UK Volleyball’s Ashley Dusek Named to U.S. Collegiate National Team

Junior libero Ashley Dusek has added to her list of honors after being selected to the U.S. Collegiate National Team-Indianapolis training program announced by Team USA Volleyball on Friday. Dusek is one of five defensive specialists to comprise the 36-member squad.

The squad, which is part of USA Volleyball’s High Performance pipeline and is considered a second tryout for the U.S. Women’s National Team, will train and compete from June 21-30 in Indianapolis. After the program is divided into three 12-player rosters from the training portion, the competition phase involving a round-robin tournament of the three squads will take place June 26-29 under the same roof as the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships.
The 2015 SEC Libero of the Year, Dusek led the Southeastern Conference in digs from wire-to-wire, averaging 5.05 per set during her sophomore campaign. Her season was highlighted by a 40-dig performance at Auburn, breaking a 22-year-old UK record for most digs in a single match. Her 40 digs was also the most in a single match for any player in the SEC this year, and the only 40-dig performance from a Power Five institution. Only four other Division I players were able to achieve the feat. Dusek was a model for consistency over the regular season, only registering two matches during the regular season with less than 10 digs. The sophomore only conceded 11 service aces as well. Dusek’s accomplishments include All-SEC team, SEC Player of the Week once and SEC Defensive Player of the Week twice.
Dusek is the second Wildcat to earn selection to one of the National Teams after participating in a three-day tryout in Colorado Springs in February. Classmate Kaz Brown was selected for the U.S. Collegiate National Team for the 2015 Tour of China in March.
Twelfth-year head coach Craig Skinner’s program has enjoyed a great tradition of players earning selection to various teams within the U.S. program including Morgan Bergren, Brown, Whitney Billings, Ashley Frazier, Stephanie Klefot, Alexandra Morgan, Jackie Napper and Sarah Rumely.
For the latest on the Kentucky volleyball team, follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
Deb Moore
University of Kentucky