PH’s Gary earns gold medal with U.S Women’s U21 National Team

TORONTO — On an otherwise experienced team, in her first action on the international volleyball stage, Pendleton Heights alum Ramsey Gary made a lasting impression.
The 2023 Pendleton Heights graduate earned a spot on the U.S Women’s U21 National Team for this year’s NORCECA Women’s U21 Continental Championship, and she did much more than just fill a roster spot.
As the starting libero, she helped the U.S. team win the gold medal, defeating Puerto Rico 3-0 in the championship match on June 29. In Toronto, the U.S. took the three sets by scores of 25-12, 25-16, and 25-16.
With the title, the U.S. team automatically qualified for the 2025 Women’s U21 World Championship.
The team, which did not lose a set in five wins in the championship, finished the gold medal match with significant margins in kills (46-24), blocks (9-2), and aces (7-3).
In the preliminary stage, the United States defeated the Dominican Republic 25-18, 25-21 and 25-11 to open the tournament. In the second game of the prelim stage, it defeated Suriname 25-10, 25-5 and 25-9. Gary led all players with 10 digs and six successful receptions in the match.
The team capped off the prelim round with a 25-10, 25-17 and 25-1 victory against Puerto Rico. Gary finished with 17 digs, eight more than the next-highest total, and led the team with seven successful receptions.
In the semifinals, the United States knocked off Dominican Republic for the second time, winning 25-20, 25-13 and 25-12. In that game, Gary finished with a match-high nine successful receptions and a match-high 12 digs
Gary capped off a dominant tournament with 14 digs in the gold medal match, more than twice as many as the next highest total. Over the course of the five matches, Gary recorded a team-high 62 digs.
Gary was chosen as the tournament’s Best Receiver, while outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and Best Spiker.
Gary joined team U.S. team after a dominant freshman campaign at Indiana University, where she recorded a single-season program record 530 digs, 109 assists and 22 aces. The Hoosiers ended the season 21-12 overall and 11-9 in the Big Ten Conference.
In the opening set of the championship, the U.S. turned a 9-7 lead into a 17-7 advantage before storming to the first-set win.
After losing the first three points of the second set, Puerto Rico scored 10 of the next 16 points to take a 10-9 lead. The U.S. led by just two points, 16-14, before finishing the set on a 9-2 run.
The U.S. took control of the third set with a 13-3 spurt to take an 18-7 lead. Outside hitter Abby Vander Wal scored the gold medal-clinching point on a kill.
With Puerto Rico taking the silver medal and the Dominican Republic defeating host Canada for the bronze medal, all three medalists came from the same preliminary pool.