Volleyball back to Nebraska for FIVB VNL

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, February 5, 2019 – Jordan Larson and Kelsey Robinson will have a return engagement to their University of Nebraska roots as the No. 3 U.S. Women’s National Team hosts a four-team round-robin week of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League June 4-6 in Lincoln, Neb.

The U.S. Women, which won the inaugural 16-team event last year and the $1 million top prize, will host No. 9 Korea on June 4, No. 13 Germany on June 5 and No. 4 Brazil on June 6. All matches will be played at the 15,500-seat Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The U.S. and Brazil have had a long-standing rivalry with tremendous respect for each other’s program over the last four decades, including facing each other in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games gold-medal match. The two powerhouses have played each other 50 times since 2008 and the U.S. has won 22 of the matches.

The U.S. opened the inaugural Volleyball Nations League last May on the Nebraska campus and went on to win the first-ever VNL title with a 17-2 overall record.

Unlike last year, this year’s Team USA domestic matches shift to the third week in the five-week long preliminary round schedule. Karch Kiraly, head coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team, feels the later dates on the schedule will be an advantage in drawing even larger support from the Lincoln-Omaha area.

“We had a fabulous time beginning our first-ever preliminary week of FIVB Volleyball Nations League in Lincoln last year, so we couldn’t be happier to do it all over again in 2019,” Kiraly said. “The community and fan support were great for our first experience. Since this year’s version will be held after the school year has ended for most students, we look forward to having even more families and young’uns cheering our women on as we battle for another world title.”

Larson and Robinson starred in Husker scarlet and cream uniforms winning all-American honors before joining the U.S. Women’s National Team. Larson is a two-time Olympic medalist as an outside hitter, including silver at the 2012 London Games and bronze at the 2016 Rio Games. Robinson, who was part of the 2016 Olympic bronze-medal team with Larson, transitioned to libero during last year’s VNL from her typical outside hitter role and became one of the top liberos in the world.