Former Baylor VB Middle Blocker to Play in Pan Am Cup for U.S.

[Allen, Madelon]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – September 11, 2021



Former VB Middle Blocker to Play in Pan Am Cup for U.S.
Former Bear Shelly Stafford to play for the U.S. in the Pan Am Cup.
For more information contact: Madelon Allen, 254-252-7168, Madelon_Allen at Baylor.edu<mailto:Madelon_Allen at Baylor.edu>


WACO, Texas. – Former Baylor volleyball middle blocker Shelly Stafford is set to compete at the Pan American Cup with the U.S. Women’s National Team beginning Monday evening in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Stafford was a decorated student-athlete for the Green & Gold, being a part of the 2019 Big 12 Champion team and making the NCAA Semifinals that season. She left Waco being a three-time All-American and was the career leader in hitting percentage with a .347 mark on 1,241 kills on 2,631 attempts. She closed out her career as a part of the winningest Baylor volleyball class, with four NCAA Tournament appearances, a 95-30 record and four 20-win seasons. She earned countless academic and athletic honors during her time at Baylor.

With the U.S. Team, she will play Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Puerto Rico in a five-day, round robin tournament that begins on Monday, Sept. 13. The top four teams advance to the semifinals on Saturday and the finals are slated for Sunday.

The U.S. Team has won the last three Pan Am Cups in 2017, 2018 and 2019. They also have the most wins overall with seven.

The team is to be coached by Karch Kiraly, with assistants Erin Virtue and Tama Miyashiro. Kiraly just coached the U.S. Women’s National Team to a gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

"We are excited to see what this young group of Americans can do at the 2021 Pan American Cup," Kiraly said. "Some of them are very young without much experience. It will be a learning and developing opportunity for them."

The roster is full of former collegians, with Stafford being the only Big 12 representative.

U.S. Women's Pan American Cup Roster
No. Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, College)
2 Taylor Bruns (S, 5-11, Normal, Ill., Univ. of South Carolina)
3 Alex Holston (OH, 6-2, Olney, Md., Univ. of Florida)
5 Hana Lishman (L, 5-8, Kailua, Hawaii, Pepperdine Univ.)
6 Shelly Stafford (MB, 6-2, Cypress, Texas, Baylor Univ.)
7 Symone Williams-Abbott (OH, 6-1, Northville, Mich., Northwestern Univ.)
8 Elle Glock (S, 6-1, Wahoo, Neb., Univ. of Southern California)
9 Rachael Kramer (MB, 6-10, Phoenix, Ariz., Florida)
12 Lindsay Stalzer  (OH, 6-1, Kewanee, Ill., Bradley Univ.)
14 Ali Bastianelli (MB, 6-3, Marysville, Mich., Univ. of Illinois)
15 Roni Jones-Perry  (OPP, 5-11, West Jordan, Utah, BYU)
16C Danielle Cuttino (OPP, 6-4, Indianapolis, Ind., Purdue Univ.)

Head Coach - Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach - Erin Virtue
Assistant Coach - Tama Miyashiro
Team Manager - John Xie
Athletic Trainer - Misao Tanioka
Statistician - Peter Wong

U.S.A. Volleyball will be tweeting updates throughout the week at @usavolleyball.

To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVball.



-BaylorBears.com-


__________________________________

Madelon Allen | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (VB, MTEN, A&T)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-252-7168

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