Baylor volleyball’s Yossiana Pressley, Shelly Fanning, Hannah Lockin, Aniah Philo and Shanel Bramschreiber will attend the 2018 U.S. Women’s National Team Open Tryouts, taking place March 2-4 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
Four players from BU’s 2017 NCAA Tournament team and one spring enrollee will each have one tryout on Friday, one morning and afternoon session on Saturday and one morning session on Sunday.
Each player looks to earn a spot on the U.S. Women’s National Team and U.S. Collegiate National Team programs.
"I am incredibly excited about the opportunity Baylor is providing these young athletes in their quest to represent USA,” head coach Ryan McGuyre said. “We have five candidates that I strongly feel are worthy and will represent Baylor well at tryouts. I am looking forward to hearing the stories of their experience as the compete with other top-level athletes. They all see the bigger picture and I am confident their skills and character will have an influence on both the coaches and other athletes at this event.”
The tryout includes 48 liberos, 50 middles, 62 outside hitters, 31 opposites and 43 setters from across the country. Three-time Olympic gold medalist and U.S. Olympic Hall of Famer Karch Kiraly and the U.S. Women’s National Team staff will lead the tryout process.
Four of five players will try out in their normal collegiate positions while Philo will try out as a libero. Historically, the Bears have had three selections chosen in the past four years to the U.S. Collegiate National Team with Andie Malloy (2014, 2015) and Shelly Fanning (2016) earning spots alongside the nation’s best.
“Aniah is at an elite level with her passing and defense while Yossi is at an elite level with her offense,” McGuyre said. “Shelly is a true competitor and warrior in every area, and the skills of Hannah and Shanel are shining brightly already at such a young age.”
There will be a Facebook Live broadcast and webcast covering each day of the open tryout found at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/USA-Teams/Indoor-Volleyball/Women/National-Team-Tryouts.
The Bears are coming off their second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and earned its highest finish in Big 12 action in program history during the 2017 season.
