alicia Ostrander and sophomore Kira Larson are the two veteran Huskers who will compete at the tryouts. Three newcomers will also try out: junior All-America transfer Briana Holman and incoming freshmen Mikaela Foecke and Kenzie Maloney.

The tryout will evaluate approximately 240 athletes from 92 colleges from across the country for spots on the U.S. Women’s National Team, the U.S. Collegiate National Team (formerly the U.S. Women's A2 Program) and for the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team for athletes born in 1996 or 1997. For a list of athletes competing at the tryout, click here. 

The Husker program is no stranger to the U.S. National Team. This past fall, former Huskers Kayla Banwarth, Jordan Larson-Burbach and Kelsey Robinson won a gold medal with Team USA at the  FIVB World Championship in Italy, the first major title in U.S. women's volleyball history. 

Among the current group of tryout participants, Holman was selected to the U.S. Collegiate National Team last March following her All-SEC freshman season at LSU. Larson made the 2012 women's junior A2 team during her high school career at Fargo North. Foecke, a freshman-to-be from Fort Madison, Iowa, has already played for the U.S. Women's Junior National Team, winning gold at the U-20 NORCECA Continental Championships. Maloney was a starter for the U.S. Youth National Team that won a silver medal at the Youth World Championships in 2013. The fifth Husker that will try out, Ostrander, played sparingly in her first two seasons as a Husker before becoming a key contributor in 2014, averaging 2.49 kills per set.

The U.S. Collegiate National Team will compete at the World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea (June 28-July 14), the Tour of China (June 12-26) and the USA Volleyball Girls' Junior National Championships (June 21-30).

For athletes born in 1996 or 1997, they will also be evaluated to earn a spot on the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team that will compete at the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U20 World Championship in Cyprus July 1-13 with a training block from June 14-29 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Selections for the U.S. Collegiate National Teams will be made by the end of March, while selected athletes to the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team will be notified by April 31 with a public announcement expected by May 7.