Colorado State University Athletics
Hillyer, Oleksak Head to USA Volleyball National Team Tryouts
3/2/2018 1:47:00 PM | Volleyball
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Colorado State volleyball team will send two student-athletes to the annual U.S Women's National Team Open Tryouts. Sophomore setter Katie Oleksak and redshirt sophomore Kirstie Hillyer will represent the CSU volleyball program beginning on March 2 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The tryout will run from March 2-4 and feature 234 athletes from 89 colleges from across the country. The athletes will all be trying out and evaluated 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 will direct the tryout process. 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 final session on Sunday begins at 7:30 a.m. MT with tournament style play, along with 16-18 athletes selected by the U.S. Women's National Team staff to participate in a "USA" training session. The Sunday session wraps up at 10:30 a.m. MT.
All sessions minus the USA training session on Sunday morning will be streamed live and available for free HERE. USA Volleyball will use #USAVtryout as the event hashtag for photos, notes, quotes and stories posted to its social media platforms Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram under the handle @usavolleyball.
Selected athletes for the U.S. Women's National Team may begin their training in Anaheim, California, as early as the spring of 2018, or when an athlete's scholastic or professional club season has concluded.
The U.S. Collegiate National Team program has three competition options:
Selections for the U.S. Collegiate National Teams will be made by the end of March.
Katie Oleksak, the 2017 Mountain West Player of the Year, finished her sophomore season for the Green and Gold leading the Mountain West in assists and assists per set, while also ranking No. 8 in the nation in assists per set. She reached 40-plus assists 19 times in the 2017 season and ranks No. 9 at Colorado State in assists and No. 8 in assists per set. The Phoenix, Ariz., native has been named the AVCA All-Region and All-America teams in both of her seasons.
Kirstie Hillyer will attend the U.S. Women's National Team Open Tryouts for the second season. The redshirt junior was selected as a participant in 2017 with the U.S. Collegiate National Team in the CNT-Minneapolis program. Hillyer was the fourth player from Colorado State since 2010 to be selected as a participant. The Bayfield, Colo., native finished the 2017 season fourth on the team in kills per set, while hitting second on the team with a .383 mark. The middle blocker averaged a team-best 1.46 blocks per set, which ranked No. 17 in the nation and 130 total blocks during the season.
The tryout will run from March 2-4 and feature 234 athletes from 89 colleges from across the country. The athletes will all be trying out and evaluated 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 will direct the tryout process. 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 final session on Sunday begins at 7:30 a.m. MT with tournament style play, along with 16-18 athletes selected by the U.S. Women's National Team staff to participate in a "USA" training session. The Sunday session wraps up at 10:30 a.m. MT.
All sessions minus the USA training session on Sunday morning will be streamed live and available for free HERE. USA Volleyball will use #USAVtryout as the event hashtag for photos, notes, quotes and stories posted to its social media platforms Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram under the handle @usavolleyball.
Selected athletes for the U.S. Women's National Team may begin their training in Anaheim, California, as early as the spring of 2018, or when an athlete's scholastic or professional club season has concluded.
The U.S. Collegiate National Team program has three competition options:
- U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team – May 20-31, CNT Asia (International)
- U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team – July 4-15, CNT Europe (International)
- U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team – June 22-July 1, CNT-Detroit, Michigan (Domestic)
Selections for the U.S. Collegiate National Teams will be made by the end of March.
Katie Oleksak, the 2017 Mountain West Player of the Year, finished her sophomore season for the Green and Gold leading the Mountain West in assists and assists per set, while also ranking No. 8 in the nation in assists per set. She reached 40-plus assists 19 times in the 2017 season and ranks No. 9 at Colorado State in assists and No. 8 in assists per set. The Phoenix, Ariz., native has been named the AVCA All-Region and All-America teams in both of her seasons.
Kirstie Hillyer will attend the U.S. Women's National Team Open Tryouts for the second season. The redshirt junior was selected as a participant in 2017 with the U.S. Collegiate National Team in the CNT-Minneapolis program. Hillyer was the fourth player from Colorado State since 2010 to be selected as a participant. The Bayfield, Colo., native finished the 2017 season fourth on the team in kills per set, while hitting second on the team with a .383 mark. The middle blocker averaged a team-best 1.46 blocks per set, which ranked No. 17 in the nation and 130 total blocks during the season.
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