Bonsall's Carli Lloyd is named to FIVB World Championship roster

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Carli Lloyd of Bonsall is one of 14 players selected to the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team that will represent the United States at the FIVB World Championship, Sept. 29 to Oct. 20, in Japan.

Team USA, ranked second in the world, will be attempting to defend the World Championship title it won in 2014 in Italy.

Lloyd, a setter for Team USA, will be participating in her first world championship. She was a member of the 2016 Olympic Games bronze-medal U.S. team in Rio de Janeiro and followed up that performance as the 2017 USA Volleyball Female Indoor Player of the Year.

Earlier this year Lloyd started all 19 matches of the inaugural FIVB Volleyball Nations League, resulting in Team USA earning the gold medal. The Americans finished the tournament with a 17-2 record, including a stretch of 10 consecutive victories that included wins over No. 1 China and No. 4 Brazil.

Team USA won 12 of its 17 matches in straight sets. Lloyd set the U.S. to a .306 hitting efficiency for the tournament. Individually, she scored 47 points during the VNL that included averages of 0.34 blocks and 0.16 aces per set. Lloyd added 156 digs in the tournament for a 2.44 set average.

"Carli's patience and perseverance really paid off for her and USA earlier this year as she drove our team's offense all the way to a Volleyball Nations League gold medal," U.S. Women's National Team head coach Karch Kiraly said. "Few people have a real understanding of all the work that goes into pursuing excellence, therefore few people would appreciate all that she does to pursue greatness."

The FIVB Women's World Championship is played every four years in the second year of the Olympic quadrennial. The Americans begin defense of their 2014 title in Kobe, Japan, as they face Azerbaijan, Sept. 29; Trinidad and Tobago, Sept. 30; Korea, Oct. 2; Thailand, Oct. 3, and Russia, Oct. 4, in the first-round Pool C. The top four teams in Pool C advance to the second round, Oct. 7-11, in Osaka, Japan. The top three teams from the two second round pools move on to the third round, Oct. 14-16, in Nagoya, Japan, followed by the semifinals and medal matches, Oct. 19-20, in Yokohama, Japan.

The U.S. qualified for the FIVB World Championship as the defending champion. The U.S. is 26-4 overall in 2018, including gold medals at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League and Pan American Cup.

Submitted by USA Volleyball.