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. The current head coach is three-time Olympic gold medalist and retired dominant beac ...

. 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 also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Personal life

Washington was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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 (appr ...

, 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 a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

before her junior year, and she finished her high school career at Doherty High School, 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, Kaden, and one sister, Leilani. In 2020, Washington came out as

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

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) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

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 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 th ...

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

Russ Rose Russell David Rose (born November 29, 1953) is an American author, professor and was the women's volleyball coach at Penn State University (1979–2021). His lifetime head coaching record is 1330–229, which ranks first in NCAA Division I histo ...

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 2020–2022. 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 Volleyball Women's Nations League was the third edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women's 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 ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. 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. In the 1980s he was a central part of the U.S National Team that won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He ...

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

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

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

* 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 – 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 Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) is an organization that focuses on professional development and support for sports information directors at all levels. It offers awards, scholarships, and grants in support of SIDs and pros ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Haleigh 1995 births Living people American women's volleyball players Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Denver Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball players Middle blockers Expatriate volleyball players in Italy American expatriate sportspeople 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 LGBT volleyball players LGBT people from Colorado LGBT African Americans Bisexual sportspeople Bisexual women African-American volleyball players

Personal life

Penn State

Professional clubs

United States national team

Awards and honors

International

Professional clubs

College

See also

References