Micha Danielle Hancock ( ; born November 10, 1992) is an American indoor

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 for 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 ...

. Hancock played setter for the Penn State women's volleyball team, and won back-to-back national championships in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. Hancock 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 ...

Career

High school

Hancock played volleyball for Edmond Memorial High School in Edmond, Oklahoma. She guided her team to the 2007, 2009 and 2010 Oklahoma 6A State Championship, was a two-time All-Edmond Player of the Year, All-City Player of the Year and MVP of the State Championship All-Tournament Team. She was named the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year twice.

College

She played college women's

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. In her freshman season in 2011, Hancock was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year as well as the AVCA Mideast Region Freshman of the Year and set the Penn State single-season aces record with 91. As a sophomore in 2012, she was a first-team All-American and Big Ten Setter of the Year. Hancock set the NCAA Tournament record for aces in tournament play with 22, including the Penn State single-match record for aces with 10. In her final two seasons, she helped Penn State win back-to-back NCAA titles. In 2013, Hancock was named a First-Team All-American and earned NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors, and she became the Nittany Lions' all-time career aces leader with 254. In 2014, she was named the AVCA National Player of the Year and her third consecutive First-Team All-America honor. Under her guidance, Hancock ranked first nationally as a college senior in aces per set (1.05) with at least one ace in all but three matches in 2014. Hancock finished her career among Penn State's all-time career record-holders, ranking first in service aces (380) and service aces per game (0.76), fifth in assists (5,578) and sixth in assists per game (11.16). Hancock was named as one of the four finalists for the

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 ...

in volleyball for 2014–15.

International

In the 2016 Pan-American Cup she was awarded Best Server after she set a new serving record in a single match, first with 11 aces in the pool play against Costa Rica, then 12 aces in the bronze medal match over Cuba. She was named Most Valuable Player in the 2017 Pan-American Cup. She was selected to play the Italian League All-Star game in 2017. In May 2021, Hancock was named to the 18-player roster for the FIVB Volleyball Nations League tournament. It was the only major international competition before the 2020 Summer Olympics. U.S. won the gold medal for the third year in a row after defeating Brazil in the final. On June 7, 2021, U.S. 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. Primarily used as a backup setter and serving substitute, Hancock stepped in after starting setter

Jordyn Poulter Jordyn Ashley Poulter ( ; born July 31, 1997) is an American volleyball player. As a member of the United States women's national volleyball team, she has earned several international titles, including the program's first-ever Olympic gold meda ...

injured her ankle during U.S.'s final pool play match against Italy, helping lead the team to victory in 5 sets. In the quarterfinals against Dominican Republic, Hancock started again and led her to team to victory, advancing U.S. to the semifinals. Team USA eventually won the gold medal after defeating Brazil, 3 sets to none.

Clubs

(2011–2014) *

Imoco Volley Conegliano Imoco Volley is an Italian professional women's volleyball club based in Conegliano in Northern Italy and currently playing in the Italian Women's Volleyball League, Serie A1. On the global stage, the team is a world champion (current) winning th ...

(2015) * Indias de Mayagüez (2015) *

Dąbrowa Górnicza Dąbrowa Górnicza () is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula Rive ...

(2015–2016) * Impel Wrocław (2016–2017) * US Pro Victoria Monza (2017–2019) * Igor Gorgonzola Novara (2019–2021) * Megabox Volley Vallefoglia (2022–2023) * VBC Casalmaggiore (2023–2024) * LOVB Houston (2024-present)

Awards

Individuals

*''2015 Nominee for Honda Sports Award (volleyball)'' *'' 2016 Pan-American Cup "Best Server"'' * '' 2017 Pan-American Cup "Best Server"'' * '' 2017 Pan-American Cup "Best Setter"'' * '' 2017 Pan-American Cup "Most Valuable Player"'' * '' 2019 Pan-American Cup "Most Valuable Player"''

References

External links

FIVB profile

Micha Hancock
at

USA Volleyball USA Volleyball (USAV) is a non-profit organization which is recognized as the national governing body of volleyball in the United States by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committe ...

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, Micha 1992 births Living people American women's volleyball players People from McAlester, Oklahoma Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball players Setters (volleyball) American expatriate volleyball players in Italy American expatriate volleyball players in Poland Sportspeople from Oklahoma Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in volleyball Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Serie A1 (women's volleyball) players Volleyball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in volleyball 21st-century American sportswomen LOVB Houston players