Two volleyball players from Washington to compete for US National Team

• Washington’s Kylin Muñoz (Monroe HS) and USC’s Alexis Olgard (Mead HS) named to roster for NORCECA Qualifiers in Colorado Springs

Last December, two former Washington prep volleyball stars were on opposite sides of the net as their college teams—Washington and USC—battling for a spot in the 2013 NCAA Final Four. Kylin Muñoz (Monroe High) and her Huskies teammates won that showdown against Alexis Olgard (Mead High) and USC.

Kylin Munoz
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

Five months later, Muñoz and Olgard are now teammates on the US National Team, and will be on the 12-woman roster this week in Colorado Springs for the NORCECA World Championship Qualification Tournament. 11 of the 12 players on this roster completed their college eligibility last fall; high school junior Hayley Hodson of Newport Beach is also on the squad. 

UCLA outside hitter Kelly Reeves and Oregon setter Lauren Plum are the other recent Pac-12 grads on the roster. Other notables include opposite hitter Bailey Webster (Texas), middle blocker Katie Slay (Penn State) and outside hitter Maddie Martin (Penn State).

Team USA opens play Friday at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs against Guatemala. Panama and Honduras are also in their pool.

COURTNEY THOMPSON’S PRO TEAM FINISHES FOURTH IN WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

Olympian Courtney Thompson, a former Washington All-American setter, finished this year’s overseas professional season by leading Voléro Zürich to the FIVB World Club Championships to a fourth-place finish. After defeating South American champion Sao Paulo in the quarterfinals, Zürich dropped the rematch 2-3, with the final set going 15-13. Thompson was the primary setter in the victory, but did not start most of the sets in the loss. European Champion Dinamo Kazan of Moscow won the first-place trophy. Dinamo features Thompson’s Olympic teammate, Jordan Larson-Burbach, formerly of Nebraska.

NOTES:

• Hayley Hodson, the high school junior on the USA roster this week, plays for Tstreet, the same Orange County club as current Washington players Cassie Strickland and Bailey Tanner—and incoming Huskies Crissy Jones and Tia Scambray. The Costa Mesa Daily Pilot reported in April that Hodson, a 6’4 outside hitter, has verbally committed to Stanford.