Plum Picked to USA Volleyball Junior National Team
* Photo by Bill Kauffman, USA Volleyball, Copyright 2011.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Thanks to her performance at the U.S. Olympic Training Center tryouts two months ago, University of Oregon Lauren Plum was one of two setters recently selected for this summer's FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship.
The event for ages 20 and under will be held in Lima, Peru, July 20-31, and the Poway, Calif., native will first join the 12-person squad for a training camp at July 10-19 at Saint Mary’s College (Calif.) in Moraga, Calif.
Plum is one of 10 collegians on the unit, and five that hail from from the Pac-10 (USC libero Natalie Hagglund, Arizona outside hitter Madison Kingdon, UCLA outside hitter Kelly Reeves and Stanford middle blocker Carly Wopat).
Before then, Plum will compete with Duck sophomore Alaina Bergsma on the A2 National Team in the USA Volleyball Open National Championships in Dallas at the end of May.
The duo earned their selections for the latter unit after they were among 204 collegians that competed at the U.S. Women’s National Team tryout, February 25-27 at the USOTC in Colorado Springs.
More information on the USA Junior National Team announcement is available at the www.USAvolleyball.com website at the http://usavolleyball.org/news/2011/05/12/usav-selects-womens-junior-national-team/42282 URL address.
Last fall, Plum was tabbed to the All-Pac-10 Freshman Team after she paced freshmen nationally in assists (11.75 per set), and also sported averages of 0.22 aces and 0.40 blocks per set.
In 2010, the youthful Oregon squad went 19-11 and staked its fifth straight season with +17 wins (20-’09; 25-’08; 22-’07; 17-’06) for the first the first time since 1983-87. The Ducks opened the campaign with a school record 14-match win streak en route to a season-high national ranking of 11th.
Looking ahead, UO will open the 2011 campaign with matches against returning national champion Penn State and NCAA regional semifinalist Minnesota in the AVCA Showcase, Friday-Saturday, August 26-27 in State College, Pa.
Duck volleyball fans can get a sneak peak at the team in weeks prior at a pair of home exhibitions, Saturday August 13 and 20, while its first official match at Matthew Knight Arena is against Seattle on Friday, September 2.
2011 U.S. Women’s Junior National Team
Name (Position, Height, Hometown, H.S. Grad Year, Club/School, Region)
Haley Eckerman (OH, 6-3, Waterloo, Iowa, 2011, Iowa Rockets/University of Texas, Iowa)
Jennifer Bonilla (L, 5-10, Reseda, Calif., 2010, Sports Shack/University of Illinois, SCVA)
Natalie Hagglund (L, 5-9, Encinitas, Calif., 2010, Encinitas WAVE/University of Southern California, SCVA)
Haleigh Hampton (MB, 6-6, Huntington Beach, Calif., 2010, Cal Juniors/Long Beach State University, SCVA)
Stephanie Holthus (OH, 6-0, Elgin, Ill., 2010, Fusion/Northwestern University, Great Lakes)
Madison Kingdon (OH, 6-0, Phoenix, Ariz., 2011, Arizona Storm/University of Arizona, Arizona)
Molly Kreklow (S, 6-0, Delano, Minn., 2010, Mizuno Northern Lights/ University of Missouri, North Country)
Sallie McLaurin (MB, 6-2, Midwest City, Okla., 2010, Oklahoma Charge/University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma)
Lauren Plum (S, 5-9, Poway, Calif., 2010, Coast VBC/University of Oregon, SCVA)
Kelly Reeves (OH, 6-0, San Diego, Calif., 2010, Encinitas WAVE/UCLA, SCVA)
Moneshia Simmons (OH, 6-0, Buford, Ga., 2010, NFC Volleyball /Clemson University, Southern)
Carly Wopat (MB, 6-2, Goleta, Calif,. 2010, Santa Barbara VBC/Stanford University, SCVA)
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