Abercrombie takes the lead at Athletes Unlimited week two

Puerto Rican opposite Brittany Abercrombie is the new leader of the fourth season of the American Athletes Unlimited women’s volleyball league after the conclusion of the second week of action in Mesa, Arizona.

Abercrombie, who finished second in the opening week, behind Dominican star Bethania De La Cruz, overcame the legendary outside hitter with strong performances that led the team captained by her to three victories between Friday and Monday.

• Watch the Athletes Unlimited League live on VBTV

The Athletes Unlimited volleyball league has a unique format, unlike any other tournament, as players earn points individually for every action they make on the court and accumulate them over the five weeks of the season. At the end of the fifth week, the one with the most points will be crowned as the champion.

The league has a 44-player roster, which is used to form four different teams every week – four players are designated as captains each week and get to draft their teammates a few days before the start of the matches of that week.

This week, the team captained by Abercrombie, which also featured American national team players Morgan Hentz, Molly McCage and Dani Drews, defeated the sides led by American middle blocker Kayla Caffey, Thai setter Nootsara Tomkom and De La Cruz over the week.

The results earned Abercrombie 1,013 points, which added to the 1,050 she had accumulated in the opening week, and elevated her total to 2,063, above the 1,933 amassed by De La Cruz so far (1,066 in the first week and 867 in the second).

Kojima into the top five

Japanese national team libero Manami Kojima, who ranked seventh in the opening week, made it into the top five after week two, with her new total of 1,311 points. Making even more significant rises were American outside hitters Leketor Member-Meneh, who went from sixth to third (1,417), and Drews, who jumped from 12^th to fourth (1,383).

This week, Abercrombie, De La Cruz, Drews and Member-Meneh will be the team captains. The two matches streamed live for VBTV subscribers around the world will be Team Member-Meneh vs. Team De la Cruz, on Friday, at 19:00 local time (00:00 GMT, Saturday) and Team Member-Meneh vs. Team Abercrombie, on Sunday, at 17:30 local time (22:30 GMT). The teams will be drafted on Tuesday.

Athletes Unlimited week two schedule will have a second match on Friday and Saturday and another two on Monday.

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