Final List of Elite Competitors Revealed for 2025 AU Pro Volleyball Championship
Featuring Olympians National Team Members and Other Top Stars
- Full Broadcast Schedule Also Revealed, with 15 of 24 Games Airing Live Exclusively on ESPN Platforms
- 44 of World’s Best Invited to Compete in Exclusive, High-Stakes Tournament to Determine Ultimate Champion of the Sport
- Volleyball Hotbeds Omaha & Madison to Host Competition, October 3 – November 2; Tickets Now Available
September 11, 2025, New York – A new era for Athletes Unlimited in the professional volleyball landscape begins October 3, as 44 of the world’s top players have been invited to compete in an exclusive, high-stakes tournament to determine the ultimate champion of the sport.
Earlier this summer, Athletes Unlimited redefined its market position within the professional volleyball landscape by rebranding as the Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball Championship and announcing volleyball hotbeds Omaha and Madison as host cities, signaling a powerful new chapter for AU Pro Volleyball.
The final star-studded list of elite competitors – handpicked from the best domestic and international pro leagues (including LOVB and MLV in the U.S., Brazil’s Superliga and Turkey’s Sultanlar Ligi, among others – features eight Olympians, while 28 of the competitors have experience playing for their country’s National Team. The competitors will face off in the nation’s premier volleyball hubs, as games will be held at Omaha, Nebraska’s Liberty First Credit Union Arena (October 3-13) and Madison, Wisconsin’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center (October 23 – November 2). The full list of competitors can be seen here, while tickets for both locations are available here.
The top competitors include:
- Two-time Olympic medalists Micha Hancock, Jordan Thompson, Justine Wong-Orantes and Natalia Zilio Pereira, all competing for the first time in Athletes Unlimited.
- 2024 AU Pro Volleyball champion Brittany Abercrombie, returning to defend her crown.
- Additional Olympians Lorenne Teixeira (bronze medalist for Brazil), Manami Kojima (Japan), Natalia Valentin-Anderson (Puerto Rico) and Betty De La Cruz (Dominican Republic), who won the 2022 AU Pro Volleyball Championship.
- Multiple players with ties to Nebraska (including Wong-Orantes, Valentin-Anderson and Brooke Nuneviller), as well as Madison (Sydney Hilley and Claire Chaussee).
- Additional top U.S. stars, all former All-Americans including Madi Bugg, Tori Dixon, Dani Drews, Skylar Fields, Serena Gray, Morgan Hentz, Claire Hoffman and Molly McCage.
- Additional top international players Heydi Casanova (Cuba), Pornpun Guedpard (Thailand) and Piyanut Pannoy (Thailand).
The full broadcast schedule was also revealed today. Fifteen of the 24 contests will air exclusively on ESPN platforms, while the remaining matches will be available across a wide variety of global streaming platforms and regional sports networks totalling more than 70 network channels, including Gray Broadcast Sports Networks, AWSN (All-Women Sports Network), Swerve Sports, FanDuel Sports Network, Marquee Sports Network, MSG Networks, NESN, SportsNet Pittsburgh and many others. The full, detailed schedule can be found here. All games are produced by Athletes Unlimited’s award-winning broadcast team in partnership with Game Time Productions, with former Olympians Ci Michel (2012 for Great Britain) and Kevin Barnett (2000 and 2004 for the U.S.) returning to call the action.
“We’re incredibly excited to bring this world-class talent to fans in two of the nation’s premier volleyball cities, Omaha and Madison,” said Cassidy Lichtman, Vice President of Volleyball for Athletes Unlimited. “With the incredible depth on our rosters and our fantastic broadcast partners, we can’t wait to watch these athletes compete for a championship while showcasing the best of professional volleyball.”
The AU Pro Volleyball Championship will feature Athletes Unlimited’s innovative scoring system, with individual athletes earning points based on both team wins and individual performance, and the leaderboard changing constantly. In addition, teams change each week with the top four athletes in the standings serving as captains and drafting their teams. At the end of the five-week season, the player with the most points will be crowned the champion.The AU Pro Volleyball Championship is part of Athletes Unlimited, which was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies and features an Advisory Board comprised of an illustrious group of high-profile contributors from the worlds of sports, business and entertainment, including volleyball legend Karch Kiraly, basketball legend Sheryl Swoopes, softball icons Jessica Mendoza and Cat Osterman, U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team superstar Abby Wambach; and two-time NBA champion and entrepreneur Kevin Durant, among many others.
