Athletes Unlimited season four ready to start on VBTV

With international stars and American national team players on the court, a unique competition system and every match available for international subscribers on VBTV, the fourth season of the American Athletes Unlimited women’s volleyball league begins on Thursday.

Set to be held in Mesa, Arizona, over the course of five weeks, the tournament will have its two opening-day duels streamed live on VBTV, including for American subscribers, with Team Hentz facing Team Valentín-Anderson at 19:00 local time (00:00 GMT, Friday) and Team Nuneviller battling Team De La Cruz at 21:30 local time (2:30 GMT, Friday).

• 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.

On week one, three of the league’s biggest international stars, Thai setter Nootsara Tomkom, Japan Olympic libero Manami Kojima and Dominican veteran Bethania De La Cruz, will be together in the team captained by the Caribbean legend. They will also have American Olympic medalist setter Alisha Glass and national team middle blocker Tori Dixon by their side.

In their opening match, they will face Team Nuneviller, captained by American outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller. Other attractions of the team are setter Madi Bugg, who played for Italian giants Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano last season, Cuban opposite Heidy Casanova and American middle blocker Molly McCage.

Team Valentín-Anderson will have a lot of Puerto Rican flair as besides counting on the country’s national team setter as its captain, it will also feature opposite Génesis Collazo and libero Nomaris Vélez. American outside hitter Madi Kingdon should also have a major role in the team.

Captained by American national team libero Morgan Hentz, the fourth team for week one will also have players with international experience, such as outside hitter Dani Drews, middle blocker Jenna Rosenthal and opposite Sherridan Atkinson.

More matches on Sunday and Monday

The second round of matches will be held on Sunday, with Team De La Cruz facing Team Valentín-Anderson at 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT) and Team Nuneviller meeting Team Hentz at 20:30 local time (1:30 GMT, Monday). The first-week schedule will be completed on Monday, with Team De La Cruz vs. Team Hentz at 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT) and Team Valentín-Anderson vs. Team Nuneviller at 20:30 local time (1:30 GMT, Tuesday). These duels will be streamed live for VBTV subscribers outside the United States.