15 club volleyball tryout tips from a Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee and elite club coach who's helped hundreds of athletes navigate tryouts successfully.

Aury Cruz Is A 2016 Olympian For Puerto Rico And Pro Volleyball Player

Aury Cruz is a Florida Gator indoor and beach player, 2016 Olympian for Puerto Rico and international pro volleyball player in the Athletes Unlimited Pro League

Aury Cruz (@AzCruz) se retirará de la Selección en el 2016 #volleyball http://t.co/M6h0h5u84E pic.twitter.com/oEhYIqNgnE
— Primera Hora (@primerahora) July 6, 2015

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“When I first heard about the league in the United States, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s great that they’ll finally have a league.

I don’t know why it took them so long,’” Cruz said. “I always took it as it was only going to be for American players.

But then I was like, ‘Wait, I’m American.’ And then suddenly Jordan [Larson] was calling me.”

Volleyball Quote by Aury Cruz (Athletes Unlimited volleyball professional)

Listen in as Aury Cruz talks about Athletes Unlimited

The Aury Cruz volleyball player profile found on this page contains quick facts and biographical information about this amazing outside hitter from

Check back often to see which world class professional volleyball players have been added to our list.

Aury Cruz is an Olympian and a 17 year pro volleyball player who has played in

Puerto Rico- Toa Baja, Amazonas, Valenciana

Italy- Caserta, Cuneo, Villa Cortese, Altamura, Tortoli, Novara, Scandicci,

Turkey-Istanbul

Azerbijian- Rabita Baku

South Korea- Hillstate

Spain- Club 15-15

before joining the Athletes Unlimited Pro League for the 2020-21 season.

Check out Aury Cruz

at an Athletes Unlimited’s volleyball practice

Aury Cruz and Lindsay Stalzer spent years overseas to make their dream of playing professional volleyball financially feasible. The launch of Athletes Unlimited, which committed $1 million to salaries for the 44-player league, has brought them back home https://t.co/7upV6uskMk pic.twitter.com/r3EDcTgYQF
— Forbes SportsMoney (@ForbesSports) April 11, 2021

Aury Cruz
Pro Volleyball Player Overseas

Aury Cruz Highlight Video with the Amazonas de Trujillo Puerto Rico team

https://youtu.be/n8RQnHCQMgE

Aury Cruz (#8 Jersey) - Bergamo VS Cuneo

Aury Cruz playing professionally in Puerto Rico in 2018 - 2020

Después de muchos años, Aury Cruz regresó a La Liga Superior Femenina de 🇵🇷 y debutando como la máxima anotadora de su equipo con 16 puntos 🙌🏻🔥. #LVSF #PuertoRico #Volleyball https://t.co/lrAHIkse9w pic.twitter.com/b1To7jh7Gv
— Puerto Rico | Volleyball (@voleypuertorico) February 16, 2020

Hoy nos acompaña la jugadora puertorriqueña Aury Cruz en el Jeep Volleyball, a la 1:00pm en el Centro de Convenciones. ¡Ven y comparte con ella! pic.twitter.com/jfdOqDnZw3
— Jeep Puerto Rico (@jeeppr) June 6, 2018

Aury Cruz
College Volleyball Athletic Accomplishments as a Florida Gator Hall of Famer

First-team AVCA All-American (2002)

...Southeastern Conference Player of the Year (2001 and 2002)

...NCAA Tournament Region MVP (2002)

...AVCA All-East Region (2002)

...First Team All-SEC (2000, 2001, 2002)

...Two-time SEC Player of the Week (2002)

...First-team AVCA All-American (2001)

...Second-team Volleyball Magazine All-American (2001)

...2001 NCAA Tournament All-Region...31 kills and 20 digs vs. Nebraska in 2001

...SEC and AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year honors (2000)

...Played in the 2003 Pan American Games this summer as a member of the Puerto Rican team

...Led Puerto Rico into the second round of play at the 2002 World Championships in Germany AVCA First Team All-American (2003)

...CSTV First Team All-American (2003)

...NCAA East Region MVP (2003)

...AVCA All-South Region (2003)

...SEC Player of the Year (2003)

...First Team All-SEC (2003)

Top College Volleyball Freshman

Get to know University of Florida Gators volleyball freshman Aury Cruz (University of Florida Athletics)

AS A FRESHMAN (2000)

As a Freshman (2000) Gator volleyball fans dubbed Cruz's wicked kills and deep serves "Cruz Missiles" after her first match
...The SEC Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-SEC selection led UF with 4.32 kills per game and served up a team-best 41 aces in just 82 games (0.50 sa/g)
...Finished seventh in the SEC with 3.89 kills per game and led all players with 0.58 aces per game
...Also was sixth in the SEC with 3.24 digs per game
...Named the SEC Tournament MVP
...Posted 4.11 kills and 4.44 digs per game and a .321 hitting efficiency in three matches in that event
...Recorded double-digit kills in 22 of 25 matche
...Led UF in that category in 16 of the last 20 matches of the year...Only UF player to record 30-plus kills in a match
...Hit that mark at No. 3 Arizona with 31, good for fourth in the UF single-match records
...Named SEC Player of the Week Oct, 30 for a 21-kill showing at Tennessee
...Had 12 double-doubles on the year
...Tied for first on team with 22 double-digit kills matches
...Second with 15 double-digit digs performances
...Averaged career-high .464 (17-4-28) hitting efficiency vs. Georgia Nov. 3
...Named MVP of the Florida Volleyball Conference Challenge in which she had UF's first 20-20 of the season with 24 kills and 21 digs vs. Cincinnati.

Top College Volleyball Sophomore

2013-2014 Impact Players:

AS A SOPHOMORE (2001)

As a Sophomore (2001) Played in all 30 matches
...SEC Player of the Year
...First Team All-SEC...SEC Tournament MVP
...Led the team with 70 attacks and 20 digs versus Nebraska
...Logged a team high 19 digs versus Pepperdine
...Led team with 30 attacks versus Florida International
...Recorded her 13th double-double of the season (12 kills, 18 digs) vs. Notre Dame
...Streak of 27 matches with double figure kills ended vs. Virginia Tech
...Double-double (18 kills, 15 digs) vs. Arkansas in the championship match of the SEC Tournament
...Logged 20 kills and 43 attacks against Tennessee
...Recorded 22 kills and nine digs against Louisiana State
...Recorded 20 kills and an attack percentage of .690 versus Mississippi State
...Recorded 14 kills and 15 digs against Auburn
... Registered 13 kills and 19 digs versus Tennessee
... Logged a career-high seven aces and seven assists versus Kentucky
...Recorded 28 kills and 16 digs against South Carolina
... MVP of State Farm Illini Classic
... Logged 20 kills and 13 digs versus Illinois
...Registered 19 kills and 10 digs against Arizona in the SunTrust Invitational championship match

Top College Volleyball Junior

AS A JUNIOR (2002)

As a Junior (2002) SEC Player of the Year for second consecutive season
...Missed several games at the start of the season to play for the Puerto Rican National Team in the World Championships
... AVCA First-Team All-American
...Tallied 19 kills and 16 digs against eventual NCAA champion Southern California in the semifinal match
...NCAA Tournament Region MVP for her performances against Temple and Washington State
...Tallied 24 kills and tied a career-high with 20 digs against Washington State
...Led the Gators with 12 kills against Temple
...AVCA All-Region Team selection
...Tallied a team-high 21 kills against South Florida
...Conference Challenge All-Tournament Team selection - tied her career high service ace total with seven against Illinois State
...First team All-SEC and All-SEC Tournament selection after recording a team-high 45 kills (averaging 4.5 kills per game) during the tournament
... Recorded a season-high .615 hitting percentage with 17 kills in 26 attempts versus Ole Miss
...Registered a season-high 18 digs against Ole Miss
... American Volleyball Classic MVP
...Had a season-high 27 kills against Penn State
...Campus USA Credit Union Invitational All-Tournament Team selection
...Notched a double-double against then-No. 1 Stanford with 11 kills and 10 digs
...Led Florida with 11 kills and 15 digs against Ohio in her first match of the season after returning from the World Championships
...Two-time SEC Player of the Week (Oct. 21 and Nov. 18)
...Third in UF history with 158 service aces
...Fourth in career kills with 1,296

Top College Volleyball Senior

Aury and the Florida Gators in the Division I NCAA Finals vs USC

AS A SENIOR (2003)

As a Senior (2003) Set the school record for career kills (1,815) and career attacks (4,096) and finished her career second in service aces (220) and third in digs (1,320)
...Named AVCA First Team All-American for the third consecutive season - the first player in Florida history to receive the honor three times
...Named CSTV First-Team All-American...Named to the NCAA Championship all-tournament team
...Recorded a double-double with a team-leading 18 kills and 18 digs against USC in the national championship match
...Tallied 19 kills and 14 digs for a double-double against Hawaii
...Named the NCAA East Region Most Valuable Player
...Recorded 14 kills and a team-high 21 digs against Penn State
...Tallied 12 kills and 10 digs against Colorado State
...Recorded 10 kills and 12 digs against UCF.
..Tallied 18 kills and seven digs against Georgia Southern
...Named SEC Tournament MVP.
..Tallied 15 kills, 11 digs and four service aces vs. Arkansas in the SEC Tournament
...Recorded 13 kills and 12 digs against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament
...Tallied 11 kills and 10 digs against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament
...Registered 13 kills and seven digs vs. Kentucky
...Tied her season-high in kills with 22 and added 10 digs vs. South Carolina
...Tallied 13 kills and seven digs vs. LSU
...Recorded 11 kills, seven digs and two service aces against Arkansas
...Notched a career-high 22 digs and also recorded 14 kills vs. Tennessee
...Tallied 13 kills, nine digs and three service aces vs. Georgia
...Was one service ace shy of the first triple double in school history, recording 19 kills, 11 digs and a career-high nine service aces against South Carolina
...Tallied 13 kills and seven digs against Kentucky
...Recorded 13 kills, nine digs and four blocks vs. Mississippi
...Tallied a team-high 15 kills and added eight digs vs. Mississippi State
...Registered 13 kills and eight digs at Alabama
...Tallied 13 kills, eight digs and five blocks vs. Auburn
...Recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 16 digs vs. Tennessee
...Tallied 12 kills, 14 digs and three service aces against Georgia
...Tallied nine kills, two service aces and six digs against Auburn
...Recorded a season-high six service aces, adding eight kills, four digs and a solo block against Alabama
...Tallied a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs and also notched a solo block against South Florida
...Named the Wildcat Classic Tournament Most Valuable Player
...Hit a season-high .581 with 20 kills and 10 digs against Northwestern
...Registered 11 kills, seven digs and two service aces vs. North Carolina
...Tallied seven kills, nine digs and two blocks against Chicago State
...Named the Hilton Volleyball Classic MVP.
..Led the team with 10 kills, nine digs and four blocks against Minnesota
...Tallied 10 kills and 16 digs against Florida A&M
...Named to the Stanford Invitational all-tournament team
...Tallied 14 digs, eight kills and two blocks against Stanford
...Tallied 13 kills and 10 digs against UCSB
...Named MVP of the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational
...Tallied 16 kills and 12 digs against BYU, along with two solo blocks
...Recorded 15 kills and two blocks against American
...Registered 16 kills with no errors en route to a .516 hitting percentage and also notched 10 digs against Rutgers
...Named to the State Farm Classic all-tournament team
...Tallied a season-high 22 and 17 digs kills against Kansas State
...Registered 12 kills against USC in Florida's first match of the season

Aury Cruz
High School Varsity Volleyball Achievements

Aury...

Prior to Florida Was a national team member since age 15 and began playing volleyball at age four

...Youngest player ever selected as the Most Outstanding Athlete for volleyball by the Puerto Rican Olympic committee during the XXXIV Olympic Awards in 1999

...Started for Puerto Rico at the NORCECA Olympic qualifier in Lakeland, Fla., in January 2000

...Product of the Toa Baja team, the same squad as former Gator All-America Aurymar Rodriguez

...Led Toa Baja to the women's Superior League title in 1999 and was named the MVP of the finals

Check out Aury Cruz on Athletes Unplugged

(video by Athletes Unlimited)

Aury Cruz
Pro Volleyball Player Athletes Unlimited

During the 2021 Season:

Aury played in 14 matches and 42 sets … finished fourth in the league with 3,582 points

… fourth in Athletes Unlimited with 171 kills and 10 service aces

… posted 10 matches with 10 or more kills, including the last four matches in a row

… one of two players to record 25 or more kills in a match

… tallied season-high 26 kills in Week Five match against Team Larson along with securing 374 leaderboard points

… opened season with a 15-kill performance against Team Clark

… posted double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs against Team Larson on Mar. 13

… hit season-high .520 with 12 kills and eight digs on Mar. 20 against Team Hunter.

More About Aury Cruz

Aury is an Olympian and a member of the Puerto Rico national team

As a member of the national team, she played high-level competition in the Dominican Republic, United States, Venezuela, Mexico and Portugal

...Chosen as one of the world's 10 best players after her team won the 2000 International School Sport Federation World Championship in Matosinhos, Portugal

Italia 🇮🇹: Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 derrota a Golden Tulip Volalto 2.0 Caserta 3x1 (25-23 / 22-25 / 25-21 / 25-13). Stephanie Enright aportó 11 puntos para su equipo mientras Aury Cruz aportó 9 puntos para su equipo. #Volleyball #WomensVolleyball #boricuasporelmundo🇵🇷 pic.twitter.com/dtC3coJZHk
— Puerto Rico | Volleyball (@voleypuertorico) October 27, 2019

1999 Puerto Rican Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenino "Final Series Most Valuable Player"
2005 NORCECA Championship "Best receiver"
2006 Pan-American Cup "Best scorer"
2006 Pan-American Cup "Best server"
2006 Central American and Caribbean Games "Best receiver"
2006 Central American and Caribbean Games "Best scorer"
2006/2007 Italian A-1 League All Star
2007/2008 – For her excellent performance with Icaro Palma at "Copa de la Reina", she was chosen for the All-Star Team.
2007 Pan-American Games "Best receiver"
2007 NORCECA Championship "Best server"
2008 Olympic Qualifier "Best server"
2009 Pan-American Cup "Best scorer"
2009 NORCECA Championship "Best scorer"
2010 Central American and Caribbean Games "Best spiker"
2010/2011 Recipient of Gazzetta Trophy, awarded by the Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport
2010/2011 Italian A-1 League "Best receiver"
2010/2011 Italian A-1 League "Best scorer"
2012/2013 Azerbaijan Super League "Best receiver"
2013 NORCECA Championship "Best outside hitter"
2013/2014 Azerbaijan Super League "MVP", "Best receiver", "Best digger"
2014 Central American and Caribbean Games "Best outside hitter"
2014/2015 Azerbaijan Super League "MVP of Finals", "Best spiker"
2015 NORCECA Champions Cup "Best outside spiker"

For the first time, Florida volleyball is representing at the Olympic Games! #GatorGreats Aury Cruz (Puerto Rico) and Kelly Murphy (U.S.A.) will be competing in Rio! #GatorsAlways

Aury Cruz in the News, Interviews and Media

Check out Athletes Unplugged featuring

GoCards feature during Black History Month

Celebrating Louisville Legacies - Jennifer Hoffman, Erin Fairs, Amaya Tillman, Ayden Bartlett - during Black History Month

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Honored At UTK Champions Weekend

Lady Vol volleyball legend and record holder Coach April Chapple a University of Tennessee, Knoxville Hall of Fame Inductee, 3-time All American, 3-time SEC Champion, SEC Tournament MVP, 2-time All SEC Team is celebrated with her 1984 SEC champion teammates at Neyland Stadium during Champions Weekend on November 1-2, 2024.

utkaprilcollegepiconneylandstadiumvideoboard

Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee, Coach April Chapple is

the first First Round Draft Pick for the first American pro indoor women's league
named to the first First Team All-Pro team for Major League Volleyball in USA volleyball history
former USA National team member
one of the few American women players named as an Italian Pro League D-I Championship Finalist, Italian Cup Finalist and Cup of Cups Tournament Finalist

April Chapple The first First round Draft Pick For Major League Volleyball the first American Women's Pro League Honored At Athlete Unlimited Pro Volleyball Match

Coach April's 2025 Private and Semi private Volleyball Training

Pre-Registration now open for 2025 Private and Semiprivate Training Sessions with Coach April . Get prepared for club tryouts or train with me during club season!

Email now for information on semiprivate or private indoor skills, individual or small group training volleyball classes and my Breakfast Club for College Players training for 2025.

Invest in your improvement while preepping for your next level and college goals while working hard and training smart.

Email me right now to register or for more information.

info@improveyourvolley.com

Serving slang is not just about individual techniques; it also relates to overall game strategy. A coach might instruct a player to serve a "short serve" or a "deep serve" to target specific areas of the opponent's court or exploit weaknesses in their serve receive formation.

Ari, my private training client and I are working specifically on serving on jump float cross court serves ...short to Zone 2

There's so much we work on to get to this point where she can contact the ball with

the same toss height and same toss location
the same armswing speed
the same timing for when her serving hand contacts the ball
the middle of the hand contacting the middle of the ball every single time
getting use to watching her serving hand contact the ball at the highest point of her jump ...before she starts to land
and finally contacting the ball in the precise spot on the ball so it goes where the coach wants the player to put it so in this case ..a short serve in the farthest short right corner on the court also called Zone 2.

kamiminerpac12setteroftheyearformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

Tommi Stockham All Big West Conference sophomore former Coach April Chapple private client 3 years

katepriorallwestcoastconferencebyufreshmanformercoachaprilchappleprivateclient3years

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Dear Vegas Parent

Read my open letter to Las Vegas Jr high/high school volleyball parents about my predictions on individual and small group volleyball training trends for 2019/2021

Tennessee Athletics Honors April Chapple at Champions Weekend for Legendary Volleyball Achievements

From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Produces Powerful Passionate Players...is that you?

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Congratulations to my seven Boys-18s Vegas Volley club players who played in two state championship finals yesterday, the 3A and 5A State champinship finals at Sunrise Mountain High School.

TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!

A-1 Vegas Volley VBC

In It To Win It Tournament

May 2 - 4, 2025 Tournament

Gold Medalists

18s Premier Division

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Making A-1 Vegas Volleyball history as the very first TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS! In the In It To Win It Tournament, May 2-4, 2025 Tournament, A-1 Vegas Volleyball Club Gold Medalists, 18s Premier Division