Maryland volleyball outside hitter Erika Pritchard and middle blocker Katie Myers were selected for the U.S. Collegiate National Team this summer, USA Volleyball announced Wednesday. Pritchard and Myers are two of the 28 players named to the gold roster.
Pritchard, entering her senior year, and Myers, set to graduate in the spring, traveled to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs between Feb. 21 and 23 for tryouts before the teams were announced this week.
“It’s just such a privilege to make it to the top group,” Pritchard told The Diamondback. “I had so much fun playing with the best in the country. If you told me I would make the top collegiate national team four years ago, I would never have imagined this. I’m so grateful for the opportunity.”
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The two Terps led their team in kills in 2019, combining for 690 putaways on the season. They were also two of just five players to play in more than 120 sets.
Shortly after Maryland volleyball wraps up its European tour, Pritchard and Myers will train in Anaheim, California, alongside the U.S. Women’s National Team from July 5 to 12.
Myers competed in Japan last summer with the same collegiate national team. Pritchard also spent time touring in Japan last summer, but she was playing with fellow Big Ten athletes. Pritchard thinks the international experience will help prepare her for the 2020 campaign.
“Travelling to Japan with the Big Ten foreign tour, that was a huge benefit physically and mentally,” Pritchard said. “I know that’s going to be so different in Europe, too, and just seeing all the different cultures and styles of play is going to help us get that edge in the upcoming season.”
