May 21—Pitt’s Kayla Lund, the ACC’s first two-time Volleyball Player of the Year, will train for the third consecutive year with the 2021 USA Volleyball Women’s Collegiate National Team.
One of 29 players chosen by the U.S. Women’s National Team staff and National Team Development Program, Lund will work with top volleyball coaches at USAV’s training center June 13-18 in Anaheim, Calif.
“The group that we have coming is one of the finest concentrations of volleyball talent in the world at this age level,” Collegiate National Team coach Chris McGown of Gold Medal Squared said in a statement “I’m joined by an equally talented group in our coaching staff, and we’re excited to get to work with these athletes as we refine their already remarkable skills, and further integrate them into the USA Volleyball systems.”
For the past two years, Lund has earned a training spot with the Collegiate National Team in Anaheim after participating in the U.S. Women’s National Team Open Tryouts. This year, there were no tryouts.
Lund is the first Pitt player to be selected twice to an American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Team, after receiving second-team honors for the second consecutive year. She led the Panthers in average points (4.42), kills (3.74), digs (2.95) and service aces (0.41) per set while helping Pitt reach the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, the longest run in program history.
Lund and co-captain Chinaza Ndee will return to Pitt in the fall to use their extra season of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Penn State’s Kaitlyn Hord, a two-time All-American, also was chosen to train with the national team.
Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .