Olympic Games | Idolized American

Follow women's Rio Olympics indoor volleyball on Volleyblog Seattle.

National Team | Can Bangkok silver lead to Rio Gold?

USA drops World Grand Prix gold medal match to Brazil as USA prepares to name its Rio roster; four players—including Courtney Thompson—in the running for the final two roster spots

National Team | Do bad calls balance out? USA and China exchange video challenges

Playing at home, China wins the first of what could be a trio of World Grand Prix matchups

Two Washington Volleyball alums make Olympic push

Two former Washington Huskies--setter Courtney Thompson and libero Tama Miyashiro--will represent the USA in the second leg of the 2012 FIVB World Grand Prix Volleyball Tournament.

Courtney Thomspon

The Grand Prix is the final major event before the 2012 London Olympic Games. USA Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon will select the 12 players for the US Olympic roster at the conclusion of the Grand Prix.

The World Grand Prix features the world's top teams competing in three round-robin events. The USA played the first round in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and went undefeated, with victories against Germany, Chinese Taipei and Dominican Republic. Miyashiro saw limited time during the first round; Thompson was not on the roster.

Tama Miyashiro

Most observers believe Minnesota's Lindsey Berg has the inside track for one of the two Olympic setter positions. Thompson is likely competing with Penn State's Alisha Glass for the second setter spot. Berg and Glass set during the first round, with Berg getting most of the action. Thompson replaces Glass in the second round.

The second round, in Sao Paulo, features powerhouses Brazil, often-dangerous Italy and a repeat date with Germany. The third round is next week in Bangkok, where the US will face a strong Serbia team, plus Argentina and Thailand. If Thompson plays well in Sao Paolo, McCutcheon could pair her against Glass. He also has Nellie Spicer (UCLA) and Carli Lloyd (Cal) on the 25-athlete eligible roster.

The Grand Prix finals--featuring the top six teams from preliminary play--is June 27-July 1 in Ningbo, China.

LINKS:

• 2012 FIVB Grand Prix schedule and results
• USA Volleyball Round Two Roster (press release)

Pool E – Sao Paulo, Brazil
June 15: USA vs. Italy, 6:20 p.m. (2:20 p.m. PT)
June 15: Brazil vs. Germany, 8:20 p.m.
June 16: USA vs. Germany, 6:20 p.m. (2:20 p.m. PT)
June 16: Brazil vs. Italy, 8:20 p.m.
June 17: USA vs. Brazil, 1:20 p.m.
June 17: Germany vs. Italy, 3:20 p.m. (9:20 a.m.)

Pool J – Bangkok, Thailand
June 22: USA vs. Serbia, 1:50 p.m. (11:50 p.m. PT on June 21)
June 22: Thailand vs. Argentina, 4:20 p.m.
June 23: USA vs. Argentina, 1:50 p.m. (11:50 p.m. PT on June 22)
June 23: Serbia vs. Thailand, 4:20 p.m.
June 24: Argentina vs. Serbia, 1:50 p.m.
June 25: USA vs. Thailand, 4:20 p.m. (2 a.m. PT)

FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round
Ningbo, China – June 27 to July 1
Top five teams from preliminary round plus China


thanks to Dave Weitl for the spelling edit ...

Pac-12 weekend preview

They are, without doubt, the two highest-profile matches in the nation this week: Washington's visit to the Bay Area.

On paper, the UW/Cal match Friday night is the bigger deal. Last season, Cal swept the Huskies home and away, then eliminated them at Hec Ed Pavilion in the Elite 8. The Golden Bears eventually advanced to the national championship match, where they lost to Penn State.

The Bears still have the multi-talented and eminently-likable Tarah Murrey; they still have Kat Brown and Robin Rostratter. What they don't have is last season's national player of the year, now-graduated Carli Lloyd. Lloyd was not just a great setter, she drove Washington crazy with setter dumps and attacks. In two conference matches against UW, she had a combined 10 kills on 19 swings with no errors. It will be interesting to see if the Bears miss that weapon this season.

No team has defeated Jim McLaughlin-coached Washington teams as often as Stanford. Many of the losses have been by the smallest of margins; when these two teams play, serve and serve receive usually decides the match. This year, the Huskies are one of the national leaders (#5) in aces per set.

Washington Huskies huddle
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Only once have the Huskies swept both of these teams in the Bay Area: in 2005 when Washington won the national title. Can they do it again? While history suggests no, we're gonna guess yes, both in four sets.

Oregon's early success is quickly fading, and its matches in LA could either make it a contender or a pretender. Here's guessing the latter, in 0-3, 0-3 fashion.

Arizona will likely pick up two wins in the Rockies; ASU, Utah and Colorado will battle to avoid the very bottom of the standings. We'll say Utah beats ASU, and ASU beats the Buffaloes.

Pac-12 staggered start

#1 faces #2 tonight in Berkeley, as top-ranked Cal hosts rival Stanford.

For some in Pac-12, rivalry week comes early. For others, including Washington, it comes very late. What’s going on?

When the first-ever Pac-12 schedule was released in spring, every team was to face its rival first and last in conference play. But several schools objected, since it meant playing three Pac-12 matches in just five days, with half the teams facing travel during that span.

The league agreed to let Washington and WSU move their series to the end of the season, meeting in Seattle the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and in Pullman three days later. The Oregon and Arizona schools followed suit.

USC's Galen Center

UCLA and USC played the first-ever Pac-12 match last Friday; UCLA steamrolled to a 3-0 win. One bright note in an otherwise troubled USC early season: 5,385 fans filled Galen Center, a USC home record.

Cal is hoping for similar support when it hosts what is known as the “Big Spike” series. For most of the past decade, Cal/Stanford has taken a back seat to the UW/Stanford series, as that duo finished in the top two every season between 2004-09. Stanford leads the Cal series 62-10, including a winning streak that spanned twenty seasons. Since breaking that streak, however, the Bears have won 4 of the past six matches, including a season sweep last season. Cal graduated national Player of the Year setter Carli Lloyd, but returns powerful outside hitter Tarah Murrey. Stanford graduated All-American Alix Klineman, but junior Karissa Cook is a big-time setter.

And in Boulder, Colorado and Utah go at it in their first-ever Pac-12 “rivalry” contest.