Lee Volker and Skylar Forbes traded in the Marquette jersey this summer for Team USA and Team Canada to compete on international stages.
The graduate guard Volker represented Team USA in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, where she competed at the 2025 FISU World University Games.
Over the course of three days at the end of July, Team USA defeated South Africa 21-10, Poland 14-11 and France 21-6 to make it to the semi-finals where they lost to the People’s Republic of China 21-16.
But the squad defeated Czechia 13-10 to bring home the bronze medal.
“One of the most fun things I’ve ever done [was] to get to go over there and play basketball against great players,” Volker said.
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Junior forward Forbes represented her home country, Canada, for the 2025 FIBA 3×3 women’s series pro-circuit in Vienna, Austria.
From June 12-14, Team Canada won against Ireland 16-10 and lost to Rome 12-17.
“It was definitely new, but it was a great learning experience for me,” Forbes said. “Being able to transfer that next play mentality to five on five, it’s been great for me to have that mindset.”
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3×3 functions differently from the typical 5×5: only one half of the court is used, and both teams score on one hoop. Games conclude when a team reaches 21 points, or after 10 minutes if 21 is not reached.
There are also no coaches, which forces players to practice self-resiliency.
“You’re competing at a really high level, and you have to do all the self-coaching,” head coach Cara Consuegra said. “I think that was great for both of them in terms of leadership.”
Volker got off a plane in Cincinnati and practiced for three days with strangers who became her teammates: Jackie Grisdale from Quinnipiac University, pro-player for Astro Ladies Bochum, Cecelia Collins and Pas Giannina WBCC pro Talya Brugler.
Shortly after she was overseas, scoring for the stars and stripes and trying some streusel, she also enjoyed figuring out different ways of scoring and ways to be aggressive.
During her time across the pond, Forbes experimented with using her voice as a leader, a quality she is trying to implement into her game this season.
“Being able to be like: maybe we should try this, maybe we should try that,” Forbes said. “Also staying in the moment, that’s something I’ve been working on as well.”
Volker and Forbes took off-season conditioning to new levels this summer, but back at the Al McGuire Center, it’s back to 5×5, a full court, and a coaching staff. But the lessons learned in Austria and Germany will linger for the upcoming season.
This article was written by Sofie Hanrahan. She can be reached at [email protected] or on X @SofieHanrahanMU.
