Alexandra Annelise Frantti (born March 3, 1996) is an American professional volleyball player who plays as an outside hitter for the United States women's national volleyball team and Turkish Women's Volleyball League club Vakıfbank Istanbul.

Ali Frantti
Frantti in 2022
Personal information
Full nameAlexandra Annelise Frantti[1]
NicknameAli
Nationality United States
Born (1996-03-03) March 3, 1996 (age 28)[1]
Highland Park, Illinois, U.S.
HometownSpring Grove, Illinois, U.S.
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight163 lb (74 kg)
Spike125 in (317 cm)
College / UniversityPenn State University
Volleyball information
PositionOutside hitter
Current clubTurkey Vakıfbank Istanbul
Number1
Career
YearsTeams
2014–2017United States Penn State
2017–2018Slovenia Calcit Volley
2018–2019France ASPTT Mulhouse
2019–2020Poland KS DevelopRes Rzeszów
2020–2022Italy Chieri
2022–2023Italy Casalmaggiore
2023–Turkey Vakıfbank Istanbul
National team
2022–United States United States

Early life

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Alexandra Annelise Frantti was born in Highland Park, Illinois to parents Kelly and Dan Frantti. She grew up in Spring Grove, Illinois. She attended high school at Richmond Burton, where she played volleyball. She played club volleyball for Club Fusion and won back-to-back AAU titles, collecting MVP honors in 2012. She was the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year in 2013 and committed to play volleyball at Penn State. She was the #2 nationally ranked recruit coming out of high school.[2]

Career

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College

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After leading the team in kills her freshman season, Frantti was named the AVCA National Freshman of the Year and a second team All-American after helping Penn State win its 7th NCAA title in 2014. At the beginning of her senior year in 2017, she surpassed the 1,000 career mark at Penn State.[3]

Professional clubs

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After spending two seasons with Chieri, Frantti signed with Casalmaggiore for the 2022–2023 season.[4]

U.S. National Team

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In May 2022, Frantti made her national team debut when she was named to the 25-player roster for the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League tournament.[5] In her first match with the national team she had 15 kills, which led the team during the opening match win vs. Dominican Republic.[6] She led all players in a win vs. Poland, with 15 kills and 3 blocks.[7] A few days later, she had a dominating performance in a win vs. Thailand, finishing with 27 points on 24 kills, two blocks and one ace, and recorded 10 digs.[8]

Frantti made her second major international competition just 3 months after her national team debut when she was named to the roster for the 2022 FIVB World Championship. In the preliminary pool round, she started several matches as an outside hitter, becoming the highest scorer on the floor for all three matches. In the opening match victory versus Kazakhstan, she posted a team high 14 points via 13 kills and 1 service ace.[9] In the following match versus Canada, she followed up with another high scoring performance, leading all scorers with 15 points via 14 kills and a block.[10] The next match saw opponent Bulgaria, which was another victory for the United States. Frantti again led in points for the third straight match, with 19 points via 17 kills, a block, and a service ace.[11]

Awards and honors

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Clubs

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Team

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  • 2017–2018 Slovenian League  Silver medal, with Calcit Volley
  • 2017–2018 Slovenian Cup –   Silver medal, with Calcit Volley
  • 2018–2019 French Ligue A  Bronze medal, with ASPTT Mulhouse.
  • 2018–2019 French Cup –   Bronze medal, with ASPTT Mulhouse.
  • 2019–2020 TAURON Liga   Silver medal, with KS DevelopRes Rzeszów.
  • 2019–2020 Trofeo McDonald's Imola   Bronze medal, with KS DevelopRes Rzeszów.
  • 2020–2021 Italian Cup   Bronze medal, with Chieri
  • 2021–2022 Italian Cup   Bronze medal, with Chieri

Individual

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  • Polish Cup - Best Outside Hitter (2019–2020)
  • French Ligue A - Best Outside Hitter (2018–2019)

College

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  • 2014 NCAA Division I Championship  Champions, with Penn State
  • AVCA National Freshman of the Year (2014)
  • AVCA Second Team All-American (2014)
  • AVCA All-Northeast Region (2015, 2016, 2017)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Ali Frantti - Penn State Women's Volleyball". gopsusports.com. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "Penn State Signs Seven Recruits for 2014 (It's a Great Class!". dignittanyvolleyball.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  3. ^ "'It was completely a shock': Penn State women's volleyball's Ali Frantti on hitting the 1,000-kill milestone". collegian.psu.edu. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  4. ^ "Vbc, che poker: presentate Carlini, Frantti, De Bortoli e Scola". oglioponews.it/ (in Italian). Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  5. ^ "Twenty-five Named to U.S. Women's Roster for VNL". usavolleyball.org. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  6. ^ "Thompson, Parsons, Frantti lead USA past DR in Volleyball Nations League opener". volleyballmag.com. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  7. ^ "U.S. Women Change Starting Lineup, Beat Poland at VNL". usavolleyball.org. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  8. ^ "U.S. Women Turn to Their Bench to Defeat Thailand". usavolleyball.org. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  9. ^ "U.S. Women Roll to First Worlds Win". usavolleyball.org. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  10. ^ "U.S. Women 3-0 at Worlds after Beating Bulgaria U.S.Women's Team competing at the World Championship". usavolleyball.org. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  11. ^ "U.S. Women Sweep Canada, Improve to 2-0". usavolleyball.org. Retrieved October 2, 2022.