The start of Volleyball Nations League (VNL) women’s week 1 will go down as one of the most exciting in history. From superstar sightings, epic wins to high-scoring moments that are making the tournament extra spicy.
The U. S. Women’s National Team finished its first round of Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 4-0 after beating host Turkey 3-2 on Sunday in Antalya.
Texas players play key roles in these wins.
The U.S. Women’s National Team opened the 2023 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) on May 31 at Antalya Arena in Antalya, Turkey by winning a battle with world No. 1 Serbia 3-2. After a day off, on June 2, the U. S. Women’s National Team faced defending VNL champion and world No. 2 Italy and beat them 3-2. On June 3, the U.S. Women’s team defeated South Korea 3-0 and on June 4 the U.S. beat host country Turkey 3-2 with U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake and his wife Cheryl on hand to watch the victory. An estimated crowd of 10,500 filled Antalya Arena for the final match. The U.S. Women will be back on the court on June 13 when they play Croatia in Brasilia, Brazil.
The U.S. Women are the defending Olympic champions and ranked No. 2 in the world. Middle blocker, Brionne Butler, from Kendleton, TX, who made her VNL debut in 2022, scored 13 points on a match-high eight blocks and five kills in the win against No.1 Serbia.
Asjia O’Neal from Southlake, TX was All-American at the University of Texas and helped the team to a national title in 2022. O’Neal plays middle blocker for the U.S. team and entered the Serbia match at the start of the third set and finished the match, scoring five points on four kills and one block.
Other Texans to watch at the VNL games are Olympic gold and FIVB Volleyball Nations League gold medalist Chiaka Ogbogu from Coppell, TX. Ogbogu plays middle and is sure to be a star of these games along with outside hitter, Avery Skinner from Katy, TX. Skinner was all-American at both Kentucky and Baylor.
Brazil tops World Ranking in big reshuffle after VNL week one
Previous leader Serbia now down to number five
The first competition week in the women’s Volleyball Nations League 2023 shook up the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Ranking and Brazil emerged as the new number one-ranked National team in the world, heading a big reshuffle at the top. USA and China also moved up to complete the top three.
United States and China went through week one undefeated and took advantage of the situation to jump up two position each.
Keep up with the U.S. Women’s National Team at Volleyball Nations League at http://usavolleyball.org.
Read full recap here:
VNL moments that made us go, ‘Whoa!’
For Volleyball Nations League full schedule and results click here.
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