Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Lebo and junior middle blocker Awele Nwaeze will try out for the women’s national team in Colorado Springs, Colo. Tryouts take place Feb. 20-22 at the United States Olympic Training Center.
Lebo and Nwaeze will be just two of 238 athletes trying out from 93 different colleges across the nation. Tryouts will be for the U.S. Women’s National Team, the U.S. Collegiate National Team and the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team.
Lebo tied for fifth in the IU record books for service aces with 51 in 2014. That was the most at IU since 2005 and tied with the most in the rally-scoring era. Her 51 saves ranked 13th in the NCAA last season.
Nwaeze led the team with 115 total blocks, 19 solo blocks and 96 block assists. She has 210 career blocks. Nwaeze earned Defensive Player of the Week honors from the Big Ten once last season.
The entire tryout process can be viewed on an online video stream at teamusa.org. The tryouts will be run by U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly.
The tryouts will consist of four sessions with three waves per session. The Friday session will take place 2-8 p.m. MST with Queen of the Court competitions. Saturday’s sessions are at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday and will include tournament-style play at 8 a.m.
Brody Miller