USA Volleyball is proud to announce its 12-player 2009 U.S. Women's Junior National Team roster that will compete at the FIVB World Championship from July 16-25 in Tijuana and Mexicali, Mexico.

Prior to leaving for Mexico on July 14, the team will train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center at Chula Vista, Calif.

The U.S. Women's Junior National Team qualified for the FIVB World Championship by winning the NORCECA Women's Junior Continental Championship last summer at Saltillo, Mexico. Paula Weishoff-Hanold (head coach at UC Irvine) returns as head coach of the team. She will be assisted by Denise Corlett (associate head coach at Stanford University) and John Corbelli (associate head coach at Texas A&M University).

This year’s U.S. Women’s Junior National Team includes setters Kendal Bateman (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Karissa Cook (Santa Cruz, Calif.), while Morgan Broekhuis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) will compete for time at setter and opposite. Kelsey Black (Amarillo, Texas) and Lilla Frederick (Huntington Beach, Calif.) will battle for the libero position, while the player not selected as libero will see court time as outside hitter and defensive specialist.

At outside hitter, the team will have Alex Hunt (Granger, Ind.), Ashleigh McCord (Wylie, Texas) and Sarah Shaw (Austin, Texas) competing for playing time. Hayley Spelman (Las Vegas, Nev.) will compete for the starting opposite position. Amanda Dowdy (Thrall, Texas), Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) and Mallory Woodridge (Henrico, Va.) will be the team's middle blockers.

"While most members of this team may lack international experience, it is a very athletic group that will certainly look forward to representing their country at the World Championships," said USA Volleyball Managing Director of Indoor High Performance Programs Tom Pingel.

Frederick, Slay and Spelman all competed on the 2008 U.S. Women's Junior National Team that captured the NORCECA gold medal. McCord will be pulling double duty this summer as she will also compete on one of the U.S. Women's National A2 Teams at the USA Adult Open Championships starting May 23 at Minneapolis. Meanwhile, Bateman is the only player with past FIVB World Championship experience as she competed in the 2007 FIVB Girls' Youth World Championship.

Paula Weishoff, a three-time Olympian for the U.S. Women's National Team, was recently hired as the head coach of the University of California, Irvine women's team after posting 146 victories in five seasons as the head coach at Concordia University, Irvine.

Weishoff, the 2008 AVCA NAIA National Coach of the Year, guided Concordia to the NAIA national finals twice and the semifinals on two other occasions. In 2008, the Eagles reached the championship match before falling to Fresno Pacific University to conclude the year with a 31-6 record.

To many, Weishoff is regarded as one of the greatest female athletes in the history of the sport. She lays claim to three NCAA national championships at the University of Southern California, one as a player (1980) and two as a coach (2002 and 2003). Weishoff spent seven years as an assistant at USC with responsibilities that included working as the primary recruiting coordinator, before being promoted to associate head coach in late 2003.

Weishoff led the U.S. Women's Junior National Team to the gold medal at the 2008 NORCECA Women's Junior Continental Championship, which qualified Team USA for the 2009 FIVB World Championship. She served as the U.S. Women's A2 Team head coach in 2003 and 2007.

Weishoff, a 1998 Volleyball Hall of Fame inductee, was named to USA Volleyball's 1978-2002 All-Era Team and was awarded the George J. Fisher Leader in Volleyball Award.

Weishoff, the only two-time U.S. Olympic medalist in women's indoor volleyball, is one of her generation's most dominant middle blockers and servers. She won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics, a bronze in 1992 and played on the 1996 Olympic Team in Atlanta. A member of the U.S. National team from 1981-1996, she earned USA most valuable player honors and was the USOC Female Volleyball Athlete of the Year in 1984. In 1992, she was voted most valuable player of the Olympic Games.

Weishoff played at USC in 1980, leading the Trojans to a 46-4 record and the AIAW national championship. In 1981 she left school to join the U.S.A. National Team.