Are you ready for some volleyball? A new women's pro league hopes the answer is yes

U.S. women's volleyball is second to none, sitting atop the world rankings. The game is thriving from the youth level up to the Olympics. But every year, the top U.S. women head to international leagues after college.

That's because the rest of the world has something the U.S. does not: dozens of women's pro volleyball leagues that are crucial for players to reach the highest level of their sport.

"We have 400 girls that have to go abroad if they want to continue in the world of volleyball," Katlyn Gao, the CEO of a new pro league called League One Volleyball, told NPR.

"And many of them don't really want to. They want to be closer to home, closer to the communities that they have been brought up in."

The players leave because for most of them, the international leagues are the only way they can hone their skills, earn a living and maybe prepare for a shot at the Olympics.