Thursday, January 29, 2015

Professional | American volleyball stars advance in Champions League

Courtney Thompson leads Zurich to showdown against Cannes; Becky Perry’s UYBA club faces Baku


Courtney Thompson celebrates a point in Volero Zurich's 3-1 Champions League victory over Wroclaw
-FIVB

Volero Zurich, a top European professional volleyball team featuring Olympian and former Washington All-American Courtney Thompson, has advanced to the playoff rounds of the 2015 Champions League. Zurich defeated Wroclaw 3-1 yesterday to finish 5-1 in pool play.

Becky Perry of Busto Arsizio
Volero will now face RC Cannes, a team with three familiar American faces: four-time Olympian Logan Tom (Stanford 1999-2002), Carly Wopat (Stanford 2010-2013) and Juliann Faucette (Texas 2007-2010).

Thompson’s Volero teammates include Natalie Hagglund (USC 2010-2013) and Emily Hartong (Hawai’i 2010-2013). All six—Thompson, Hagglund, Hartong, Tom, Wopat and Faucette—earned one or more First Team AVCA All-American honors while in college.

Former Washington All-American Becky Perry is with Unendo Yamamay, an Italian club based in Busto Arsizio, just north of Milan. Her UYBA team is also in the playoffs, and will face Azeryol of Baku, Azerbaijan, a team featuring Canadian UCLA alumnus Tabi Love.

The Champions League is an annual volleyball tournament to determine Europe’s top professional club. Clubs also compete in their national leagues; Thompson’s Volero team leads the Swiss League with a 15-0 record.

Several other former American collegians are on clubs still in Champions League contention, including:
  • Jordan Larson-Burbach (Nebraska), Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul
  • Kristin Hildebrand (Stanford), Fenerbahce Grundig Istanbul
  • Cursty Jackson (Arizona), Dresdner SC
  • Arielle Wilson (Penn State), Nordmeccanica Piacenza
  • Chloe Ferrari (San Diego), Dresdner SC
  • Molly Kreklow (Missouri), Dresdner SC 


1 comment:

  1. Jack,
    do you know why Krista is not on the try out list for the national team?

    ReplyDelete

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