This is our weekly update on USA women playing professional volleyball around the world. Most of the players are former NCAA standouts:

Champions League

VakifBank finished the pool stage with a five-set upset of Milano as Jordan Thompson led with 15 kills, Ali Frantti added seven kills and four aces and Chiaka Ogbogu had a team-high four blocks and six kills. Milano, despite losing, finished atop of Pool A due to tiebreaks and earned a bye to the quarterfinals. Dana Rettke had three kills and two blocks. Kara Bajema came off the bench to have 11 kills, two blocks and an ace.

Mulhouse finished with a disappointing four-set loss to Stara Pazova. Jaali Winters had nine kills and three blocks, Annayka Legros chipped in five kills and a block and Carli Snyder had six kills.

Scandicci finished Pool B unbeaten after defeating Eczacibasi in four sets. Haleigh Washington appeared briefly as her team earned a bye into the quarterfinals.

Vasas swept Maritza Plovdiv and Taylor Bannister led all scorers with 15 kills, two blocks and two aces. Ciara DeBell led Plovdiv with eight kills. Vasas finished third in Pool B and goes to the CEV Cup quarterfinals.

Potsdam advanced to the knockout rounds for the first time in club history by sweeping Calcit Kamnik. Justine Wong-Orantes was credited with 67% positive reception and Breland Morrissette had six kills (1.000), one block and one ace. Danielle Harbin added three kills and an ace.

Budowlani Lodz was swept by Fenerbahce. Mac May had one ace as a substitute. Lodz will compete in the CEV Cup quarterfinals after their third-place finish in Pool C.

Kathryn Plummer had 17 kills, hitting. 577, three aces and a block as  Imoco Conegliano wrapped up Pool D with a four set win over Rzeszow.

Stuttgart advanced by by sweeping Beveren behind Krystal Rivers, who had 14 kills (.591), three blocks and an ace.

CEV Cup

Beziers roared back from their defeat in the first leg by sweeping and eliminating Crvena Zvezda. Serena Gray had 10 kills (.692), five blocks and two aces. Taylor Fricano had 13 kills and two blocks and Claire Hoffman 10 kills. Setter Ella May Powell had a kill while setting. Beziers plays Budowlani Lodz in the quarterfinals.

Madeline Haynes had 24 kills (.475), a block, and an ace as Viteos NUC took advantage of a key absence from Dresdner and eliminated the German side in four sets. Tia Scambray added 18 kills (.484) and an ace. Tessa Grubbs finished with 11 kills, one block, and one ace while Jasmine Gross had two blocks, one kill, and one ace. Dresdner was without leading scorer Grace Frohling, injured before the match. Tia Jimerson had a match-high seven blocks to go along with five kills. NUC plays Stara Pazova.

Chieri needed to only win two sets to advance, did that and then held on to beat Chemik Police in five. Avery Skinner had seven kills in the first two sets for Chieri before being rested. Madi Kingdon had two kills, two blocks and two aces in two sets. Chieri plays Volero Le Cannet.

Levallois Paris SC easily dispatched Mladost Zagreb to advance. Emily Thater had five kills and two aces in the two sets needed for Paris, which plays Vasas.

CEV Challenge Cup

Wiesbaden needed to win two sets and advanced to the semifinals by sweeping PAOK. Jaidyn Blanchfield had six kills in two sets, while Rachel Anderson added three kills and an ace. Kash Williams led PAOK with nine kills and a block.

Taylor Mims had 18 kills, two blocks and an ace as Nantes set aside Panathinaikos in four sets. Jaelyn Keene added 10 kills (.529), two blocks and two aces. Sherridan Atkinson led Panathinaikos with 17 kills, three blocks and an ace.

Italy 

Khalia Lanier had 16 kills and no errors to hit .485 as Conegliano’s (17-0) unbeaten status came under threat again before rallying for a five-set win over Roma (6-11). Setter Madi Bugg played the first three sets and had an ace. Neither Plummer nor Cook played.

Cuneo’s (5-12) slump continued with a four-set loss to Bergamo (4-13). Anna Stevenson-Hall had five kills, three aces and a block for Cuneo. Madi Kubik had two kills.

Busto Arsizio (5-12) fell in four to Novara (3-13). Skylar Fields came off the bench for Busto Arsizio and had 12 kills as the leading scorer.

Kendall Kipp was named MVP in her first professional start as Firenze (9-8) swept Trentino (1-16). Kipp had 17 kills and two blocks. Carly DeHoog had eight kills and two blocks for Trentino.

Skinner had 13 kills and an ace but Chieri (9-8) let victory slip away again by losing to Milano (16-1) in five. Kingdon added seven kills as a substitute. Bajema had 10 kills, two blocks and an ace as a substitute for Milano. Dana Rettke added two blocks, a kill, and an ace in a brief appearance.

Casalmaggiore’s (3-13) woes when it was swept by Scandicci (14-3), which got a match-high five blocks from Haleigh Washington, who had seven kills and an ace. Simone Lee had 10 kills for Casalmaggiore, while Micha Hancock had one kill and a block.

Türkiye

Aydin (4-12) couldn’t pull off the upset and lost in four to Eczacibasi (14-1). Aydin setter Lauren Carlini had two aces, one block and one kill.

PTT (5-11) fell to Besiktas (6-10) in five as Payton Caffrey finished with 10 kills and two blocks for PTT. Canadian national team member and Hawaii alum Emily Maglio provided a spark off the bench for Besiktas, finishing with 12 kills (.611) and three blocks.

Kuzeyboru (10-6) lost to Fenerbahce (14-1). Sarah Parsons led Kuzeyboru with 15 kills (.419), four blocks and an ace.

VakifBank (15-1) easily swept aside Galatasaray (8-8). Frantti had 10 kills and Thompson had one kill and a block as a substitute. Galatasaray’s Danielle Cuttino led all scorers as she had 18 kills and a block. Logan Eggleston finished with eight kills, one block, and an ace.

Stephanie Samedy had 13 kills, a block and an ace as Muratpasa (8-8) swept Sariyer (4-12). Micaya White had 11 kills (.500) and three aces.

Japan

JT Marvelous improved to 16-0 in its only match as Annie Drews had 11 kills (.478), two blocks and an ace.

Dani Drews NEC Red Rockets (13-4) went the distance in both of its matches, first beating Queenseis as Drews had 18 kills and a block for NEC. Then NEC was upset by Toray despite 23 kills (.420) and five blocks from Drews.

Hisamitsu Springs (14-3) held on to second place. McKenzie Adams had seven kills, a block and a ace in a sweep of PFU. Adams then had 12 kills (.545), four blocks and four aces in a four-set win over Kurobe.

Brazil

Roni Jones-Perry had nine kills and two blocks as SESC RJ (11-1) won its 10th in a row by sweeping Maringa (6-6).

Osasco (9-3) won its fourth in a row by sweeping Brasilia (1-11) and Brionne Butler was named MVP with seven kills (.545), two blocks and an ace. Callie Schwarzenbach had eight kills.

Minas (9-3) avoided an upset by beating Bluvolei (2-10) in five as Annie Mitchem had 11 kills, two blocks and  two aces and setter Jenna Gray had a kill.

Germany

Krystal Rivers went off as powered Stuttgart (14-1) past a depleted Dresdner (11-4) in four. Rivers had 26 kills (.467), two aces and a block. Dresdner missed both Frohling and Jimerson. Washington State German Pia Timmer was named silver MVP for Dresdner with12 kills and one block.

Suhl (9-6) won in five to avoided an upset by Aachen (5-11). Julia Brown was Suhl’s second-top scorer with 14 kills and two blocks. Eleanor Holthaus had nine kills and three blocks. Achen’s Gabby Goddard had nine kills and a block..

Wiesbaden (6-9) ended its two-match skid by beating Neuwied (0-16) in four. Blanchfield had two kills in three attacks.

France

Taylor Mims was MVP after having 23 kills and five blocks as Nantes (14-1) earned a hard-fought, four-set win over title-race rival Levallois Paris SC (12-4). Keene added eight kills and an ace. Thater finished with nine kills and four aces for Paris.

Katelyn Evans had 18 kills as Nancy (12-4) beat France 2024 (0-15). Shayla Hoeft added eight kills, two blocks and two aces and Haylie Bennett contributed three kills.

Mulhouse (12-4) swept Cannes (6-10). Legros had nine kills (.750) and three blocks. Winters added 10 kills (.474) and an ace. Madelyn Robinson had nine kills for Cannes.

Poland

Budowlani Lodz (10-6) swept MKS Kalisz (5-10) as Mac May had 11 kills and an ace, while setter Izzy Ashburn made her professional debut for Kalisz.

Sweden

New signee Kira Thomsen and Natalie Hayward led Orebro to a win in the Swedish Grand Prix final in five sets over Hylte Halmstad. Thomsen finished with 19 kills, while setter Hayward added four blocks, two aces, and a kill.

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