USA Olympic Roster: Quick Thoughts

Time to defend the gold?

Karch Kiraly announced his lineup for the 2024 Olympic Games, and there were, without a doubt, many tough decisions to make. The Americans enter the Paris Olympics as the reigning champions and will face a significant challenge, having not won a global medal at an international event since the Tokyo Olympics.

The Paris Olympic roster will consist of:

S: Jordyn Poulter, Lauren Carlini

Opp: Annie Drews, Jordan Thompson

OH: Jordan Larson, Kelsey Robinson, Kathryn Plummer, Avery Skinner

MB: Dana Rettke, Chiaka Ogbogu, Haleigh Washington

L: Justine Wong-Orantes

The alternate will be chosen from a group including Micha Hancock, Anna Hall, Khalia Lanier, Ali Frantti, and Morgan Hentz.

These are just my quick thoughts on the roster; I will expand on them at a later time as well. My initial thoughts are that this is mostly the correct roster. The main debates centered around two positions: the second setter and the fourth outside hitter. Jordyn Poulter was an obvious choice since she’s Jordyn Poulter. The second setter position was the toughest decision, between Micha Hancock and Lauren Carlini. Carlini earned the spot after narrowly missing out on the Tokyo Olympics. Personally, I thought there might be a chance that Carlini and Hancock would both be included, given their health and reliability heading into Paris. In the end, Karch chose to go with who he trusts. Hancock can take pride in having won a gold medal as part of the first USA team to do so.

The fourth outside hitter spot was also contentious, with Avery Skinner, Ali Frantti, and Sarah Parsons competing for it. Skinner has shone in the VNL with consistent passing and a powerful offensive swing. She has provided a boost off the bench and offers a faster and different look compared to the other outside hitters. Skinner has an incredible story, one of perseverance, which will be told leading up to and throughout the Olympics. Frantti misses out on the Olympic team after having a breakout summer in 2022 leading up to the World Championships. Since then, Frantti has had a more subdued role with the national team. Parsons is in another unfortunate position, missing out on the Olympic team for the second time in a row. In my opinion, she was unjustly left out of the Tokyo games despite being healthier and having excellent club and VNL performances. In 2024, Parsons returned from injury last summer and didn’t have much time to showcase her skills with the A team.

The decisions for the opposite, middle blocker, and libero positions seemed clear with the evolution of the club season and VNL.

There wasn’t enough time to challenge Annie Drews and Jordan Thompson at the opposite position. Drews and Thompson bring the most experience to the position, unlike other players who lack their high-level experience. It might be a risk, given Drews has not appeared in the VNL and Thompson has been inconsistent, but Kiraly has limited options (other than #FreeLoganEggleston, but that’s a topic for another day).

Rettke and Washington have separated themselves from the pack during the VNL. Both have had excellent offensive and defensive performances against some of the best teams in the world. Washington provides the passion and soul the team needs. Rettke is one of the best spikers in the world and must be utilized by the Americans. Ogbogu has had an up-and-down VNL, but you can’t leave off one of the best middles in the world due to a temporary slump. Anna Hall and Asjia O’Neal would have been excellent choices as well, but with limited roster sizes for the Olympics, only three middles can be chosen.

There was never going to be another libero other than Justine Wong-Orantes. Named the best libero at Tokyo 2021, Wong-Orantes has been on top of her game in 2024 and has proven herself as the top American libero. Wong-Orantes provides a level of passing and setting that cannot be matched by any other American libero, which is crucial to the system Kiraly wants to run.