Play Overseas Athletes Ranked Amongst U.K. Best Volleyball Players

Play Overseas athletes ranked amongst U.K. best volleyball players!

Having worked within U.K. university volleyball for a number of years, we can proudly say that we work with some of the premier volleyball teams in the country, assisting them with their recruitment of talented American volleyball players each year.

When the 2019/2020 U.K. university season was brought to a close due to the coronavirus, Play Overseas had athletes ready to compete for a National Volleyball Title, with multiple players on the roster of each finalist.

Whilst our athletes unfortunately did not get their chance to play for their national title, we still felt there were many players who deserved recognition for their achievements on the court during their year playing volleyball overseas.

Alicia McClellen Alicia McClellen led the Nation in the Hitting Percentage category with an impressive 45%. The former Shorter University Hawk would also go on to rank 2nd in the Nation for the Points Efficiency Ratio category. Alicia also established herself as the one of the Nation’s best blockers, averaging 0.86 Block Kills per set which saw her ranked 2nd in the country. Abbey Becker Following Alicia in the Hitting Percentage Category would be Abbey Becker. Her strong performances would see Play Overseas athletes take the top 2 spots in the Nation in the Category and she finished the season ranked #2 in the Nation for Hitting Percentage at 42%. Abby had a very strong season where she also ranked 5th in the Nation for Service Rating and 12th in the Nation for Service Aces with 17. Lara Picht After an impressive career with NCAA D1 volleyball side Oral Roberts, Lara Picht anticipated a strong season in England. She went on to secure a top 15 National Ranking in six different categories! Lara found herself ranked as the 4th best scorer, 4th in Service Aces along with ranking in several other categories. Kendra Zwart Kendra Zwart, a 3 time NAIA All-American for Cornerstone University also had a year to remember during her overseas season. Zendra was the second Play Overseas athlete to finish the season ranked in the top 15 players in the Nation across 6 different individual categories categories! Kendra finished the National League Season with 27 Blocks from 46 Sets, to see her ranked in second place, just a single block behind the national leader. Ebonie Hicks Ebonie Hicks would go on to be the 5th Play Overseas athletes to rank in the top 15 in the Nation in the same category, coming in at 13th in Hitting Percentage. Women’s Super League Volleyball Stats provided by: https://thevolleyballanalyst.blogspot.com/

The structure of volleyball in the United Kingdom

U.K. university volleyball is structured very differently to what former college players are familiar with. Most volleyball players who move forward with this opportunity will typically compete for two teams during their year overseas!

It is common for players to represent their university in BUCS (the U.K. equivalent of the NCAA/NAIA) whilst also representing a club within the national league system. When competing for the National League Club over the weekend, it could still be under the name of your university or with a local club that your U.K. university has partnered up with. U.K. university volleyball teams will form these partnerships to allow their players to compete at the highest level in the country and ensure regular competition throughout the year.

This means that a typical week as a postgraduate volleyball student-athlete in the U.K. would see you compete for your university on a Wednesday, whilst playing your National League fixtures over the weekend!

How to take your volleyball career overseas?

In the last few years we have helped volleyball players from a wide range of sporting and academic backgrounds. Play Overseas have played male and female volleyball players who have competed at the following levels: NCAA DI, NCAA DII, NCAA DIII, NAIA as well as several who competed at the club level.

With our wide range of volleyball connections throughout the U.K. we are confident that we will be able to find you a variety of opportunities to suit your academic and volleyball ambitions.

Our service is free for all student-athletes to do. The first step to taking your volleyball career overseas would be completing our initial application form, which you can do so by clicking the link below!