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<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><a name="_Hlk490052374"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – </span></b></a><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">September
11, 2021<br>
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</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Former VB Middle Blocker to Play in Pan Am Cup for U.S.</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Former Bear Shelly Stafford to play for the U.S. in the Pan Am Cup.</span></i><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">For more information contact:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> Madelon Allen, 254-252-7168, </span><a href="mailto:Madelon_Allen@Baylor.edu"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1">Madelon_Allen@Baylor.edu</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> <b> </b><br>
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WACO, Texas. –</span></b><span style="background:white"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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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.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">"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."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">The roster is full of former collegians, with Stafford being the only Big 12 representative.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">U.S. Women's Pan American Cup Roster<br>
<u>No. Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, College)</u></span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><br>
2 Taylor Bruns (S, 5-11, Normal, Ill., Univ. of South Carolina)<br>
3 Alex Holston (OH, 6-2, Olney, Md., Univ. of Florida)<br>
5 Hana Lishman (L, 5-8, Kailua, Hawaii, Pepperdine Univ.)<br>
<b>6 Shelly Stafford (MB, 6-2, Cypress, Texas, Baylor Univ.)<br>
</b>7 Symone Williams-Abbott (OH, 6-1, Northville, Mich., Northwestern Univ.)<br>
8 Elle Glock (S, 6-1, Wahoo, Neb., Univ. of Southern California)<br>
9 Rachael Kramer (MB, 6-10, Phoenix, Ariz., Florida)<br>
12 Lindsay Stalzer (OH, 6-1, Kewanee, Ill., Bradley Univ.)<br>
14 Ali Bastianelli (MB, 6-3, Marysville, Mich., Univ. of Illinois)<br>
15 Roni Jones-Perry (OPP, 5-11, West Jordan, Utah, BYU)<br>
16C Danielle Cuttino (OPP, 6-4, Indianapolis, Ind., Purdue Univ.)<br>
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Head Coach - Karch Kiraly<br>
Assistant Coach - Erin Virtue<br>
Assistant Coach - Tama Miyashiro<br>
Team Manager - John Xie<br>
Athletic Trainer - Misao Tanioka<br>
Statistician - Peter Wong<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">U.S.A. Volleyball will be tweeting updates throughout the week at @usavolleyball.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVball.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background:white"><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;letter-spacing:.25pt">-BaylorBears.com-<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black">__________________________________</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:6.5pt;color:black"> </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#385623">Madelon Allen</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#385623"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">| </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">Associate
Director of Athletics Communications (VB, MTEN, A&T)</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">Department of Athletics | Baylor University<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">C: 254-252-7168<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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