COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 22, 2025) – The U.S. Women’s National Team close out week two of 2025 Volleyball Nations League with its second five-set victory, this time against France 3-2 (25-22, 26-24, 20-25, 21-25, 15-13) on Sunday in Belgrade, Serbia.
The U.S. improve to 4-4. They will pick back up on home soil in Arlington, Texas on July 9 against Thailand.
Opposite Madi Skinner led U.S. scorers with 21 points on 19 kills, one block and one ace. Outside Hitter Sarah Franklin followed with 18 points on 18 kills. Outside Hitter Logan Eggleston had 17 points on 17 kills. Setter Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres led the U.S. in blocks with four. Libero Lexi Rodriguez had a match high 15 digs.
The U.S. led in blocks (11-10) and points off opponent errors (24-20). France led in kills (73-70) and aces (6-2).
“Those aren’t easy matches to manage,” said head coach Erik Sullivan, when asked about the team’s performance. “I think last week we let those moments get the better of us and to see us kind of fight through that and just be uncomfortable the whole night and find a way to win is a very valuable lesson.”
Middle blocker Dana Rettke had 10 points on six kills, three blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Brionne Butler had eight points on five kills and three blocks. Opposite Logan Lednicky had four points on four kills. Middle blocker Amber Igiede added one point on one kill.
Trailing 12-9 early in the first set, the U.S. stayed close until finally tying it up 14-14 after an unsuccessful challenge from France. A deep court tip from Skinner put the U.S. ahead 15-14 and they never gave up the lead after that. A mid set double substitution brought in Rachel Fairbanks and Logan Lednicky. Lednicky scored three straight points off the bench to extend the U.S. lead to 19-15. A tip from Butler that just caught the line ended the first set 25-22 in favor of the U.S.
France led nearly the entire second set until the final few points. The U.S. won a critical point late after an out of system set from Franklin to Eggleston to tie it up 22-22. A pancake dig from Rettke led to a kill off the block from Franklin to give the U.S. its first lead in the set 24-23. France challenged the pancake, but was unsuccessful. Back-to-back attack errors from France clinched the set and a 2-0 match lead for the U.S.
France jumped out to a 8-0 lead in the third set. Despite that, the U.S. fought its way back into the set late to get within four points at 21-17. The U.S. stayed in it before Sabine Haewegene from France put together back-to-back kills to give them set point before a U.S. serving error ended the set 25-20 for France.
The U.S. was in control in the fourth set with their largest lead at 16-11 before France put together their second 8-0 run of the match to take a 21-18 lead. France went on to win the set 25-21 to force a fifth set.
The U.S. took control early behind four kills from Eggleston. A Rettke block gave the U.S. an 11-8 lead. France challenged a net touch but was unsuccessful. The U.S. found itself in a familiar situation after France put another run together before tying the set 12-12 on an ace serve. France took a 13-12 lead on a block out of the final USA timeout. Eggleston continued where she left off early in the fifth set with a kill to tie it up 13-13. Jones-Perry subbed in to serve leading to a critical back court dig from , and Franklin went up on two to take match point 14-13. Franklin ended it down the line to give U.S. the match 15-13.
Week Two Roster for 2025 VNL
U.S. Women’s Preliminary Roster for 2025 VNL
No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)
6 Morgan Hentz (L, 5-9, Lakeside Park, Ky., Stanford Univ., Pioneer)
7 Lexi Rodriguez (L, 5-5, Sterling, Ill., Univ. of Nebraska Great Lakes)
8 Brionne Butler (MB, 6-4, Kendleton, Texas, Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
9 Madisen Skinner (OH, 6-2, Katy, Texas, Univ. of Kentucky and Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
13 Amber Igiede (MB, 6-3, Baton Rouge, La., Univ. of Hawaii, Delta)
15 Rachel Fairbanks (S, 6-0, Tustin, Calif., Pitt, Southern California)
16 Dana Rettke (MB, 6-8, Riverside, Ill., Univ. of Wisconsin, Great Lakes)
21 Roni Jones-Perry (OH, 6-0, West Jordan, Utah, BYU, Intermountain)
22 Sarah Franklin (OH, 6-4, Lake Worth, Fla., Univ. of Wisconsin, Florida)
24 Olivia Babcock (Opp, 6-4, Los Angeles, Calif., Pitt, Southern California)
28 Logan Lednicky (Opp, 6-3, Sugar Land, Texas, Univ. of Texas A&M, Lone Star)
29 Molly McCage (MB, 6-3, Spring, Texas, Univ. of Texas, Lone Star)
32 Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres (S, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Texas, Aloha)
33 Logan Eggleston (OH, 6-2, Brentwood, Tenn., Univ. of Texas, Southern)
Reserve
27 Ella Powell (S, 6-0, Fayetteville, Ark., Univ. of Washington, Delta)
Coaches
Head Coach: Erik Sullivan
Assistant Coach: Mike Wall
Second Assistant Coach: Brandon Taliaferro
Second Assistant Coach: Tayyiba Haneef-Park
Second Assistant Coach: Joe Trinsey
Team Manager: Rob Browning
Team Doctors: William Briner, James Suchy, Chris Lee, Andrew Gregory
Physiotherapist: Kara Kessans
Physical Trainers: Shawn Hueglin, Shannon Boone
Mental Performance Coach: Andrea Becker, Katy Stanfill
Performance Analyst: Virginia Pham
Week 2 Schedule: Belgrade, Serbia (all times PDT)
Matches will be shown on VBTV, Big Ten Network and/or CBS Sports Network. Please check listings for BTN and CBSN.
June 18 USA def. Serbia, 3-2 (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 22-25, 15-11)
June 19 Poland def. USA, 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-18)
June 21 USA def. Netherlands, 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-19)
June 22 USA def. France, 3-2 (25-22, 26-24, 20-25, 21-25, 15-13)
Week 1 Results: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
June 4 Italy def. USA, 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 30-28)
June 5 Brazil def. USA, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19)
June 6 Czechia def. USA, 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 27-25)
June 8 USA def Korea, 3-0 (25-13, 28-26, 25-17)
