Tag: USA Volleyball

Former Huskers help USA Volleyball defeat Serbia in intense five-set match

Team USA Women’s Volleyball competed in its second match of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Team USA Women’s Volleyball competed in its second match of the 2024 Paris Olympics. USA clashed with back-to-back Volleyball World Champion Serbia on Wednesday, and the match came as advertised, going down to the wire.

Team USA walked away with the victory, earning itself two points to move up to three in Pool A. Serbia forced a fifth set after Team USA took a 2-0 lead. Both teams traded blows throughout the final set, but the US pulled away in the end to take the win.

Husker alumni Justine Wong-Orantes, Kelsey Robinson Cook, and Jordan Larson returned to the court for Team USA. Wong-Orantes led the way for the Husker alumni, continuing to serve Team USA as its libero. She finished the match with 11 digs.

Robinson Cook entered the match in the second set and remained present for the majority of the final three sets. She finished the match with five digs. Larson played in the fourth set and earned two digs.

Team USA will finish the preliminary rounds with a showdown against host country France on Sunday. The first serve is set for 6 a.m. (CT).

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.

Former NBA player Chase Budinger remarkably won his first beach volleyball match as an Olympian

Chase Budinger is so absurdly impressive.

One of the most interesting stories of the summer is that former NBA player Chase Budinger is an Olympian in an entirely different sport.

Budinger, who was named Co-MVP of the McDonald’s All-American Game with Kevin Durant in 2006, played basketball professionally from 2009 until 2017.

After spending one year hooping overseas after retiring from the NBA, he began to focus on a different sport. He now represents Team USA in beach volleyball.

RELATED: 5 facts about Team USA’s new volleyball star who was once of the NBA’s best dunkers

This didn’t come out of nowhere, though, as Budinger led his high school La Costa Canyon to win three state volleyball championships in California.

He was also named as the Mizuno National Player of the Year by Volleyball Magazine. Now an Olympian, he and his doubles partner Miles Evans won their first match against France in straight sets.

This is not just some fluky story, though, because the 36-year-old Budinger is legitimately good.

Watch him play or check his highlights and you can see his talent for yourself:

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=11490 tag=693163353]

Pair of Huskers help U.S. Volleyball U21 team win gold

Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson were part of the U.S. U21 National Team’s victory at the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship in Toronto, Canada.

A pair of Nebraska sophomores helped the United States win a gold medal over the weekend. Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson were part of the U.S. U21 National Team’s victory at the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship in Toronto, Canada.

Team USA defeated Puerto Rico in straight sets (25-12, 25-16, 25-16) on Sunday. The United States finished the tournament without losing a set across five tournament matches. Reilly set the United States to a .464 hitting percentage, while Jackson finished with nine kills, three blocks, and one ace.

The team also includes Husker commits, Campbell Flynn, and Teraya Sigler. Nebraska also saw seniors Merrit Beason, Taylor Landfair, and Lexi Rodriguez win the silver medal at the NORCECA Final Six over the weekend.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.

We asked two pro volleyball players to break down Top Gun’s iconic beach scene, and they didn’t disappoint

Who has the best technique? Are jeans the best for volleyball? USA Volleyball’s Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb help us answer these questions and more.

It’s Top Gun: Maverick Week here at For The Win, where we’ve taken to the skies for five days’ worth of content to celebrate the premiere of the sequel to 1986’s iconic ode to Naval Aviation. Strap in for a wild ride (no spoilers!).

The 1986 Naval Aviation classic Top Gun has a lot of memorable moments. None is sweatier or more superfluous than the iconic beach volleyball scene. For just under two incredible minutes, Tom Cruise’s Maverick, Anthony Edwards’s Goose, Val Kilmer’s Iceman and Rick Rossovich’s Slider play what can only be described as a scintillating game before Mav rudely departs — with the score tied at one game apiece — for his date with Charlie.

In case you have (somehow) never seen this incredible scene — or just want to enjoy it again — here you go:

In order to fully appreciate and understand the levels of this match, we enlisted the help of experts Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb of the USA Volleyball Beach National Team.

Here are some of their takeaways.