Brionne Butler ready for FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas volleyball freshman Brionne Butler is one of 12 players selected to the U.S.  Women's National Team (WJNT), which will compete in the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship.

The event will take place July 14-23 in Boca del Rio and Cordoba, Mexico. The U.S. squad qualified for the World Championship by winning gold at the 2017 Women's U20 Pan American Cup in San Jose, Costa Rica, led by Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott.

The roster was chosen from a training group of 16 players who were evaluated July 2-11 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

The FIVB Women's U20 World Championship is a 16-team event with four pools of four teams playing a round-robin format in the first round. The top two teams in each pool advance to the gold bracket, while the bottom two teams in each pool will battle for positions 9-16.

Team USA, which is part of Pool C in Boca del Rio, opens the competition July 14 against Brazil, followed the next day by a match against NORCECA rival Cuba and another July 16 against Serbia. Brazil qualified for the World Championship by winning the 2016 South American Women's U20 Championship.

Both Cuba and Serbia claimed their tickets to the World Championship as one of the top six teams in the Women's U20 world ranking not to have already qualified.

Pool A includes host Mexico, Bulgaria, Egypt and Russia. Pool B included China, Dominican Republic, Peru and Poland. Pool D has Argentina, Italy, Japan and Turkey.

U.S. Women's Junior National Team
# - Name (Position, 2017 Club/College, Height, Hometown, Region)
1 – Brionne Butler (M, University of Texas, 6-4, Kendleton, Texas, Lone Star)
2 – Tiffany Clark (L, University of Wisconsin, 5-11, Naperville, Illinois, Great Lakes)
3 – Thayer Hall (OH, Upward Stars, 6-3, Moore, South Carolina, Palmetto)
4 – Paige Hammons (OH, University of Florida, 6-2, Louisville, Kentucky, Pioneer)
5 – Regan Pittman (M, University of Minnesota, 6-5, Spring Hill, Kansas, Heart of America)
6 – Holly Carlton (OPP, University of North Carolina, 6-7, Sterling, Virginia, Chesapeake)
8 – Ronika Stone (OPP, University of Oregon, 6-2, San Jose, California, Northern California)
11 – Norene Iosia (S, University of Hawaii, 5-11, Torrance, California, Southern California)
12 – MacKenzi Welsh (S, University of Michigan, 6-1, Bolingbrook, Illinois, Great Lakes)
14 – Gabby Curry (L, University of Kentucky, 5-9, Buford, Georgia, Southern)
15 – Rachael Kramer (M, University of Florida, 6-8, Phoenix, Arizona, Arizona)
17 – Leah Edmond (OH, University of Kentucky, 6-2, Lexington, Kentucky, Pioneer)

Head coach: Laurie Corbelli (head coach at Texas A&M University)
Assistant coach: Blake Rawlins (head trainer at Top Select Volleyball Academy)
Assistant coach: Jay Van Vark (assistant coach at Grand Canyon University)
Team leader: Tom Pingel (USA Volleyball High Performance)
Athletic trainer: Ronni Beatty-Kollasch (University of Minnesota)

2017 FIVB Volleyball Women's U20 World Championship

Pool C at Boca del Rio, Mexico
July 14: USA vs. Brazil, 10 p.m. ET
July 15: USA vs. Cuba, 9 p.m. ET
July 16: USA vs. Serbia, 7 p.m. ET