May 20, 2008
Texas A&M volleyball player Kelsey Black (Amarillo, Texas) has been named to the 19-player U.S. Women?™s Junior National Training Team and Aggie associate head coach John Corbelli will serve as an assistant coach for the team, USA Volleyball recently announced.
The team will train July 8-19 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. Following the training session, 12 players will be selected to represent USA Volleyball as the U.S. Women?™s Junior National Team at the NORCECA Continental Championship held July 22-27 at Saltillo, Mexico.
Black, who graduated from Amarillo High School in December and attended classes at A&M and competed with the Aggies in the spring semester, will train as both an outside hitter and libero.
?Kelsey will benefit greatly by training and hopefully competing at such a high level prior to her freshman year,? A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said. ?And for her to train both as an outside hitter and libero will make her a more complete player than she already is, and she will be able to help the team in many different ways. As a 5-11 attacker, she knows how smart and crafty she has to play, and going against international teams?™ big blocks, she will develop new ways to get around the block. Also her pass-to-attack is really strong, and if she is only passing, that is great too. It is another key dimension and gives her more opportunities to make the final roster.?
A three-time all-state selection by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, Black was showered with state and national accolades during an illustrious career at Amarillo High School, where she lead the Lady Sandies to an impressive 129-5 (.963) in her three seasons as a starter.
Black, the 2007 District 2-5A Offensive Player of the Year and an All-American honorable mention on Mizuno/Volleyball?™s list of 2007 Girls High School All-Americans, capped her prep career by being named to the state all-tournament team after leading Amarillo High School to its second consecutive Texas 5A high school state title in November. The Lady Sandies, who became the first Texas Class 5A team to repeat as state champions in more than 20 years, finished 43-1 and ranked No. 2 in the nation in 2007.
Black, who was has participated in numerous USA Volleyball High Performance Camps, ranked in the top 50 in PrepVolleyball.com?™s Top 100 Senior Aces, coming in at No. 42. A PrepVolleyball.com All-American as a junior, Black also was listed on Volleyball Magazine?™s Top 25 Underclassmen to Watch list after directing Amarillo to a 45-1 record and its first of back-to-back state titles in 2006. She led the Lady Sandies in kills and made her second consecutive appearance on the Texas Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Class 5A all-state second team and also was a member of the Amarillo Globe-News Volleyball Super Team.
Black made her first appearance on the all-state team as a sophomore after the Lady Sandies went 41-3 and advanced to the region semifinals. She was recognized as a PrepVolleyball.com Soph 79 and garnered honorable mention on LoneStarVolleyball.com?™s 2005 All-Texas Team. Following her sophomore campaign, Black was one of 27 players in the nation to be named to the USAV Girls National High Performance Camp roster and led the USA Youth Red to a silver medal in the international junior division of the USAV HP Championships.
After assisting with drills and providing feedback to coaches at various USA Volleyball camps and tryouts, John Corbelli, rejoins the coaching ranks at USA Volleyball for the first time since serving as assistant coach for the 1984 U.S. Women?™s Olympic Team, which won a silver medal. He will assist head coach Paula Weishoff-Hanold, who was a standout on the 1984 Olympic team, along with Laurie (Flachmeier) Corbelli.
?John will be in his element, because he loves the different styles of play in international competition, as well as just being in the gym,? his wife Laurie said. ?He also knows the coaching staff very well, and they have similar philosophies and approaches to the game.
?I know I am biased, but I believe John is one of the best coaches out there. A lot of people would agree that he is great at evaluating, training and preparing a team, as well as developing a match strategy. His knowledge and passion for the game will prove to very valuable for this young team.?
A&M is currently well represented in the USA Volleyball organization at both the player and coaching levels. In addition to Black and John Corbelli, two-time Aggie All-American Stacy Sykora (1994-97) is training with the National Team and attempting to play in her third consecutive Olympic Games.
Outside hitter Sarah Ammerman, a junior-to-be from Parker, Colo., was named to the U.S. Women?™s Senior A2 National Team program earlier this year and will compete in the USA Volleyball Adult Open Championships May 24-31 in Atlanta. The competition will take place at the Georgia World Congress Center Hall B.
Aggie assistant coach Robyn Romansky also maintains a close relationship with USA Volleyball after serving a three-year stint as technical coordinator for the USA Women?™s Volleyball Team that culminated at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. In 2007, Romansky served as an assistant coach for a U.S. Women?™s National A2 team that competed at the USA Volleyball Adult Open Championships. In addition, she was an assistant coach for the USA Volleyball High Performance Select A1 program, and her team captured the gold medal in the international youth division at the ?™07 High Performance Championships. Most recently, Romansky trained and assisted with the High Performance tryouts held in Denver in March.
For more information on USA Volleyball?™s teams and programs, go to USAVolleyball.com.