Volleyball

VB: Three Student-Athletes Named to the U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – USA Volleyball announced players and staff for the 2022 U.S. Women’s Collegiate National Team (WCNT) on Monday. C-USA is represented by three student-athletes, which include Carly Graham and Anota Adekunle from Rice, as well as Paige Briggs from WKU.

The 2022 Collegiate National Team is set to train June 19-25 at the National Team Training Center in Anaheim, Calif. Student-athletes will train alongside the best collegiate players in the country as well as watch the Women’s National Team (WNT) training sessions, study the USA systems, meet with the Tokyo 2020 Olympians and be observed by the WNT staff.

Rice’s two selections have them among eight schools with multiple players on the team which include: Minnesota (4), Florida (4), Southern California (3), BYU (2), Kentucky (2), Ohio State (2) and Stanford (2).

Graham earned AVCA All-American Honorable Mention honors, as well as VolleyballMag.com Second Team accolades, after a season in which she was named the Conference USA Setter of the Year. The Spring, Texas, native also earned AVCA Southwest Region Team honors after ranking 14th in the NCAA in assists per set (11.10). She helped run one of the most proficient offenses in the nation with the Owls ranking fifth in the NCAA in kills per set (14.38) and ninth in hitting percentage (.287).
 
Adekunle earned her third consecutive Southwest All-Region Team selection after proving yet again she's one of the most deadly middle blockers offensively in the country. The Humble, Texas native ranked 16th in the NCAA in hitting percentage (.406) and led the Owls in total blocks (97) and blocks per set (1.09). The program's all-time leader in career hitting percentage (.407), Adekunle hit .300 or better in 19 matches and hit .426 during C-USA play.

Briggs finished with a .268 hitting percentage on the year with 290 kills (2.99 per set) and 267 digs (2.75 per set). She added 34 blocks and 32 aces as well. Across 30 matches, Briggs tallied six double doubles. The six-rotation outside hitter racked up 13 double-digit kill outings along with 10 double-digit dig efforts this season. Briggs was also the AVCA South Region Player of the Year for the 2020-21 campaign this past spring and was named VolleyballMag.com Fourth Team All-American.