Recently, the WSU volleyball program and its players have proven potent in surprising the opposition.

Outside hitters, sophomore Casey Schoenlein and freshman McKenna Woodford did not anticipate selection to the US Collegiate National Team after trying out at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in February amongst 240 of the nation’s best players.

Yet on March 21, USA Volleyball announced the 12 players chosen for the U.S. Collegiate National Team – Europe Tour (CNT-Europe) roster competing this summer, and both Schoenlein and Woodford were on the list.

“I thought there was a typo,” Woodford, a 6-4 native of Chandler, Ariz., said of her initial reaction. “Kind of in complete shock. I didn’t really understand what was happening at first, because I got the email saying you made it and I was like, ‘What does that mean?’ I still don’t feel like I’m going to Europe this summer. I’m still in disbelief.”

Schoenlein, a 6-5 Bellevue native, echoed Woodford’s sentiment of surprise, but the excitement of both players embodies the growth of Cougar volleyball.

After a 1-19 mark in Pac-12 play in 2014, WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny guided the Cougs back to conference respectability with a four-win improvement in the win column (5-15). Training and competing from July 6-16 with the best in the world will only help the program’s push to return to the NCAA tournament this fall.

“I think it says a lot,” Schoenlein said of her and Woodford’s selection. “Our coaches had mentioned that this year, the group of us who went to the tryout was by far the best representation of WSU they’ve ever had there in a long time.

“Not only does it show how they’ve developed the program but now, they can use it as a way to point out to recruits and other coaches that, ‘Look at this development we have. We’re getting better.’ And I think that is going to be huge for even more growth in the years to come.”

Schoenlein and Woodford will play in the scheduled training matches against an Italian Federation Team July 7-9, near Milan, Italy, and then in the Global Challenge July 11-14 in Pula, Croatia.

Despite this being the first real involvement with USA Volleyball for either player and Schoenlein having said that she has never been to Europe, the confidence they gained from success in the tryout’s high-paced transition drills and their eager deportment derived from being two of the younger athletes has Greeny and the coaching staff confident they will fare well.

“The experience they will gain from competing internationally against some of the top players in Europe will prove valuable not only for themselves, but for WSU volleyball as a whole,” Greeny said in a press release. “I know that they will represent both our program and Washington State University very well.”

The tryout process was highly intense, designed to simulate global competition and weed out the strongest 12. In a nutshell, players were split up into groups each of the three days, assigned numbers and scrimmaged against one another in transition drills. Little rest time was provided.

“You feel very small, because throughout high school and club and whatnot before you get here, you’re kind of the big dog and you can do a lot of things that other people can’t do,” Woodford said of the emotions. “But then you get to college and it slims down even more, and your even less of a big dog. But then you try out for USA Volleyball and you’re one among 300 big dogs.”

“There’s no distinction between one player and the next. I think what it really comes down to who reacts better in different situations, because everyone at that level can pass and everyone can hit and everyone can serve. So it’s what makes you different than everyone else.”

With some of the brightest volleyball minds peering over each maneuver an athlete made, it crafted a charged up environment. As Schoenlein put it, “Every player was hitting the ball as hard as they could,” and it made the two Cougars supplement their own performances as well. It largely resulted in their selection.

“I’m a little nervous, I don’t know what the competition is like there,” Schoenlein said. “But judging (from) the players I tried out with, our team is solid. There is no weak player and we’re going to compete against whoever we play. It’s only going to get better and it’s only going to be a positive thing because not only will we get the experience of playing with some of the best players in the nation, but now we are competing against other-worldly teams.”

For a program in search of jumping up in rank in the Pac-12, having two players who beat this gauntlet and will bring back with them all sorts of different techniques and ways to lead reflects the development ensuing in Bohler Gym as the spring season opens up on April 2.

With four of the 12 players hailing from the Pac-12, it will be a barometer in observing how both WSU and the conference stack up in volleyball prowess on an international level.

“You sign to a university and you see how you match up against other girls in the conference and kind of try and rank yourself,” Woodford said. “But then to be on a national team is an honor and it’s cool to represent at a higher level and to know that I’m doing something right here and it’s paying off in the end.”

Knowing that they are on the same level as the country’s finest in collegiate-level volleyball, Schoenlein and Woodford setting out to take on the world flips the script on where the WSU program sat less than two years ago. That 1-19 mark may in fact be a footnote in the ever-growing archive that is Cougar volleyball in just a few short months.

“I didn’t expect to make the team,” Schoenlein said. “(It’s) definitely a boost of confidence. Now that I know that going into this season, I have that and I can just use it as a reminder. ‘You are good enough and you deserve to be there.’

WSU volleyball might have arrived on the scene before the show was originally set to begin. Schoenlein and Woodford will speed up the ETA even more in July.