CHARLESTON, S.C. ? An already decorated player in her two years at the College of Charleston, sophomore setter Cole Dawley (Charleston, S.C.) has received perhaps the highest honor of her playing career as she is among 160 players nationwide that will compete for a spot on the USA Volleyball National Team in Colorado Springs, Colorado February 20-22.

Dawley will be joined in Colorado by her head coach at the College of Charleston, Jason Kepner who will be serving as an instructor at the tryouts. “This will be a great experience for Cole and I am excited to see where this opportunity could take her” said Kepner. “She is a very motivated athlete and I feel she will excel in this tough competitive environment”.

The Charleston, South Carolina native has continually shown that she is capable of excelling in a competitive environment as she transitioned from playing multiple positions as a freshman to becoming the Cougars regular setter as a sophomore.

The 2007 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, Dawley earned All-Southern Conference First Team honors and was named to the All-Tournament team in 2008. This past season she also broke her career-high in assists four times with a high-water mark of 59 at Western Carolina on October 24, 2008.

Dawley will be one of 26 setters at the U.S Olympic Training Center when the tryouts start on February 20. That position has the second-fewest individuals attempting to make the Olympic program behind only 14 players at right side hitter. Athletes will be competing for spots on the USA Women’s Volleyball National Team throughout the tryout but will also have the opportunity to be selected for several other Olympic programs.

These include the FIVB Women’s Junior National Team that will be competing at the FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship or the USA Women’s Senior A2 Teams that with compete at the USA Adult Open Championships. Student-athletes that are not selected to the Women’s National Team may be invited to participate on the USA Senior A2 Teams so long as they are currently enrolled in college and have collegiate eligibility remaining for the 2009 season. Should Dawley not be chosen for the National Team, she would retain eligibility for this Olympic-run program.

Dawley is the only Southern Conference player that will be competing at the U.S. Olympic Training Center out of 160 individuals and will go against members of national powers such as Duke, Stanford, Texas, Florida and Nebraska. This is the second consecutive year that she has been chosen for this honor.

Kepner, who claimed his first Southern Conference Coach of the Year award in only his second year as a head coach this past season, will be among 30 coaches from around the country that will assist the U.S Olympic program in running the tryouts. “I am happy to have the opportunity to support Cole in Colorado Springs and to help USA Volleyball run the tryout” added Kepner.