New Mexico announced on Monday that four players from the volleyball team are taking part in tryouts for the U.S. Women’s National Team Open Tryouts today at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
The three-day open tryouts will feature freshman Carson Heilborn and redshirt sophomore Victoria Spragg, alongside juniors Cassie House and Devanne Sours.
"It’s a great experience,” UNM head coach Jeff Nelson said in the release. “They bring together over 200 of the top collegiate players in the country, so it’s a chance to have a weekend with a number of workout sessions, just playing and drilling with some of the best players from around the country.”
House and Sours are no newcomers to the tryouts as this will be Sours’ third appearance and House’s second. House has made the all-conference squad twice in her three years as a Lobo while Sours had a breakout year during the 2015 season, finishing ninth in kills per set with 3.06 and aces per set with 0.27.
"For Cassie and Devanne, they've been before," Nelson said in Monday’s release. "They know how it goes and what they can get out of it. I'm hoping they'll both have great weekends and push for an opportunity. And even if they don't, that they'll get a really great experience out of it."
This will be both Heilborn and Spragg’s first time competing alongside 231 athletes across 88 different colleges.
Spragg is coming off her redshirt season after requiring offseason thumb surgery. The 6-foot-5 middle blocker collected 28 kills and tallied 37 blocks in her 18 matches as a freshman.
Heilborn didn’t receive many opportunities in her freshman campaign playing second fiddle to senior Hannah Johnson, who finished second all-time in New Mexico history with 4,167 assists.
Nelson said in the release that the experience will be another stepping stone for the two underclassmen as they look to be major contributors for the 2016 campaign.
"This will be their first time going," Nelson said. "I think it will be real eye-opener for them. We're counting on them to a do a lot for us next year, and I think this will be just another great experience for them."
USA Volleyball will let the Lobos know in early March if any of the four made the cut, and will announce the selections by the end of March following the confirmation of the spots.
Though House, Sours, and Heilborn are all set to make appearances for beach volleyball this spring, the three will have an excused hiatus for the tryouts.
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Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
