Annie Drews and Jordan Thompson are two distinct opposites that are the one-two punch that gets the job done for the United States in their recent successes in the last five years.
VNL 2023
Drews & Thompson: On the right side of things
Annie Drews and Jordan Thompson get things right and get things done for coach Karch Kiraly’s Team USA even though they share the same role in the team
Published 12:00, 12 Jul 2023
It’s not about the length of each of their stints on the court, but the quality they provide each time they step in to play, providing an almost continuous source of offence for Karch Kiraly’s team.
After USA’s third VNL title win, they turned the 2021 season into a special one. The hard-hitting right-hander Thompson and gutsy southpaw Drews powered the USA to win their first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, after collecting three silver medals and two bronze medals in previous editions.
At this year’s Volleyball Nations League, the alternating tandem are the team’s top scorers, giving consistency on offence from position two. Their efforts paid off eventually as they helped the team reach second place at the end of the preliminary round with 10 victories.
Drews tallied 84 attacks, three blocks and five aces, while Thompson added 74 kills, 10 blocks and six service winners.
Drews was part of the team that achieved the unprecedented three-peat in the VNL, where she also won a Most Valuable Player award in 2019. Thompson, on the other hand, has two VNL medals from 2019 and 2021.
USA will play against Japan in the quarterfinals on July 12 at 19:30 local time (00:300 UTC next day) in Arlington, Texas. The winner of this match will play against Turkey or Italy in the semifinals on July 15.
