The ‘NBA of volleyball’ — League One Volleyball (LOVB) — is here.
Veronica Jones-Perry of Salt Lake was named the player of the match with 23 kills, six digs and one block.
‘It’s really cool seeing a lot of familiar faces across the net,’ Jones-Perry said after the match. ‘Really proud of my team. It was a fun environment to play in. Our team showed a lot of really great fight tonight. That’s something that we want to be about. I think we made that statement.’
LOVB (pronounced ‘love’) is made up of six teams that feature 10 of the 13 Team USA Olympians that won a silver medal at the Paris Games in 2024. Three-time Olympic medalist Kelsey Cook (2016, 2020, 2024) was the first athlete to commit to LOVB, joining LOVB Atlanta. Two-time Olympians Haleigh Washington and Jordyn Poulter (2020, 2024) is on LOVB Salt Lake.
‘Five years ago we had this dream that these Olympians who go and win medals at the Olympics shouldn’t come home and not have the NBA of volleyball to play in,’ co-founder Katlyn Gao said Wednesday. ‘This is the result of five years of building. We are creating a legacy league that is here to stay. … To see this community come together, from youth to pro, is absolutely incredible.’
Salt Lake took advantage of Atlanta’s six service errors in the opening set to take set one, 25-22. Atlanta had a 12-9 lead in the second set, but Salt Lake erased it with a 4-0 run to tie it up at 12-12. Atlanta had two set points, but dropped the second set to Salt Lake, 27-25. Cook opened the third set with an exclamation point with a kill, spurring a 5-1 run by Atlanta. Salt Lake wouldn’t stay down for long and erased its deficit yet again, but Atlanta didn’t let the third set slip away and won 25-21 to force a fourth set.
Although Atlanta had its moments, Salt Lake closed the fourth set on a 9-5 run to win 25-21 to claim LOVB’s first win.
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