Herrera Selected for Argentina Olympic Team

AMES, Iowa – A dream has been fulfilled for Iowa State senior Candelaria Herrera, as she has been chosen for the Argentina Women's Volleyball National Team which will be playing at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, beginning next month, the Argentina Volleyball Federation (FeVA) announced Saturday morning.

Herrera, from San Juan, Argentina, is the first Cyclone volleyball student-athlete, past or present, to be chosen to represent her home nation in the Olympic Games.

Named to the 2021 All-Big 12 Preseason Team last week, Herrera recorded 132 kills at a rate of 2.36 per set with a .271 hitting percentage, second-best on the Cyclones during the 2020 season. She started all 56 sets across 14 matches in the fall, and then remained in Argentina during the six-match spring season, training with the Argentina Women's National Team. The senior posted a season-high 20 kills at a .375 clip against Kansas on Nov. 13. She also led Iowa State with 62 total blocks on the season (six solo, 56 assists). Herrera ended the 2020-21 campaign as an AVCA All-Midwest Region Honorable Mention selection.

For "Las Panteras", Herrera has played for her home country's Senior National Team 18 times, helping lead Argentina to the bronze medal at the 2019 Pan-American Games, the first time Argentina had medaled in women's volleyball at the event. She has also been part of the Argentina squad at the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League Challenger Cup, the 2019 NORCECA Pan-American Cup, the FIVB Tokyo Qualification 2019 and the South American Volleyball (CSV) Women's Tokyo Volleyball Qualification Tournament.

Herrera and Argentina have five guaranteed matches in Tokyo, starting out pool play on July 24 at 9:05 p.m. Central against the United States. Argentina will follow that up with matches against Russia (July 26, 7 p.m. Central), Italy (July 28, 7 p.m.), Turkey (July 31, 12:20 a.m.) and China (Aug. 2, 2:25 a.m.). Las Panteras need to be in the top-4 after pool play to advance to the knockout porition of the tournament.

Players Mentioned

Candelaria Herrera

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics