PORTLAND, Ore. – Senior Shayla Hoeft and junior Carey Williams will be traveling together next week to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. to take part in the U.S. Women's National Team Open Tryouts on Feb. 21-23. The Pilots will be competing alongside 214 other collegiate athletes for potential spots on the U.S. Collegiate National Team, with U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly directing the entire tryout process.

Hoeft finished her career on The Bluff this past Fall, accumulating 622 kills and 169 total blocks over two years since transferring from Nevada. She earned 2019 All-West Coast Conference Second Team honors, ranking first on the Pilots in hitting percentage (.228) and second in kills (312) and total blocks (76) during the 2019 campaign.

Williams, a junior preparing for her last collegiate season, has led the West Coast Conference in digs the past two seasons. She recorded a career-high 32 digs against Utah State in 2019 and earned All-Tournament honors at the Springhill Suites and the North Portland Marriott Invite this past year.

The tryout will evaluate athletes from 94 colleges from across the country for spots on the U.S. Women's National Team and the U.S. Collegiate National Team (CNT) program. A vast majority of the current U.S. Women's National Team athletes have participated in past open tryouts and earned spots into the pipeline, whether going directly to the senior level team or using their selection to the U.S. Collegiate National Team program as a springboard to the national team in future years.

The tryout will involve four sessions with three waves per session. Friday's first session goes from 2-8 p.m. MT, while Saturday's two sessions are at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The final session on Sunday begins at 7:30 a.m. MT with tournament style play, along with 16-18 athletes selected by the U.S. Women's National Team staff to participate in a "USA" training session. The Sunday session wraps up at 10:30 a.m. MT.

To follow along with the action, both Pilots will be doing social media takeovers for the UP Volleyball program, allowing fans an inside look into the practices. To experience the practices, follow @UPvolleyball on Twitter and @upvolleyball on Instagram.