SMU volleyball players Morgan Heise, Janelle Giordano and Katie Hegarty have all earned spots on the roster of the United States Collegiate National Team Program, part of the USA Volleyball High Performance development program. Heise was selected to be part of the U.S. Collegiate National Team that will tour China, while Giordano and Hegarty were each selected to the U.S. Collegiate National Team-Indianapolis program, considered a second tryout for the U.S. Women’s National Team, per USA Volleyball.

After earning American Athletic Conference Libero of the year for the second consecutive year, Heise was the only Libero named to the U.S. Collegiate National Team that will travel around China. The team will make stops in Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing after a brief training period in Los Angeles. Heise’s spot on the team was well deserved, as she earned All-America honorable mention after finishing second in the NCAA with 721 digs, setting SMU and AAC records in the process.

Both Giordano and Gegarty, two of the 36 players invited to Indianapolis, are the sole AAC representatives that will make the trip June 21-30. After a brief training portion, lasting from June 21-25, the players will be separated into three 12-player squads, and will compete in round-robin play June 26-29. Giordano also received an All-America honorable mention after finishing third in the country with 188 blocks, breaking her own school record.

The selection of these three players to the two U.S. Collegiate National Team programs highlights the caliber of players on the SMU team and the trajectory of the program, as they won a record 27 games this season, and won the AAC championship.