OMAHA, Neb. — Sydney Hilley faced an uncomfortable reality when her college volleyball career ended in December 2021. A four-time All-American, she directed Wisconsin to its first national championship, winning a marathon match against rival Nebraska.
At the collegiate pinnacle of her sport, Hilley desired to keep playing, even while she juggled work in medical diagnostics as a manufacturing scientist — the product of an undergraduate degree in genetics and genomics and a master’s in biotechnology.
An opportunity arose in Turkey with one of the top teams in the world. Hilley tried it. She played last year in Puerto Rico but longed to live near her family and friends with access to her work.
Her story is common among top American volleyball players.
“A lot of us have experienced the overseas professional game,” Hilley said. “And a lot of us have decided that’s not the life we want to live.”
Wednesday night in Omaha brought the long-awaited launch of the Pro Volleyball Federation, a seven-team league with plans to compete against the WNBA and NWSL for viewership and the fandom of an American public that’s increasingly in tune with women’s sports.
It fulfills a dream to play professionally in the United States for many of the 130-plus players under…
