Bobcat Volleyball Team Sends Three to USA National Team Open Tryouts
2/28/2019 1:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
“This is a unique and special opportunity for Kelsie and Allyssa to put the ‘USA’ on their chest and test themselves against some of the best volleyball players in the nation,” said MSU head coach Daniel Jones.
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Montana State volleyball standouts Allyssa Rizzo and Kelsie White, along with assistant coach Cole Aiazzi will participate in the 2019 U.S. Women's National Team Open Tryouts March 1-3 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
More than 200 athletes will converge in Colorado Springs to earn a spot on one of the U.S. Women's National Team programs, including the U.S. Collegiate National Team program. The U.S. National Team is coached by volleyball legend Karch Kiraly.
Rizzo is coming off an outstanding season where she established herself as one of the top liberos in the Big Sky Conference and the nation. The product of Crestwood, Ill., shattered the Montana State single-season digs record with 624 saves. Her 5.52 digs per set were tops in the Big Sky and ranked 13th in the nation. In addition, Rizzo's .35 service aces per set ranked No. 87 in the country.
White also had a solid season for the Bobcats averaging 1.74 kills per set, while hitting a team-best .240 from the floor. In addition, she racked up 108 total blocks. Her .97 blocks per game average ranked among the top 10 in the Big Sky. As a freshman, White averaged 1.08 blocks per game, which ranked No. 126 in the nation and was the 13th best average by a freshman.
"This is a unique and special opportunity for Kelsie and Allyssa to put the 'USA' on their chest and test themselves against some of the best volleyball players in the nation," said MSU head coach Daniel Jones. "This will be a great learning experience for them. By spending time around other elite coaches and athletes, I know there will be lessons they learn that they will bring back to our program."
Aiazzi, who just completed his second season at Montana State, will serve as a court coach for the tryouts. At MSU he is responsible for player development, practice planning, scouting reports and coordination of the defensive game plan. Prior to Montana State he spent the 2016 season contributing to a Big Ten Conference championship and a Final Four appearance as a member of national power Nebraska's coaching staff.
"Cole is going in the capacity as a coach," Jones said. "I'm excited for him to learn from our national team coaches and bring that knowledge back to our gym.
"This whole experience is nothing but positive regardless of the outcome of the tryout, this is going make us better on several fronts," Jones concluded.
All sessions of the tryout (minus the USA Training session on Sunday) will be streamed live at https://www.teamusa.org/usa-volleyball/video. USA Volleyball will use #USAVtryout as the events hashtag for photos, notes, quotes and stories posted to social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat under the handle @usavolleyball.
More than 200 athletes will converge in Colorado Springs to earn a spot on one of the U.S. Women's National Team programs, including the U.S. Collegiate National Team program. The U.S. National Team is coached by volleyball legend Karch Kiraly.
Rizzo is coming off an outstanding season where she established herself as one of the top liberos in the Big Sky Conference and the nation. The product of Crestwood, Ill., shattered the Montana State single-season digs record with 624 saves. Her 5.52 digs per set were tops in the Big Sky and ranked 13th in the nation. In addition, Rizzo's .35 service aces per set ranked No. 87 in the country.
White also had a solid season for the Bobcats averaging 1.74 kills per set, while hitting a team-best .240 from the floor. In addition, she racked up 108 total blocks. Her .97 blocks per game average ranked among the top 10 in the Big Sky. As a freshman, White averaged 1.08 blocks per game, which ranked No. 126 in the nation and was the 13th best average by a freshman.
"This is a unique and special opportunity for Kelsie and Allyssa to put the 'USA' on their chest and test themselves against some of the best volleyball players in the nation," said MSU head coach Daniel Jones. "This will be a great learning experience for them. By spending time around other elite coaches and athletes, I know there will be lessons they learn that they will bring back to our program."
Aiazzi, who just completed his second season at Montana State, will serve as a court coach for the tryouts. At MSU he is responsible for player development, practice planning, scouting reports and coordination of the defensive game plan. Prior to Montana State he spent the 2016 season contributing to a Big Ten Conference championship and a Final Four appearance as a member of national power Nebraska's coaching staff.
"Cole is going in the capacity as a coach," Jones said. "I'm excited for him to learn from our national team coaches and bring that knowledge back to our gym.
"This whole experience is nothing but positive regardless of the outcome of the tryout, this is going make us better on several fronts," Jones concluded.
All sessions of the tryout (minus the USA Training session on Sunday) will be streamed live at https://www.teamusa.org/usa-volleyball/video. USA Volleyball will use #USAVtryout as the events hashtag for photos, notes, quotes and stories posted to social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat under the handle @usavolleyball.
Players Mentioned
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