UF VB | Three Gators Named to USA Volleyball U-21 National Team

Three Gators Named to USA Volleyball U-21 National Team

Merritt Beason, Bre Kelley and Alexis Stucky will compete for Team USA at the Pan American Games

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The USA Volleyball Team announced their 12-player U-21 National Team roster and three Gators found themselves on the team set to compete at the Pan American Cup.

Merritt Beason, Bre Kelley and Alexis Stucky are the three Florida players selected to the 12-woman roster. The Gators have the most players selected of any school.

The 12 were chosen from a training team of 20 that has been working out at Centenary College in Shreveport, La. They will travel to La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico to compete at the U21 Pan American Cup on June 7-12.

Dan Fisher, women’s volleyball head coach at the University of Pittsburgh, is the U21 head coach. His assistants are Jon Newman-Gonchar, head coach at the University of New Mexico, and Heather Olmstead, head coach at BYU.

“I am honored to be asked to lead the U.S. Women’s U21 National Team this year,” Fisher said. “I’m grateful for the trust that Karch Kiraly and USA Volleyball are putting in me and my staff. I’m excited to work with some of the best players in the United States in this age group and hope to represent this country with pride.”

Virginia Pham, technical coordinator at the University of Southern California, is the performance analyst. Kyle Thompson, director of volleyball operations at the University of Maryland, is the team leader. Wyatt Blue of Game Time Sports Medicine is the athletic trainer.

The Pan American Cup is a qualifier for the 2023 FIVB U21 World Championship. Ten teams are competing in three pools to begin the tournament. The United States will share Pool C with Argentina, Canada and Costa Rica. Pool A will include Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico while Pool B holds Mexico, Chile and Honduras.

U.S. Women’s U21 National Team

No. Name (position, height, hometown, HS grad year, USAV region, college or college commitment)

1 Lexi Rodriguez (L, 5-5, Sterling, Ill., 2020, Great Lakes, Nebraska)

3 Chloe Chicoine (OH, 5-10, Lafayette, Ind., 2023, Hoosier, Purdue)

4 Rachel Fairbanks (S, 6-0, Santa Ana, Calif., 2021, Southern California, Pitt)

6 Elia Rubin (OH, 6-1, Brentwood, Calif., 2022, Southern California, Stanford)

7 Mckenna Wucherer (OH, 6-1, Brookfield, Wis., 2022, Badger, Minnesota)

8 Raven Colvin (MB, 6-1, Indianapolis, Ind., 2021, Hoosier, Purdue)

9 Norah Sis (OH, 6-2, Papillion, Neb., 2021, Great Plains, Creighton)

11 Alexis Stucky (S, 6-2, Laramie, Wyo., 2022, Rocky Mountain, Florida)

15 Merritt Beason (OPP, 6-3, Gardendale, Ala., 2020, Florida)

16 Bekka Allick (MB, 6-3, Waverly, Neb., 2022, Great Plains, Nebraska)