MADISON, Wis. – Former Badger Lauren Carlini will play in her second-straight Pan American Cup as she was one of 14 players named to the 2017 U.S. National Team. The U.S. will compete in the 12-country tournament from June 17-25 in Lima and Cañete, Peru.

Carlini, a 6-2 setter, was a member of the bronze-medal winning U.S. team at the 2016 Pan Am Cup. She wrapped up her Badger career last fall as the only four-time All-American in program history, including the only three-time first-team All-American. Carlini won the 2016 James E. Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete, the first time a volleyball player has won the honor.

The Pan Am Cup is in its 16th year as teams from NORCECA (North America, Central America and Caribbean) and South America confederations compete for the title. The Americans have won the event three of the past five years with mainly a younger roster to gain international experience. The Pan Am Cup has two six-team preliminary round pools that will play a full round-round schedule.

The American squad will consist of two setters, two liberos, two opposites, five outside hitters and four middles. The setters include captain Micha Hancock and Lauren Carlini. The liberos will be Amanda Benson and Justine Wong-Orantes. The opposites are Annie Drews and Liz McMahon.

The outside hitters selected for the Pan Am Cup are Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, Megan Courtney, Madi Kingdon and Sonja Newcombe. The middles are Rhamat Alhassan, Molly McCage, Paige Tapp and Amber Rolfzen. In total, six of the players – Carlini, Hancock, Courtney, Kingdon, Alhassan and Wong-Orantes – competed in the 2016 Pan Am Cup when the U.S. won bronze.
 

Pan Am Cup Group A Schedule
June 17	U.S. vs. Venezuela	3 p.m.
June 18	U.S. vs. Colombia	3 p.m.
June 19	U.S. vs. Puerto Rico	7 p.m.
June 20	U.S. vs. Mexico	5 p.m.
June 21	U.S. vs. Argentina	7 p.m.
June 23	Quarterfinals
June 24	Semifinals
June 25	Medal-Round Matches
Watch all U.S. matches on FloVolleyball.com

The U.S. roster for Pan American Cup blends mostly young talent with limited to no international experience to a couple athlete who have been with the team for a few years but not cracking the most elite tournament rosters. Carlini, Hancock, Courtney, Kingdon, Alhassan and Wong-Orantes all played at last year's Pan Am Cup but have had little time training with the top U.S. team until this year.

Having so much young talent in the gym gives Kiraly flashbacks to 2013 when the team had so many new faces and later played key roles later in the Olympic quad.
"This is a much more thorough experience for this team," Kiraly said. "It reminds me of four years ago when Kim Hill had never been in the gym, same with Kelly Murphy and Rachael Adams. We had a number of people who were brand new and very quickly started figuring things out. The ultimate example was Kim Hill. After just a year and half with the team, Kim led us with an MVP performance to gold at the FIVB World Championship."

Even with the youth and new faces having such a big presence in the early going of the National Team's training in Anaheim, Kiraly is excited about the possibilities the team can provide. And he would love nothing more to have rough decisions when the veterans return to the gym.

"We have a wide variety of people here," Kiraly said. "And we are very excited about the chances for all of them. We would love nothing more than to see all of them crush it and hit and grand slam and make our choices difficult. We love to see them all develop hugely over the next few years."

U.S. Women's National Team Roster for Pan Am Cup

# - Player (Position, Height, College, Hometown)
1 – Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Penn State, Edmond, Oklahoma)
4 – Justine Wong-Orantes (L, 5-6, Nebraska, Cypress, California)
7 – Lauren Carlini (S, 6-1, Wisconsin, Aurora, Illinois)
9 – Madi Kingdon (OH, 6-1, Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona)
11 – Annie Drews (OPP, 6-3, Purdue, Elkhart, Indiana)
14 – Michelle Bartsch-Hackley (OH, 6-3, Illinois, Maryville, Illinois)
17 – Megan Courtney (OH, 6-1, Penn State, Dayton, Ohio)
18 – Sonja Newcombe (OH, 6-1, Oregon, Lake Arrowhead, California)
16 – Molly McCage (M, 6-3, Texas, Spring, Texas)
20 – Amanda Benson (L, 5-7, Oregon, Litchfield Park, Arizona)
21 – Paige Tapp (M, 6-1, Minnesota, Stewartville, Minnesota)
23 – Liz McMahon (OPP, 6-6, Illinois, Liberty Township, Ohio)
26 – Amber Rolfzen (M, 6-3, Nebraska, Papillion, Nebraska)
27 – Rhamat Alhassan (M, 6-4, Florida, Glenarden, Maryland)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coaches: Tama Miyashiro, Erin Virtue, Jon Newman-Gonchar
Technical Coordinator: Jeff Liu
Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans