Volleyball World
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A sports renaissance is happening this week, with two special events in Dallas-Fort Worth, and neither of them having anything to do with football.
On Thursday, Major League Cricket (MLC) kicks off its inaugural season at its new stadium in Grand Prairie with the Texas Super Kings facing off against the Los Angeles Knight Riders. The match will take place in front of a sold-out crowd, according to MLC officials, who announced on Monday that opening-day tickets are gone. Then, this weekend the final four teams in the women’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) will take to the courts for matches and a medal ceremony at College Park Center in Arlington.
MLC has been in the works for over a year, starting with renovation crews who turned the old Texas Airhogs baseball stadium in Grand Prairie into a professional cricket oval. The cricket stadium will become the launching ground for the new professional cricket league, along with a second stadium in Morrisville, North Carolina.
“We are thankful to the fans for their support and to the city of Grand Prairie for believing in this vision,” says MLC co-founder Sameer Mehta by email. “Tickets are selling fast for the rest of the matches in North Texas and North Carolina, with sellouts expected for further games. We know our teams will put on an amazing show of explosive T20 cricket for the fans.”
If you missed your chance to get tickets for MLC’s opening day, the Grand Prairie stadium will host 11 more matches in July, including matches against teams like the San Francisco Unicorns, the Washington Freedom and the Seattle Orcas. The Grand Prairie stadium will also host the league’s first championship match on July 30.
“Since we arrived in Texas, it’s been incredible to see the support for the Texas Super Kings,” says Texas team captain and former South African national cricket team captain Faf du Plessis. “We can’t wait to get out on the field at Grand Prairie Stadium and represent the Lone Star State in front of a full house.”
Major League Cricket announced its opening day on Thursday is already sold out at its new stadium in Grand Prairie.
HKS/Major League Cricket
This weekend, Arlington will host VNL’s finals. The four teams that compete in Arlington for the championship medals will be determined by two days of quarterfinal matches: Poland vs. Germany and U.S. vs. Japan on Wednesday, and Brazil vs. China and Turkey vs. Italy on Thursday.
Team U.S.A.’s roster includes several top players from our neck of the woods, like Asjia O’Neal, who grew up in Southlake and played volleyball for the University of Texas. There, she was named All-American and helped achieve the school’s fourth national championship in 2022. O’Neal finished UT’s finals in 2022 with nine kills and a 0.43 hitting percentage, according to Texassports.com.
Middle player Chiaka Ogbogu from Coppell is also on the U.S. roster. She competed for the University of Texas, where she broke the school’s record for career blocks in 2017 with 534. She also competed on the Olympic women’s volleyball team and took home a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, according to USAVolleyball.org.
As of Monday, the U.S. is one point away from first with 28 points, just behind Poland’s 29 points. The U.S. has already won three VNL titles but the players will have their work cut out for them since Poland has had a stellar 10-2 season and are looking to score their first championship win this weekend.
