USA Volleyball Names Baylor Alumna Skinner to VNL Week 1 Roster

[Allen, Madelon]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 30, 2023

USA Volleyball Names Baylor Alumna Skinner to VNL Week 1 Roster
Skinner is one of six rookies for Team USA’s roster of 14

For more information contact: Madelon Allen; 254-252-7168, madelon_allen at baylor.edu<mailto:madelon_allen at baylor.edu>


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Volleyball released its 14-player Women’s National Team roster for the first week of the 2023 Volleyball Nationals League, including Baylor volleyball alumna Avery Skinner. The preliminary round for Team USA will be in Antalya, Türkiye.



VNL is the world’s premier annual international indoor volleyball tournament. The final round is hosted this year at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, on July 12-16. Hosting on U.S. soil means that USA Volleyball automatically qualifies for the quarterfinal round. The USA and other top 15 teams in the world play four matches a week for three weeks of preliminary competition, competing for the seven remaining spots in the quarterfinal.



Skinner is one of six rookies and will play alongside three Tokyo Olympic gold medalists and four other athletes who have VNL experience. There are a total of three former Big 12 players on the roster in Skinner and Texas’ Brionne Butler and Asjia O’Neal.



Skinner played the 2021 season with Baylor, her fifth year of eligibility. She finished the season named First Team All-Big 12 unanimously, AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, AVCA Southwest All-Region and CoSIDA Academic First Team All-America. She recorded 10 double-doubles and was an offensive powerhouse for the Bears, recording the second-most kills on the team that season.



The USA squad is coached by three-time Olympian and three-time gold medalist head coach Karch Kiraly, who has been head coach of the U.S. Women since 2013.



The U.S. Women are the reigning Olympic champions and are currently ranked No. 4 in the world. They have won the VNL three times (2018, ’19, ’21) since its inception in 2018.



In its first match, USA will face world No. 1 and defending world champion Serbia, which knocked the U.S. out of the quarterfinals in 2022. The Americans will then play world No. 2 and reigning VNL champion Italy in the second match.



All VNL matches will be broadcast on volleyballworld.tv. Tickets for the final round in Arlington can be purchased here<http://tickets.volleyballworld.com/arlington>.



The full week 1 roster for the USA, and full VNL schedule, can be found here<https://usavolleyball.org/story/u-s-women-balancing-vets-and-rookies-for-first-round-of-vnl/>. Of note, VNL team rosters of 14 players are subject to change each week of competition.



U.S. Women’s Volleyball Schedule – 2023 VNL

(all times PT)

Week 1 at Antalya, Türkiye

May 31 at 7 a.m. USA vs Serbia

June 2 at 10 a.m. USA vs Italy

June 3 at 7 a.m. USA vs Korea

June 4 at 10 a.m. USA vs Türkiye



To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVBall.





- BaylorBears<http://www.BaylorBears>.com -


__________________________________

Madelon Allen | Associate Director of Athletics Communications
VB, A&T, BaylorBears.com
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-252-7168

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