Two college volleyball players from Fort Wayne earned the opportunity to showcase their skills in front of the U.S. Women’s National Team coaching staff earlier this month.
Louisville middle blocker Cara Cresse (Blackhawk Christian School) and Purdue outside hitter Eva Hudson (Bishop Dwenger High School) were two of 17 college volleyball players selected for the USA Volleyball Spring Training Camp, which was held March 10 through 16 in Anaheim, California.
Cresse, Hudson and the other players spent the week learning from and training with U.S. Women’s National Team members—and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold Medalists—Jordan Larson and Jordyn Poulter. Team USA head coach Karch Kiraly and his national team staff were also at the training camp to help the college roster. The USA Volleyball Spring Training Camp concluded Saturday, March 16, with a Red-Blue scrimmage.
The training camp served as a tryout for the U.S. Collegiate National Team, which will be announced at a later date. Long-term, the training camp could lead to the aspiring athletes being selected to the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Cresse earned 3rd Team All-America and 2nd Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference and Academic All-ACC honors in her redshirt sophomore season with Louisville. She led the team in blocks (117) and ranked third nationally in hitting percentage (.440). Cresse tallied 264 kills, 389 digs and 17 service aces. Cara was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week on October 16 and ACC Defensive Player of the Week on November 13. Louisville advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament as a 2-seed before losing to conference foe Pitt. The Cardinals were ranked 6 in the final AVCA poll. At Blackhawk Christian, Cresse recorded 595 career kills, 195 blocks, and 193 digs; while earning All-State, Academic All-State and All-Northeast Indiana honors. She played volleyball at Empowered Volleyball Academy, where she was a on the JVA Watchlist for three seasons.
Hudson is a two-time All-American (2nd Team 2023, Honorable Mention 2022) and two-time 1st Team All-Big Ten Conference at Purdue. In her junior season, she led the Big Ten—and ranked fifth nationally—in kills (560), and added 255 digs, 55 blocks and 14 aces. Hudson was named Big Ten Player of the Week on November 20 and Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2022. The Boilermakers advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament as a 3-seed before losing to Oregon. At Bishop Dwenger, Hudson won the Glass Spike Award three times as Summit Athletic Conference Player of the Year. She was also twice selected All-State and led the Saints to a state championship in 2022. She finished with 1,557 kills, 811 digs and 264 blocks in her high school career. She was also an AAU All-American and AAU 18 Open National Champion in 2021 and twice named to the JVA All-National Team. She finished her club career with Munciana and has had some lessons through Empowered Volleyball Academy over the years, as well.
Attached is a photo of Cara Cresse and Eva Hudson at the 2024 USA Volleyball Spring Training Camp in Anaheim, California.
The original USA Volleyball news release about the women’s collegiate Spring Training Camp, including the entire roster, can be found here.