ORLANDO, Fla. (seminoles.com) – Florida State indoor volleyball middle blocker Sarah Burrington received an enormous honor when it was announced by USA Volleyball on Friday that she had made the final cut for the USA Women’s Junior National Team.
The rising redshirt freshman from Ruskin, Fla. will be among some of the nation’s top collegiate athletes in her age range who will compete at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s U20 World Championship this month in the city of Brno, Czech Republic. Group play will be held June 21-25 followed by the playoff rounds beginning on June 26, where the matchups will depend on the results of group play.
The FIVB has expanded the FIVB Volleyball Women’s U20 Junior World Championship from 16 teams to 20 teams for this edition. Group A consists of Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Peru, Chinese Taipei and Puerto Rico. Group B consists of China, Serbia, Japan, Thailand and Colombia. Group C consists of Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Russia and Bulgaria. Lastly, Group D consists of Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria.
Team USA opens Pool C versus Bulgaria on June 21 at 5:15 p.m. local time (11:15 a.m. ET), followed by Brazil on June 22 at 5:15 p.m. local time (11:15 a.m. ET), Mexico on June 24 at 12:45 p.m. local time (6:45 a.m. ET) and Russia on June 25 at 5:15 p.m. local time (11:15 a.m. ET). All Pool C matches take place in Brno at the SH Vodova Hall.
“We are all so proud of Sarah and the hard work she is putting in right now,” Florida State head coach Chris Poole said. “It was a great honor to be selected for the training team, but that honor has been increased with her being selected on the official roster. Sarah is a first-class individual and she will represent herself and Florida State Volleyball in a positive fashion.”
Burrington was part of the U.S. Women’s Junior National Training Team that spent the last week at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y., making its final two cuts for the WJNT. Her acceptance to the final roster is a vital boost as she prepares for her first playing season at Florida State after redshirting last year.
“I am thrilled to have earned a spot on this team,” Burrington said. “I look forward to contributing even more when we play over in the Czech Republic while representing Team USA over the next few weeks.”
The dozen WJNT players include fellow Tampa Bay Juniors outside hitter and Stanford attendee Jordan Burgess (Tampa, Fla.), Kierra Holst (Coppell, Texas) and Andie Malloy (Allen, Texas) and Amber Rolfzen (Papillion, Neb.), middle blockers Chanell Clark-Bibbs (Houston), Canace Finley (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Merete Lutz (Houston), setters Nicole Edelman (Boulder, Colo.), Kelsey Humphreys (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Allison Palmer (Laguna Beach, Calif.), and libero Caitlin Nolan (Southlake, Texas).
Burrington came to Florida State as a highly-touted prospect out of Riverview High School. She was rated the 15th-best player in Prepvolleyball.com’s 2012 senior ratings, was selected as an Under Armour High School All-American and was honored as an ESPNHS Second-Team All-American.
