As Week 2 of the Volleyball Nations League unfolded, the United States aimed for a stronger showing following a challenging Week 1 in Brazil. Hosting the matches in Arlington, Texas, the team hoped to capitalize on home-court advantage and rally support from local fans (more on that later). Despite their ambitions, the week proved to be a mixed bag, with the USA securing two wins but stumbling in their final two matches, finishing with a 2-2 record.
Karch Kiraly assembled an interesting roster for the second week of competition. Returning from the first week were Jordyn Poulter, Avery Skinner, Ali Frantti, Jordan Larson, Chiaka Ogbogu, and Justine Wong-Orantes. Making their debuts were Micha Hanco*ck, Jordan Thompson, Khalia Lanier, Kathryn Plummer, Dana Rettke, Haleigh Washington, Asjia O’Neal, and Morgan Hentz. Notably absent were Kelsey Robinson and Annie Drews, with no explanation given for their absence. Their presence was notably missed throughout the four matches.
Match 1: USA vs Canada
The USA entered this match needing a win. With the VNL finals on their mind, they couldn't afford to drop any more matches against teams they should beat. The USA had a fast start against their North American rivals, winning the first two sets. There was a stumble in the third set as Canada used late momentum to snatch it. However, the Americans rebounded to take set four, 25-20.
Kathryn Plummer was the USA’s leading scorer with 14 kills and two blocks, but she only managed a .175 efficiency. Jordan Larson’s efficiency and connection with Jordyn Poulter stood out, as she had 12 kills, hitting .366. Although it was not the cleanest match from the USA, with only 37% positive passing, it was enough to handle their northern neighbors.
Match 2: USA vs Bulgaria
The USA entered the second match with a completely new lineup as Micha Hanco*ck, Haleigh Washington, Asjia O’Neal, Khalia Lanier (at opposite), and Morgan Hentz all saw their first VNL action of the summer. Avery Skinner was dominant over the Bulgarians after a bit of a slow start, finishing with 17 kills (.353) and two blocks. Haleigh Washington added an efficient nine kills (.615) and an ace. Micha Hanco*ck set a steady game despite the USA's ongoing passing struggles, as they only achieved 37% positive passes.
Bulgaria pushed the USA more than expected, out-blocking the Americans. However, USA’s block touches helped limit the Bulgarian offense, even with fewer block stuffs. Hanco*ck, Washington, and O’Neal all contributed a match-high of five block touches each.
Match 3: USA vs Poland
The third match of the week is where the tide turned for the worse for the Americans. The USA started with the same lineup as they did against Canada. They fell behind for most of the first set, plagued by service errors and overall poor serving. Despite this, they stayed alive in the set with the help of seven kills from Larson. However, they could not convert several set points and lost the first set in extras (29-27).
The USA had momentum in the second set but squandered their lead with a series of errors towards the end. A key moment was an attack by Plummer in transition that went wide and was not challenged by Karch Kiraly, despite it being a crucial point that could have halted Poland’s momentum. On replay, the block touch on Stysiak was obvious and went unpunished. With their momentum shattered, Poland took advantage and cruised to a win in the second set (25-20).
Kiraly responded by making changes, bringing in Washington and Skinner. Both provided instant boosts to the offensive and defensive ends for the Americans. Washington offered much-needed resistance in the block, while Skinner claimed key out-of-system kills, leading to a set three win (25-20).
The fourth set was a back-and-forth battle, with Poland leading for large parts but facing American resistance. In the end, American errors resurfaced, and Poland capitalized, winning the key points in a 25-23 set. The Americans were extremely disappointed with their serving and performance in critical moments. Despite outplaying Poland in many facets by outhitting and out-blocking them, service errors (15) compared to only one ace for the USA made the difference.
Larson had her best match of the VNL with 20 kills (.475) and a block. Jordan Thompson finished with 16 kills, one block, and an ace. Washington finished with three blocks, seven block touches, and five kills in her two-set cameo.
Match 4: USA vs Turkey
If the third match of the week was heartbreaking, this match was even more so. The USA started strong, claiming the first set with clean volleyball and strong defense, forcing Turkey into errors. The next two sets were less successful, with Turkish stars Melissa Vargas and Ebrar Karakurt dominating the American block and defense, winning the sets handily. Set four was an anomaly, as the USA cruised to a 25-12 win while Turkey imploded with error after error. Washington and Ali Frantti were brought in during the set and injected life and passion into the American side.
They entered set five with momentum, racing out to an 8-6 lead at the switch, then 9-6, and eventually 11-9. Then the implosion, a common feature for the USA in crunch points this week, occurred. Jordan Larson miscalculated a free ball by Vargas, giving away a free point. Thompson had a service error, Washington was blocked, Frantti made an error, Frantti was blocked, Wong-Orantes was aced, and suddenly it was 11-14 and match point for Turkey. Turkey claimed the set 15-12 and the match.
This set and match were very reflective of the USA’s play over the entire week. The USA’s passing was poor, blocking and defense struggled for large parts of the match, and serving was below the expected level. Thompson led the Americans with 13 kills and three blocks. Larson had 12 kills and two aces. Dana Rettke followed with 10 kills (.588) and three blocks.
Dana Rettke: Rettke demonstrated that she belongs on the Olympic roster, hitting over .500 in the three matches she started. She developed a positive connection with both Poulter and Hanco*ck. While being a more offensive threat, Rettke’s block and block touches improved as the week went on. Rettke was also one of the USA’s better servers, committing only one error across 42 attempts for the week.
Jordan Larson: She still has it. Larson continued her strong form from Week 1 as one of the USA’s best players on both offense and defense. She hit .358 for the week, with her match against Poland being a standout, as she exploited every hole and gap in their block with her craftiness. The only critique for Larson this week might be her passing; she needs to achieve better than 51% good pass (2.14) for the Americans to run their offense at its best.
Haleigh Washington: Washington is the life and soul of the team. In the two matches where she appeared as a substitute, her passion and energy were infectious, and she significantly impacted the game, with the team winning both sets she subbed in. While the overall results could have been better, Washington provided the boost the team needed, prompting some to wonder why she is not starting.
Kathryn Plummer: It should be noted that these players did not have much time to practice and prepare for this week, only a few days according to Kiraly. Nonetheless, Plummer will be disappointed with how her week went compared to her incredibly successful club season. Plummer finished the week with a hitting efficiency of only .185, a passing rate of 1.95, and was pulled from both matches against Poland and Turkey. At her best, Plummer is one of the top outside hitters in the world. However, she struggled to find a connection with Poulter and had difficulty limiting her attacking errors.
Chiaka Ogbogu: Ogbogu has not had the VNL performance she envisioned. She struggled offensively, finishing Week 2 with only three kills and not even hitting .300 in efficiency. She was subbed out in both the Poland and Turkey matches. Against Poland, her blocking failed to make an impact. She blocked better against Turkey, but it was not enough to make her case. Serving remained a struggle, as she led the USA with a 40% error rate on her serve, only slightly ahead of Plummer’s 37%. These numbers are too high for a team that does not feature a dominant jump serve (RIP Hanco*ck’s jump serve).
Jordyn Poulter: Poulter has struggled with her movement since returning from injury to the national team. She wears a heavy brace on her knee, which may affect her mobility. Either way, it has put the USA in poor positions in transition and limits their full offensive potential. Poulter faced a lot of difficulty on the defensive side, having a high block touch error rate and limited floor defense impact. These details are crucial for an American team that needs to capitalize on defensive prowess in transition, given the lack of a big-time hitter that other countries may have. The best news for Poulter is that her connection with Jordan Larson is almost flawless.
USAVolleyball has consistently done the least in regards to the women’s national team. This has become even more apparent with the growing attention to women’s sports. When Arlington was announced as a host, it was supposed to be a positive move, especially since Shreveport had failed miserably at hosting the last two major events, both from a fan's perspective and in terms of elevating the national team’s image. However, this also turned out to be a flop. Arlington drew hardly any fans for the first three USA matches of the week, with empty sections across both the lower and upper levels of the arena. The most attended match was the Turkey-USA match, where Turkish fans took over the arena (due to a large Turkish community in Texas), drowning out the American fans.
This is simply embarrassing for the USA, USAV, and VolleyballWorld for allowing this to happen. It has been discussed before how poor USAV is at connecting fans to the pro game, but this was a blatant slap in the face. Marketing in Arlington was limited according to fans in the area. Ticket prices were well above rival tickets at the US Gymnastic championships, Ranger games, as well as Dallas Wings games in the same arena. Several cities boast volleyball attendance above 4,000 per match (including PVF teams, which rules out the “NCAA” argument). Yet, aside from those in Nebraska, none of these cities have been given the chance to explore the game at the highest level. Instead, USAV has placed events in Arlington and Shreveport, neither of which has a robust volleyball scene to capitalize on or convert fans.
This entire quad has been a misstep by USAV in capitalizing on the sport's momentum. Jamie Davis is leaving his role as CEO, which is a relief, but I have little faith that the board or his successor will step up and prioritize the sport like other federations have done.
Week 2 of the VNL was marked by a lot of missed opportunities for the Americans, both on and off the court. On a positive note, they went toe to toe with two medal contenders, Poland and Turkey, despite missing at least one, probably two Olympic starters in Kelsey Robinson and Annie Drews. The USA could have and maybe should have won at least one, if not both, of those games by playing clean volleyball. In the end, there is a lot of data to analyze and lessons to learn, which is beneficial for the team heading into Week 3.
The USA needs to win at least three of their four matches (against France, Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands) to qualify for the finals. If they lose two matches (potentially even just one to the Dutch), they will most likely miss the finals for the first time ever, which would be a disaster for Karch Kiraly. Week 3 will be the biggest test of the summer for the squad, and hopefully, with the Olympic squad intact, the challenge will be met and a trip to the VNL finals will be the reward.
