Colorado Springs, Colo.—San José State volleyball players Haylee Nelson and Sarah Smevog are two of the 12 players who will comprise an all-star team to represent the Mountain West Conference at the 15th annual Global Challenge in Pula, Croatia from July 16-19.
Nelson and Smevog will be joined by the 2018 MW Freshman of the Year Jessica Donahue from Boise State along with nine other all-stars from the conference. Fresno State head coach Jonathan Winder will lead an all-star team that has big shoes to fill as the MW team finished as runners-up in 2018 and 2017.
Nelson played in 27 matches during the 2018 season and averaged 1.97 kills and 0.58 blocks per set. She was named to the USF Invitational All-Tournament team. Smevog saw action in 19 matches and 52 sets to average 1.62 digs per set as a defensive specialist.
Including this year, nine Spartans have been a part of the MW All-Star team at the Global Challenge.
Spartans on the MW All-Star Team
2014 – Hanah Blume
2015 – Tyanna Roy
2016 – Luiza Andrade
2017 – Breann Robinson & Nandyala Gama
2018 – Thaliana Grajeda & Laura Parts
2019 – Haylee Nelson & Sarah Smevog
2019 Global Challenge Schedule
July 9 – Fly from USA to London
July 10-14 - Train and compete in London
July 14 - Fly to Pula, Croatia
July 15 - Opening Ceremonies
July 16-19 – 2019 Global Challenge
July 20 - In Venice, Italy
July 21 – Return to USA
The 15th annual Global Challenge will return to Pula, Croatia to host under 17 and under 23 divisions from around the world. The opening ceremonies will take place on July 16th and competition will take place on July 16, 17, 18 & 19th. The mission of the Global Challenge is to provide teams international playing experience and exposure. Past tournaments participants have included club and country federation teams from Slovenia, Russia, Romania, Germany, Bosnia, Montenegro, China, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Denmark and Puerto Rico, plus USA regional HP, youth national, junior national, and collegiate national teams.
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