June 15, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The U.S. national women's volleyball team named its roster for the upcoming Pan Am Cup, with former Penn State women's volleyball standouts Megan Courtney and Micha Hancock selected to the 2017 roster.
Penn State was one of only four schools nationally to have multiple alumni named to the team, with Oregon, Illinois and Nebraska achieving the feat as well.
Of the 15 members of the 2017 roster, six including Courtney and Hancock played for the 2016 Pan Am Cup when the U.S. won bronze.
Team USA is part of Group A with matches against Venezuela on June 17, Colombia on June 18, Puerto Rico on June 19, Mexico on June 20 and Argentina on June 21. Group B includes Canada, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru and Trinidad & Tobago. After an off day on June 22, the quarterfinal round will take the second- and third-place teams from both groups and play crossover matches to determine which two teams will advance to the June 24 semifinals to join the respective pool winners. The tournament concludes on June 25 with the medal-round matches and other classification matches.
Courtney earned her first career AVCA All-America and All-Big Ten honors during the 2015 season. She was an All-Northeast Region selection in 2015, helping Penn State to its 35th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Des Moines Regional All-Tournament team member closed out the year ranked second on the team with 3.04 kills per set, having recorded double-figure kills in 13 matches during the season, including eight of the 16 conference matches she played in. Courtney also joined an elite group, as she became just the eighth Nittany Lion in program history to reach the 1,000 career kills, 1,000 career digs milestone.
Hancock closed out a standout career in the Blue and White helping Penn State to back-to-back NCAA national championships in 2013-14. She highlighted the 2014 season with one of the top awards in collegiate volleyball, earning AVCA DI National Player of the Year honors to become the fourth Nittany Lion in program history to garner the prestigious award. A three-time first team AVCA All-America honoree, she earned AVCA All-Northeast Region honors in each of the last three seasons. She also earned her third consecutive All-Big Ten selection in 2014, along with her second straight ESPN ESPY award nominee for Best Female College Athlete.
The U.S. are aiming for its fifth Pan Am Cup title. The U.S is tied with Cuba and the Dominican Republic for the most titles in the past 15 years, each holding four. The Dominican Republic has won two of the last three.
U.S. Women's National Team Roster for Pan Am Cup
# - Player (Position, Height, College, Hometown)
1 - Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Penn State, Edmond, Oklahoma)
4 - Justine Wong-Orantes (L, 5-6, Nebraska, Cypress, California)
7 - Lauren Carlini (S, 6-1, Wisconsin, Aurora, Illinois)
9 - Madi Kingdon (OH, 6-1, Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona)
11 - Annie Drews (OPP, 6-3, Purdue, Elkhart, Indiana)
14 - Michelle Bartsch-Hackley (OH, 6-3, Illinois, Maryville, Illinois)
17 - Megan Courtney (OH, 6-1, Penn State, Dayton, Ohio)
18 - Sonja Newcombe (OH, 6-1, Oregon, Lake Arrowhead, California)
16 - Molly McCage (M, 6-3, Texas, Spring, Texas)
20 - Amanda Benson (L, 5-7, Oregon, Litchfield Park, Arizona)
21 - Paige Tapp (M, 6-1, Minnesota, Stewartville, Minnesota)
23 - Liz McMahon (OPP, 6-6, Illinois, Liberty Township, Ohio)
26 - Amber Rolfzen (M, 6-3, Nebraska, Papillion, Nebraska)
27 - Rhamat Alhassan (M, 6-4, Florida, Glenarden, Maryland)
Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coaches: Tama Miyashiro, Erin Virtue, Jon Newman-Gonchar
Technical Coordinator: Jeff Liu
Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
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