Haleigh Meridian Washington (born September 22, 1995) is an American

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player of the

United States women's national volleyball team The United States women's national volleyball team participates in international volleyball competitions and friendly games, and is governed by USA Volleyball. Their last head coach was three-time Olympic gold medalist and retired dominant be ...

. Washington was an All-American middle blocker for the Penn State women's volleyball team, where she helped lead the team to the 2014 NCAA national championship. Washington won gold with the national team at the

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Personal life

Washington was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

to parents Danielle and Alecs. In her early athletic days, she showed talent in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, but ended up being more passionate about volleyball while on the seventh-grade team. She would attend Clear Creek High School, where she began being recruited by college volleyball coaches in her freshman year. Her family relocated to

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

before her junior year, and she finished her high school career at

Doherty High School Thomas B. Doherty High School, commonly referred to as Doherty High School (DHS), is a public high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. Established in 1975, it is the newest school in the Colorado Springs School District 11, serv ...

, where she holds a state record after putting down 48 kills in a match with her high school team. She earned consecutive Colorado Volleyball Player of the Year honors in 2012 and 2013 and led her team to a state championship title in 2012, and was the 2013 Volleyball Magazine National Player of the Year. She was considered to be the nation's top high school recruit in her class, and ultimately decided to play collegiate volleyball at Penn State. Washington has one brother, Kayden, and one sister, Leilani. In 2020, Washington came out as

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

Penn State

Washington was a three-time first-team All-American and helped lead the team to the 2014 NCAA National Title as a freshman, as well as an appearance in the 2017 Final Four in her senior season. She was named the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

Freshman of the Year after hitting .463 for the season. In her senior season, she earned the 2017 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and led the nation with a .503 hitting percentage, while putting down 3.03 kills per set on the season. She earned

AVCA The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is an organization of over 9,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit corporation, non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association. It is cur ...

All-American honors three times and was selected as a

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

nominee after her senior season. Washington credited Penn State's head coach

Russ Rose Russell David Rose (born November 29, 1953) is an American former volleyball coach who was the women's volleyball coach at Penn State University from 1979 to 2021. His lifetime head coaching record is 1330–229, which ranks first in NCAA Divisi ...

for acclimating her to the grueling demands and expectations of competing on the international stage.

Professional clubs

Washington has played in multiple Italian Series A1 professional volleyball teams, including Igor Gorgonzola Novara from 2020 to 2022. In the 2022–2023 season, plays with Savino Del Bene Scandicci.

United States national team

With Team USA, she started all three matches of the 2019 Tokyo Qualification Tournament in which Team USA earned its bid into the 2020 Olympic Games. She was named to the 18-player roster of the

2021 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League The 2021 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League was the third edition of the FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League, an annual women's international volleyball tournament. The 2021 version of VNL was scheduled to start earlier than the previous ...

. In her first match as the starting middle, had nine kills and a block against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. On June 7, 2021, US National Team head coach

Karch Kiraly Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly ( ; born November 3, 1960) is an American volleyball player, coach, and broadcast announcer. He was a central part of the United States men's national volleyball team, U.S National Team that won gold medals at t ...

announced she would be part of the 12-player Olympic roster for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo. Washington helped lead her team to the USA's first ever gold medal and was named Best Middle Blocker of the tournament.

Awards and honors

International

* 2019 FIVB Nations League – ''"Best Middle Blocker"'' * 2020 Summer Olympics – ''"Best Middle Blocker"''

Professional clubs

2022–23 Women's CEV Cup The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Champion, with Savino del Bene Scandicci * 2021–22 Italian Serie A1 League – Bronze medal, with Novara *2021–22 Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) – Silver medal, with Novara *2021–22 Italian Super Cup – Silver medal, with Novara *

2020–21 CEV Women's Champions League The 2020–21 Women's CEV Champions League, CEV Champions League was the highest level of European club volleyball in the 2020–21 season and the 61st edition. Qualification A total of 20 teams participate in the main competition, with 17 teams ...

– Bronze medal, with Novara *2020–21 Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) – Silver medal, with Novara * 2020–21 Italian Serie A1 League – Silver medal, with Novara *2020–21 Italian Super Cup – Bronze medal, with Novara *2019–20 Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) – Silver medal, with Busto

College

*2014 NCAA Division I National Champions *2014 Big Ten Freshman of the Year *2014 Unanimous All-Big Ten Freshman Team *2014 NCAA Louisville Regional All-Tournament *2014 All-Big Ten *AVCA First Team All-American (2015, 2016, 2017) *Unanimous All-Big Ten selection (2015, 2016, 2017) *2015 B1G/Pac-12 Challenge Most Valuable Player *2016

CoSIDA College Sports Communicators (CSC) is a membership association for all strategic, creative and digital professionals working in intercollegiate athletics across all levels for colleges, universities and conferences across the United States and Cana ...

Third-Team Academic All-America *2017 Senior CLASS Award winner in NCAA Division I volleyball *2017 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Haleigh 1995 births Living people American women's volleyball players American bisexual sportspeople American bisexual women Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Denver Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball players LOVB Salt Lake players Middle blockers American expatriate volleyball players in Italy Pennsylvania State University alumni Serie A1 (women's volleyball) players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in volleyball Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics LGBTQ volleyball players LGBTQ people from Colorado African-American LGBTQ people Bisexual sportswomen African-American volleyball players Volleyball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics People from Clear Creek County, Colorado Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in volleyball 21st-century American sportswomen

Personal life

Penn State

Professional clubs

United States national team

Awards and honors

International

Professional clubs

College

See also

References

External links