Lobo VB to be Represented at USA Volleyball Women’s National Team Open Program

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobo volleyball team will be well represented at the USA Volleyball National Team Open Program from Feb. 25-27 in Colorado Springs, Colo. and the US Training Center.

Kaitlynn Biassou, Alena Moldan and Melissa Walden will be participating in the three-day event, while Head Coach Jon Newman-Gonchar and Assistant Coach April Sanchez will be participating as an evaluator and a court coach, respectively.

The Women’s National Team Open Program, formerly known as the Open Tryout, is a part of the selection process for the U.S Women’s National Team, USAV’s NCAA Elite Athlete List, and USAV’s 2022 Collegiate National Team.

Per the official release, “After missing a year, we are excited to bring back our WNT Open Program in 2022,” said U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly. “The Open Program is an excellent opportunity for our Women’s National Team staff to observe USA Volleyball hopefuls under one roof. This country is filled with young volleyball talent, and for our National Team to sustain competitive excellence, our WNT staff must be dialed in to the growing potential throughout our National Team Development Program as well as top NCAA student-athletes. We are looking forward to a great program in Colorado Springs this February.”

Newman-Gonchar has extensive experience with USA Volleyball, most recently serving as an assistant coach with the 2021 Women’s Indoor U20 National Training Team. He also served as a court evaluator in 2019 and as head coach of the 2018 Team USA Pan American Cup team. Sanchez also served as a court assistant and technical assistant in 2019.

This will also be the second time that Moldan has taken part in the program, with the libero also taking part in 2019, but the first for Biassou and Walden.

Biassou and Moldan will be entering their senior seasons in the fall of 2022 while setter Walden will be a junior.