COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 18, 2025) –The U.S. Women’s National Team opened week two of the 2025 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) with a 3-2 (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 22-25, 15-11) win over host Serbia before a sellout crowd in Belgrade on Wednesday.

The U.S. (2-3) earned its second consecutive win while Serbia fell to 0-5. The U.S. Women will next play Poland (4-1) tomorrow, June 19, at 7:30 a.m. PT.

Outside hitter Madi Skinner doubled her point total from the first week of VNL play with 32 points on 30 kills and two blocks, while also reaching double-digits in digs with 12. She scored six points on five kills and a block in the decisive fifth set.

Libero Lexi Rodriguez made her VNL debut a memorable one with a match-high 17 digs.

“The crowd was amazing and getting to play them on their home court, you could really feel the buzz. Going to five and battling with my teammates was really fun. It was a great day,” Rodriguez said.

The U.S. held a 65-61 advantage in kills and a one-point margin in blocks (10-9) with both teams serving five aces. Serbia made one more error (29-28).

Outside Sarah Franklin scored 20 points on 18 kills and two blocks, while registering nine digs and eight successful receptions. Middle blockers Amber Igiede and Dana Rettke, making her 2025 VNL debut, combined for 18 points with each posting two blocks and an ace. Igiede recorded seven kills and Rettke added five.

“I thought we did a great competing in a wonderful environment. Congratulations to Serbia on filling the gym. What a great experience for our players. I thought we were real consistent, whether things were going our way or not,” head coach Erik Sullivan stated. “We stayed on the next play mentality and competed. I was confident we could do the same in the fifth set.”

Captain outside hitter Roni Jones-Perry finished with seven points on five kills, a block and an ace. She led the team with nine successful receptions and added 11 digs. Setter Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres recorded eight digs, two aces and a block.

The U.S. took an early 12-6 lead in the opening set and still led by five, 16-11, on a Rettke block. An ace by Ka’aha’aina-Torres made it 20-17 and a kill by Igiede brought it to 21-18 before Serbia cut the lead to one point. It was still a one-point difference when Rettke recorded a kill for a 23-21 lead. Two Serbia errors accounted for the final U.S. points of the set. Skinner recorded five kills and Franklin added four.

The second set was tightly contested with the U.S. finally taking a two-point lead at 15-13 with a perfect pass from Rodriguez setting up a Jones-Perry kill. After a Serbian hitting error, the U.S. closed out a 4-0 run on a Franklin kill.

An Igiede kill extended the lead to five points, 19-14. With the lead down to three at 22-19, the U.S. won a key point on the longest rally of the match that featured great defense on both sides. A great dig by Franklin led to a Jones-Perry kill. The U.S. went up two sets on a back row attack by Franklin and a set-clinching kill by Rettke. Franklin led all players in the set with six points on four kills and a pair of blocks, while Skinner contributed four kills.

Serbia raced out to 5-1 lead in the third set before the U.S. climbed back in the set and eventually took a 14-12 lead on a block by Ka’aha’aina-Torres. Two more Skinner kills gave the U.S.Women leads at 15-14 and 16-15, but they would not lead again. An Igiede kill on an overpass after a strong Ka’aha’aina-Torres serve to even the set at 18 but Serbia finished on a 7-4 run to extend the match. Skinner totaled 10 kills in the set.

The U.S. led 19-16 in the fourth set before Serbia finished on a 9-3 run to send the match to a fifth set, the fourth time in five VNL matches that Serbia has played a five-setter. Skinner added seven more points on six kills and a block.

“They made a lot of adjustments during the set and we were a little slow on our end. After the fourth set, we just came out with a clean slate being ready to adjust and play USA volleyball and that’s what we did,” Rodriguez commented.

The U.S. looked like it may run away with the fifth set, scoring the first three points and taking a 5-1 lead. Rettke scored the first two points, one on a slide and another with an ace. Skinner put a ball down cross court at the 10-foot line for a 6-2 lead, made it 7-3 on a right-side swing, and bumped the lead to 8-3 with a block.

A Serbian hitting error made it 9-3, but an ace off the net culminated an 8-3 run that closed the gap to one point, 12-11, forcing the U.S. to use its second timeout. Skinner scored back-to-back points, the second on a successful block touch challenge, to give the U.S. match point. A Ka’aha’aina-Torres ace sealed the victory.

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)
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)
27 Ella Powell (S, 6-0, Fayetteville, Ark., Univ. of Washington, Delta)
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
15 Rachel Fairbanks (S, 6-0, Tustin, Calif., Pitt, Southern California)

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 at 7:30 a.m. vs. Poland
June 21 at 7:30 a.m. vs. Netherlands
June 22 at 7:30 a.m. vs. France

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)

After the season ended for the St. Cloud State volleyball team in December, Kenzie Foley decided she wanted to keep playing.

In NCAA Division I, there is indoor beach volleyball. Foley graduated from SCSU with a degrees in finance and data analytics and then transferred to Central Arkansas. Going from the court to sand volleyball had some challenges.

“In beach, it’s so much harder because you’re digging into the sand,” Foley said. “I talked to one of the older girls and told her that I was frustrated. They call them sand legs, which I never knew was a thing. You need to prance on the sand, so you’re not digging in so much.

“When I got back to court and playing some pickup games now, the timing is so much different. In beach, it’s all about IQ. That’s extremely helpful. It’s all about shots, hitting where the defender is not. My blocking has gotten a ton better in beach. It’s doubles and they don’t have positions. You’re either a blocker or a defender. I was just a blocker and I stayed at the net most of the time.

“I think it helped with strength and jumping. When I got back to the court, I was like, ‘where did this vertical come from?'”

Foley also knew that she wanted to play professional volleyball. Being a Division II player, she struggled to find an agency to help represent her. That’s when her beach volleyball team helped out.

“I had a teammate (Reegan Siewert) who had a coach who had played overseas and also coaches overseas and I got in contact with him,” said Foley, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter. “He got me in touch with the biggest agency in Europe (LZ Sport PRO: Professional Volleyball Agency) and they got me my first contract.

“My end goal is to get back to the United States and play for one of the leagues here. They said this would be a great first step to do so. I ended up signing the first contract I received.”

Andy Rennecke / St. Cloud LIVE

Foley signed a one-year contract with VfB Suhl LOTTO Thüringen, which is in Suhl, Germany, about 155 miles north and east of Frankfurt. So what is the process like to sign with a German team while you are living in Minnesota?

She had some video calls with the weight coach and the team’s head coach. So why VfB Suhl LOTTO Thüringen? Foley knows Eleanor Holthaus, a former Iowa State player who is from Richmond, Minnesota, and is a

ROCORI High School

graduate.

“She played for the team I’m going to,” Foley said of Holthaus, who played for the team in 2023-24. “When I found that out… I reached out to her. I said, ‘What are your thoughts?’ She had a really good experience and that I would love Germany. I knew that if I went to Germany, I could text her with any of my questions and have them answered quickly.”

There were other options than the team she chose.

“My agency talked to me and said that I could go to a lower level and possibly make more money,” Foley said. “But at the same time, you want to go somewhere that’s going to set you up for success and build your skill level to even better than what you have. The level of play is a lot quicker in a lot of European leagues.”

Foley is from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, and will be moving to Germany in July. Preseason camp begins in August. The German league runs until the spring.

“I’m pretty excited, but a little nervous moving, for lack of a better term, across the pond,” Foley said. “It’ll be a change for sure. With my crippling shoe shopping addiction and clothes addiction, I’m going to have to figure out what I’m going to take with me. I’ll figure it out as time goes on. I’m excited about meeting new girls. I had a really good experience at Central Arkansas.”

Foley said that she has seen some video of the volleyball played in the league and knows that it will help her improve her game.

“If I can continue to build overseas and be an impact player there, maybe I can get an opportunity to show the kind of player I am,” she said. “Hopefully, I can get back to the United States and hang with the big dogs that are playing there.”

Andy Rennecke / St. Cloud LIVE

So what are things that she is looking to improve in her game?

“The biggest thing is the speed of the game and getting more adept at IQ,” Foley said. “It’s good, but it’s about tuning things up a little bit more. I would say speed is the biggest thing. I play with guys who have played college ball at home and that’s helped me with that process a little bit.”

While she wants to get back to the United States to play professionally, she is not ruling out staying overseas.

“I’m definitely a family girl, but I know that I’m young and I like traveling. Yes, that’s the ultimate goal,” she said of playing pro in the U.S. “But maybe I fall in love with Germany and I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m not leaving.’ I don’t know if that’s going to happen. The ultimate goal is to get back.”

Until she leaves, Foley is working for McArthur Sheet Metal in South Sioux City, Nebraska. Foley was talking with her mother about what she was going to do until she left and ended up finding the job through some mutual friends.

Contributed / St. Cloud State Athletics

“I work with the lasers and the pressers the most,” she said. “I love it. I work with all guys. There’s one girl in the company and she’s in the office and she deals with people coming in and out and ordering. I work with all guys and I love it because they’re funny.

“I’m a big person who likes to pick on people. They dish it and they know to expect to receive it. They’re just a lot of fun to be around. It’s a good way to meet people. I showed up the first day and I may have been a little bit quiet, which is definitely not me. They realized quickly that I’m not a quiet person … at all.”

Playing for

St. Cloud State

from 2021-24, Foley was 2023 AVCA DII National Player of the Year, earning four All-America honors, two NSIC Player of the Year honors and four NSIC all-conference honors.

She was named an AVCA First Team All-American three times (2021, 2023 and 2024) while earning second team honors in 2022, was twice named the AVCA Central Region player of the year (2023-24), twice the NSIC player of the year (2023-24) and the 2023 D-II national player of the year by AVCA and D2CCA.

She holds six career program records, including kills (2,033) and points (2,290) and is one of five players in program history to have 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. In the classroom, Foley earned three Academic All-NSIC honors (2022-24) and twice earned CSC Academic All-District and CSC First Team Academic All-America honors (2023-24).

Contributed / St. Cloud State Athletics

Sept. 4 — at Simon Fraser (British Columbia), 7 p.m.
Sept. 5 — vs. San Francisco, 1 p.m. at Bellingham, Washington
Spet. 5 — vs. Western Washington, 9 p.m. at Bellingham, Washington
Sept. 6 — vs. Central Washington, 1 p.m. at Bellingham, Washington
Sept. 11 — vs. Adelphi (N.Y.), 6 p.m.
Sept. 12 — vs. Northern Michigan, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 13 — vs. Barry (Fla.), 2 p.m.
Sept. 19 — vs. Minot State, 6 p.m.
Sept. 20 — vs. University of Mary, 2 p.m.
Sept. 23 — at Minnesota State University-Mankato, 6 p.m.
Sept. 26 — at Jamestown, 6 p.m.
Sept. 27 — at Northern State, 3 p.m.
Oct. 3 — vs. Southwest Minnesota State, 6 p.m.
Oct. 4 — vs. Sioux Falls, 2 p.m.
Oct. 10 — at Augustana, 6 p.m.
Oct. 11 — at Wayne State (Neb.), 2 p.m.
Oct. 16 — vs. Concordia-St. Paul, 6 p.m.
Oct. 18 — at Winona State, 1 p.m.
Oct. 21 — vs. Minnesota State University-Mankato, 6 p.m.
Oct. 24 — vs. Northern State, 6 p.m.
Oct. 25 — vs. Jamestown, 2 p.m.
Oct. 31 — at University of Mary (N.D.), 6 p.m.
Nov. 1 — at Minot State, noon.
Nov. 4 — at Concordia-St. Paul, 6 p.m.
Nov. 7 — vs. Minnesota Duluth, 6 p.m.
Nov. 8 — vs. Bemidji State, 2 p.m.
Nov. 14 — at Minnesota Crookston, 6 p.m.
Nov. 15 — at Minnesota State University-Moorhead, 2 p.m.
Nov. 18 — NSIC Tournament quarterfinals at higher seed
Nov. 20 — NSIC Tournament semifinals
Nov. 21 — NSIC Tournament championship
Dec. 4 — NCAA Division II Regionals
Dec. 11 — NCAA Division II Elite 8 at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

EUGENE, Ore. – Wichita State track and field athletes, Aurora Wessel and Jarrett Schmidt, along with signees, Brody Anderson, Cole Smither and Lexi Boss, are scheduled to compete in the USATF U20 Championships Thursday and Friday at Hayward Field.
 
Wessel will race in the 100-meter hurdles, an event in which she ranks fourth in Wichita State history with a time of 13.47, finished 10^th in the American Athlete Conference and qualified to the NCAA West Preliminaries this season as a freshman.
 
Schmidt will throw the discus and holds a collegiate-best mark of 50.50m/165’8″.

Signee Lexi Boss will also throw the discus and has a seed mark of 48.31m/158’6″, Cole Smith will compete in the high jump with a seed mark of 2.11m/6’11”, and Brody Anderson will race in the 100 and 200 meters. Anderson has seed times of 10.49 in the 100 and 21.18 in the 200.

Thursday, June 19
4:30 p.m. CT – Women’s Discus – Lexi Boss
6:21 p.m. CT – Men’s 100m First Round – Brody Anderson
7:30 p.m. CT – Men’s Discus – Jarrett Schmidt
8:16 p.m. CT – Men’s 100m Final – Brody Anderson
 
Friday, June 20
6:20 p.m. CT – Men’s 200m First Round – Brody Anderson
6:32 p.m. CT – Women’s 100m Hurdles First Round – Aurora Wessel
7:30 p.m. CT – Men’s High Jump – Cole Smither
7:50 p.m. CT – Men’s 200m Final – Brody Anderson
7:55 p.m. CT – Women’s 100m Hurdles Final – Aurora Wessel
 

SIOUX FALLS — For the second year in a row, the Sanford Pentagon will serve as the host site for the NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Championship.

The Sioux Falls Sports Authority and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced Wednesday that the D-II Women’s Volleyball Championship will return to Sioux Falls. The event is slated for Dec. 11-13.

“It’s always a thrill to be awarded an NCAA championship event, and it’s especially meaningful to be selected to host the NCAA D-II Women’s Volleyball Championship for the second consecutive year along with the NSIC,” said Thomas Lee, executive director of the Sioux Falls Sports Authority, in a news release. “The venue, the level of play and the atmosphere will make this another memorable experience for everyone involved.

“This marks Sioux Falls’ 14th time hosting an NCAA D-I or D-II championship as we continue to showcase our city as a premier destination for collegiate athletics.”

The Women’s Volleyball Championship will be held on Heritage Court, featuring quarterfinal, semifinal and championship matches. Lynn University (Boca Raton, Florida) claimed the championship last year, beating San Francisco State in a five-set thriller.

“We couldn’t be more excited to host the 2025 NCAA D-II Volleyball Championship on Heritage Court at the Sanford Pentagon,” said Steve Young, president of Sanford Sports. “Over the past decade, the Pentagon has hosted some of the biggest and most thrilling NCAA events, including last year’s Division II volleyball title match. This will be another first-class event for the players, teams and fans in Sioux Falls!”

The NCAA initially announced in 2024 that the 2025 finals were to be held at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Tickets for the 2025 D-II Women’s Volleyball Championship will be available for purchase at a later date.

Trent Singer is a sports reporter for Sioux Falls Live. He focuses his coverage on Augustana men’s hockey and Sioux Falls area sports. Singer’s previous stops include Just Women’s Sports, the Southeast Missourian and the Kentucky New Era.

DeCesare had an instant impact in her first season with the Bears. She competed at four outdoor meets, setting her best mark of 52.98 meters at Ivy League Heps. She finished seventh at Heps and surpassed the automatic qualifying mark of 52.50 meters for the U-20 Nationals. 

“Giana had a successful first-year campaign in the hammer throw as she improved her personal best several times,” said Associate Head Coaching Chair for Throwing Events Darcy Wilson. “This hard work culminated in a successful U20 qualifying mark, as this is any young thrower’s goal. I am especially proud that Giana is representing Brown at this national level.”

Before arriving at Brown, DeCesare was a two-time USATF Junior Olympics All-American in the hammer throw. She’ll look to add to her resume and represent Brown well on Thursday. 

 

 

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