March 23, 2007

MALIBU, Calif. -

Pepperdine junior outside hitter Julie Rubenstein was selected as one of 20 players to participate in the U.S. Women's National Volleyball A2 program in late spring.

The 20 players, all with remaining collegiate eligibility, will be split into two 10-member squads during training sessions prior to competing in the USA Volleyball Adult Open Championships May 26-June 2 in Austin, Texas.

"We are very pleased to able to field two teams of such a high caliber at the U.S. Open Championships," said USA Volleyball Managing Director of High Performance Tom Pingel. "This is a direct reflection on the level of athletes that attended the tryouts this past winter. Not only is the USA Volleyball staff looking forward to seeing this up-and-coming group of athletes train and compete in Austin in May, judging by the feedback from the athletes, they are anxiously looking forward to it as well."

USA Volleyball held open tryouts Dec. 16-17, 2006, at Omaha and Feb. 23-25, 2007, at Colorado Springs for selection to the A2 Teams, in addition to the U.S. Women's Junior National Team and U.S. Women's National Team. Players invited to train with the U.S. Women's National Team starting in May will be announced as soon as all confirmations have been received from the invitee list. Selections to the U.S. Women's Junior National Team will be announced in early May.

A2 Selections

Name (Year, Position, College, Hometown)

Tatum Ailes (Jr., Libero, Missouri, Bellevue, Neb.)

Sydney Anderson (Fr., Setter, Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah)

Kylie Atherstone (So., Opposite, Cal Poly, Chico, Calif.)

Vicki Brown (Jr., Middle Blocker, Illinois, Toledo, Ohio)

Anna Cmaylo (Jr., Middle Blocker, Santa Clara, Napa, Calif.)

Jamie Houston (So., Outside Hitter, Hawai'i, Huntsville, Ala.)

Crystal Hudson (Jr., Middle Blocker, Alabama, Hueytown, Ala.)

Alyson Jennings (Jr., Libero, Texas, Costa Mesa, Calif.)

Katie Johnson (Jr., Outside Hitter, Michigan State, Brooklyn, Mich.)

Jessy Jones (Jr., Middle Blocker, Minnesota, Naperville, Ill.)

Erica Lott (Jr., Opposite, BYU, Orem, Utah)

Kaylee Manns (Fr., Setter, Iowa State, Topeka, Kan.)

Crystal Matich (Jr., Setter, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, Calif.)

Michelle Moriarty (Jr., Setter, Texas, Houston, Texas)

Lauren Paolini (So., Middle Blocker, Texas, Ann Arbor, Mich.)

Angie Pressey (Jr., Outside Hitter, California, Heathrow, Fla.)

Julie Rubenstein (So., Outside Hitter, Pepperdine, Camarillo, Calif.)

Airial Salvo (So., Outside Hitter, Utah, Farmington, Utah)

Emillie Toone (Jr., Middle Blocker, Utah, American Fork, Utah)

Katie Vatterrodt (So., Outside Hitter, Minnesota, Bloomington, Ill.)

Setters

Sydney Anderson (Fr., Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah)

Anderson won AVCA West Region Freshman of the Year in setting Utah's offense this past season. The Utes hit .281 with her running the attack and she set three hitters who landed AVCA All-West Region honors as well. Anderson finished the season handing out 12.45 assists and also averaged 2.77 digs and 0.76 blocks.

Kaylee Manns (Fr., Iowa State, Topeka, Kan.)

Manns broke the single-season school-record with 1,433 assists while directing the Cyclones' offensive attack. Manns helped improve the Iowa State hitting percentage to .230, a year after the team hit .198. Her 12.91 assists per game was fourth in the Big 12.

Crystal Matich (Jr., Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, Calif.)

Matich, a 2005 AVCA All-America Third-Team selection as a sophomore, produced 13.32 assists, 1.90 digs and 0.55 blocks per game during an injury-plagued junior season. She started the first 12 matches of the season before a foot injury.

Michelle Moriarty (Jr., Texas, Houston, Texas)

Moriarty, a 2006 AVCA All-America Third-Team selection, led the Longhorns and the Big 12 Conference with a 13.68 assists per-game average in 2006. The Longhorns' captain concluded the year ranked fourth nationally in assists per-game and is the school's all-time assist leader with 4,358.

Middle Blockers

Vicki Brown (Jr., Illinois, Toledo, Ohio)

Brown tallied double-figure kills in 22 matches last season, including 15 or more kills in nine matches. She ranked ninth in the Big Ten in attack percentage at .324 en route to being selected honorable mention All-Big Ten.

Anna Cmaylo (Jr., Santa Clara, Napa, Calif.)

In 2006, Cmaylo racked up 3.89 kills a game and hit at a school-record .405 rate to finish eighth in the NCAA. Her kills per game rate was seventh in the conference, while her total of 1.12 blocks a game ranked eighth in the WCC.

Crystal Hudson (Jr., Alabama, Hueytown, Ala.)

Hudson, an AVCA All-America honorable mention pick in 2006, ranks ninth on Alabama's all-time kill list with 1,089. She led the Tide with 125 blocks and 452 kills last season with a .384 attack percentage in being named All-SEC.

Jessy Jones (Jr., Minnesota, Naperville, Ill.)

Jones, an honorable mention all-Big Ten pick as a junior, contributed 1.33 blocks per game for Minnesota as the Gophers reached the national quarterfinal round in 2006. She added a .321 attack percentage on 2.99 kills per game.

Lauren Paolini (So., Texas, Ann Arbor, Mich.)

Paolini started 20 of 31 Longhorn matches in 2006. She compiled averages of 1.95 kills and 1.07 blocks per game while attacking at a .314 percentage. Paolini was selected to the Big 12 All-Academic Second Team.

Emillie Toone (Jr., Utah, American Fork, Utah)

Toone ranked among the top blockers in the nation all season long. She finished the year recording blocks at 1.93 per game. Toone also collected 2.43 kills on a team-best .369 hitting.

Outside Hitters

Katie Johnson (Jr., Michigan State, Brooklyn, Mich.)

Johnson paced Michigan State offensively in 2006 with a team-leading 4.68 kills per game average while hitting .292. She added 0.58 blocks per game for the Spartans as a junior.

Jamie Houston (So., Hawai'i, Huntsville, Ala.)

Houston averaged 5.46 kills per game, ranking sixth in the country, while adding 2.57 digs per game. The sophomore had 15 20-plus kill matches, including a career-high 35 kills in the NCAA Regional semifinal match versus Southern California on Dec. 8.

Angie Pressey (Jr., California, Heathrow, Fla.)

Pressey was a 2006 AVCA All-American Second-Team pick after leading the Bears with 487 kills and 4.39 per game. She is the first Cal player to be named All-Pac 10 three years in a row. Pressey led the Bears to the NCAA round of 16 for the second time in school history.

Julie Rubenstein (So., Pepperdine, Camarillo, Calif.)

Rubenstein turned in 3.53 kills per game in leading Pepperdine in 2006. She added 2.23 digs and 0.73 blocks per game as a sophomore en route to being named All-WCC.

Airial Salvo (So., Utah, Farmington, Utah)

Salvo won the Mountain West Conference's Player of the Year award after finishing her sophomore season with a .288 attack percentage. She also turned in averages of 4.13 kills, 3.35 digs, 0.45 aces and 0.78 blocks. Salvo had double-digit kills in 30 of the 32 matches this season and recorded 18 double-doubles on the year.

Katie Vatterrodt (So., Minnesota, Bloomington, Ill.)

Vatterodt averaged 2.06 kills in 70 games of action for Minnesota in 2006. She started nine matches during her second collegiate season.

Opposites

Kylie Atherstone (So., Cal Poly, Chico, Calif.)

Atherstone led the conference in kills per game (4.51), total kills (505) and placed third in aces per game (0.35). She averaged 4.61 kills per game against Big West competition and finished just outside of the conference's top 10 with 1.10 blocks per game. In 2006, she totaled 10 matches of 20-plus kills and reached double-digits in kills in all 27 matches.

Erica Lott (Jr., BYU, Orem, Utah)

Lott, who switched from outside hitter to opposite prior to the 2006 season, was an All-Mountain West Conference selection. She finished the regular season ranked third in the MWC for kills and points, and ninth in blocks. Lott reached 20 kills in four matches in 2006.

Liberos

Tatum Ailes (Jr., Missouri, Bellevue, Neb.)

Ailes averaged 4.91 digs per game and converted 96.7 percent of her serve receive chances for Missouri in 2006. She added 23 aces for a 0.20 per game average. Ailes, the Big 12 Libero of the Year in 2005, set school records for single-season digs (565) and dig average in 2006.

Alyson Jennings (Jr., Texas, Costa Mesa, Calif.)

Jennings started all 31 matches for Texas at libero contributing 3.66 digs per game in helping the Longhorns reach the NCAA Tournament regional finals.

(Story provided by USA Volleyball)