Ciara Kathleen Michel (born 2 July 1985) is a British-American volleyball player who plays as a middle blocker. Born in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, she learned to play volleyball in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

after her parents moved there when she was 10 years old. In Miami she attended Palmer Trinity School, and graduated in 2003, where she has been credited with starting a rich volleyball tradition at the school. She later became a student athlete at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

from 2004 to 2008, where she was captain, and holds the school record for most career blocks. After college, she went on to play in Australia for the University Blues of Victoria, while completing a master's degree from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. She played her first two professional seasons for Alemannia Aachen in Germany (2010–2012). Michel was selected to represent Great Britain in the 2012 London Olympics where she led her team to a history-making win over Algeria. The team finished in a tie for 8th position. The next season she joined VT Aurubis, Hamburg. In May 2013, she signed with Yamamay Busto Arsizio near Milan, Italy, making her the first British player in history to compete in the

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tota ...

. The team won 2nd place in the CEV Champions League in 2015. She spent the 2015–16 season in Turkey's top division for Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyespor, competing in the CEV Challenge Cup. She then moved to French first division side '' :fr:Association sportive Saint-Raphaël Volley-Ball'' for the 2016–2017 season, before transferring to another French first division side, '' :fr:ASPTT Mulhouse'' for the 2017–18 season. She then transferred to '' :fr:Pays d'Aix Venelles Volley Ball'' for the 2019–2020 season.

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* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Michel, Ciara 1985 births Living people English women's volleyball players English expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate volleyball players in Germany Volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic volleyball players for Great Britain Sportspeople from Taunton Middle blockers 21st-century English sportswomen Miami Hurricanes women's volleyball players