Several Buffs Head to USA Volleyball Tryouts

BOULDER — The Buffaloes are sending five volleyball players to the USA Volleyball tryouts, Feb. 19-21, at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The University of Colorado's contingency includes current athletes Taylor Joachim, Cierra Simpson, Gabby Simpson and Alexa Smith, as well as Nicole Edelman, who exhausted her eligibility after the 2015 season.

“This is a great opportunity for our athletes to compete with some of the best players in the country and I know they are all very excited,” Colorado head coach Jesse Mahoney said. “We have been very focused in our training this spring and I am confident that this group will represent our program very well.”

The tryout will evaluate approximately 231 athletes from 88 colleges for spots on the U.S. Women's National Team and the U.S. Collegiate National Team program.

U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly and his staff will direct the entire tryout process, which can be viewed with an online video stream. The tryout will involve four sessions with three waves per session. Friday's first session goes from 2-8 p.m. MT, while Saturday's sessions are at 8 a.m. (focus on serve/receive and individual work) and 2 p.m. (middle-centered and out-of-system focus). The tryout concludes on Sunday at 8 a.m. with tournament style play, along with 16-18 athletes selected by the staff to participate in a “USA” training session.

The U.S. Collegiate National Team program has three competition options:

Tour of China (12 athletes): June 18-July 1
Tour of Europe (12 athletes): July 5-16
USA Volleyball Girls' Junior National Championships (projected 36 athletes): June 21-30 in Indianapolis

Selections for the U.S. Collegiate National Teams will be made by the end of March.

The tryouts are free and open to the public; however seating is very limited in Sports Center II.