Feb. 4, 2010

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Volleyball announced this week that it is inviting 174 athletes to participate in national team tryouts Feb. 19-21. Among the athletes trying out will be two Miami RedHawks, senior outside hitter Maria Leahy and junior middle hitter Michele Metzler.

Two separate teams will be selected after analysis by USA National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon. The USA Women’s National Team is primarily for athletes who have completed their college eligibility and are ready to begin training full-time. Athletes that still have college eligibility left can be chosen for the national team, but cannot do so until their academic calendar has concluded.

For those that do not make the USA Women’s National Team, there will also be a USA Senior A2 Team selected to compete in the 2010 USA Adult Open Championships May 29-June 1. Members of that team must have college eligibility remaining, and therefore only Metzler would be eligible from Miami.

Leahy led the RedHawks offensively in 2009 with 313 kills. She was a dual threat, as she was second on the team with 304 digs. She earned MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 28 after leading the team with 3.62 digs per set in two games the previous week. Leahy was also named to the All-MAC Tournament Team in 2008.

Metzler was named to the All-MAC second-team in November. She was also MAC Freshman of the Year in 2007. She had 254 kills on the year and led the team with a .303 hitting percentage). Metzler turned into a top defensive threat as she led the team in blocks with 104 in 2009 (12 solo and 92 assisted). She was named MAC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 9 after recording 14 digs in matches against Bowling Green and Western Michigan that weekend.