Chiaka Ogbogu | |
Fullname: | Chiaka Sylvia Ogbogu |
Birth Date: | 15 April 1995 |
Birth Place: | Newark, New Jersey, United States |
Hometown: | Coppell, Texas, United States |
Nationality: | American |
Height: | 1.88abbr=onNaNabbr=on |
Weight: | 73kg (161lb) |
Spike: | 318abbr=onNaNabbr=on |
Block: | 307abbr=onNaNabbr=on |
Position: | Middle blocker |
Teamnumber: | 24 (national team) |
Currentclub: | LOVB Austin |
Nationalteam: | United States |
Medaltemplates-Title: | Medal record |
Medaltemplates-Expand: | yes |
Chiaka Sylvia Ogbogu (; born April 15, 1995)[1] is an American professional volleyball player. She plays for Turkish club VakıfBank S.K. and is a member of the United States women's volleyball team, winning multiple international competitions, including a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Ogbogu was born in 1995 in New Jersey to Igbo parents. Her family moved to Dallas shortly after she was born. She began playing volleyball in middle school.[2] She led Coppell High School to two straight volleyball Texas state championships in 2011 and 2012 and was a Gatorade Texas Player of the Year in 2012.[3]
Ogbogu attended University of Texas at Austin, where she was a four-time AVCA All-American and the 2017 Big 12 Player of the Year.[4] At the time of her graduation, Ogbogu held the university's record in career blocks.[5]
Ogbogu has been part of the United States national team since 2018, when she debuted at the 2018 Pan American Cup and won gold. In the finals against Dominican Republic, she scored seven of the team's 17 blocks and was the second highest scorer on the team with 21 points overall.[6] [7]
In 2019, Ogbogu earned gold at the Volleyball Nations League with the national team. Ogbogu and the team again won gold at the next edition of the games in 2021. That year, she was named to the 12-player Olympic roster that would compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The team won Team USA its first-ever Olympic gold medal.
At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Ogbogu was a starting middle blocker for all six of Team USA's matches. She earned silver with the team and was the only Team USA player named to the Paris Dream Team, earning the award for Best Middle Blocker.[8] She was the second-highest scoring blocker of the Paris games with 21 blocks, averaging 3.50 blocks per match. During a pool play match against Serbia, Ogbogu scored eight blocks, tying the Olympic record for most blocks in a match.[9]
Ogbogu began her professional career in playing in Italy for Il Bisonte Firenze in 2017.[10] She then joined the Polish club Chemik Police for the 2018–2019 season, before returning to Italy to play for Imoco Volley Conegliano for the 2019–2020 season.[11] She joined the Turkish club Eczacıbaşı Dynavit in 2020, then transferred to VakıfBank for the 2021–2022 season.[12] She remained with VakıfBank until 2024. In April 2024, American league League One Volleyball (LOVB) announced that Ogbogu would be a founding member of the league's Austin team for its inaugural season.[13]