U.S. women have never won an Olympic indoor volleyball gold medal, but the 12 athletes named Tuesday to the 2016 squad will be among the favorites to do just that. The Americans are the reigning world champions and ranked No. 1 entering the Rio Games.
Karcy Kiraly, who will be a head coach in the Olympics for the first time, selected a roster consisting of just four players who competed in the 2012 Olympics. The U.S. women took silver in London after losing to Brazil in the final for the second consecutive Games. Brazil, which will have a decided home-court advantage in Rio, also defeated the U.S. in five sets on Sunday in the final of the 2016 FIVB World Grand Prix.
The squad will be led by outside hitter Jordan Larson, the 2015 USA Volleyball Female Indoor Player of the Year. Also returning from the 2012 team are middle blockers Foluke Akinradewo and Christa Dietzen (nee Harmotto), and setter Courtney Thompson.
The eight newcomers are outside hitters Kim Hill and Kelsey Robinson, middle blocker Rachael Adams, opposite hitters Karsta Lowe and Kelly Murphy, setters Alisha Glass and Carli Lloyd, and libero Kayla Banwarth.
Hill was most valuable player at the 2014 FIVB World Championship. Everyone except Lowe and Lloyd was on that World Championship team, which won the program’s first-ever gold medal in the event.
The average age of the 12 women is 27.0 years old. Thompson, 31, is the oldest, and Lowe, 23, is the youngest.
“We aspire to be a team that adds up to far more than the sums of our parts,” Kiraly said in a release. “We are extremely fortunate to have so many great people and great players who give us so much passion and effort to this program – and we will look to honor their contributions by competing our hardest in Rio. Ultimately, we have assembled a group that we believe is capable of embracing the challenges a tournament like the Olympics will surely present.”
Kiraly, a U.S. women’s assistant coach in 2012, could become the first person to win Olympic gold as a volleyball player and coach. He already is the only player to win Olympic gold in both indoor (1984, 1988) and beach volleyball (1996). China’s women’s head coach, Lang Ping, could accomplish the same feat in Rio.
Kiraly will be assisted on the bench by Jamie Morrison, Tom Black and David Hunt.