Olympic Games | USA wins the bronze

Despite ironies and questions, the Americans finish the Rio Olympics with a 7-1 record and the bronze medal

Olympic Games | No Gold: Serbia upsets USA in semis

Despite extraordinary Karsta Lowe-led comeback, serving errors doom USA; Foluke Akinradewo goes out with injury

Olympic Games | How USA can beat Serbia

The keys to USA getting to the gold medal match

Olympic Games | USA stays undefeated with 3-1 win over China

Jordan Larson leads the way

Olympic Games | Too close for comfort as USA tops Italy 3-1

Even as USA struggles, it captures top Pool B seed behind Karsta Lowe's inspired performance

Olympic Games | USA qualifies for medal round with resounding win over Serbia

Middles play big thanks to great serving and passing

Olympic Games | USA roars back to beat Netherlands

Americans overcome horrible serving to stay undefeated

Olympic Games | USA wins Olympic opener

Americans overcome unforced errors to defeat Puerto Rico

Olympic Games | Which USA Olympians had the most collegiate success?

Two-time Olympians Akinradewo and Thompson telegraphed their later success

Court & Spark now available on Amazon and iTunes

Courtney Thompson (3) sets Foluke Akinradewo during a 2014 World Championships victory over Russia
-photo courtesy FIVB

Is there a correlation between success in college volleyball and future Olympic glory?

We took a look at collegiate national honors for all 12 members of USA’s Rio Olympics women’s volleyball roster. We tallied four categories: The Honda Sports Player of the Year (awarded to the nation’s best volleyball player across all collegiate divisions and organizations), the AVCA Player of the Year (for NCAA Division 1, where all the Olympians played), AVCA First-Team All-Americans and NCAA D1 National Championships. What did we find?

• Two players—Stanford’s Foluke Akinradewo and Washington’s Courtney Thompson—took home more collegiate awards than any other current Olympians. Both were Honda Players of the Year, both were 3-time AVCA First Team All-Americans. Akinradewo was the AVCA Player of the Year, but never won an NCAA championship. Thompson’s Huskies won the 2005 title.
• On the other extreme, Kayla Banwarth never won any of these four honors while at Nebraska. Liberos are crucial to the modern game, but still don’t get much respect.
• Megan (Hodge) Easy of Penn State was easily the most honored player of her generation: 2009 Honda Player of the Year, 2009 AVCA Player of the Year, four time First Team AVCA All-American (2006-09) and three time NCAA Champion (2007-2009). Hodge was a member of the 2012 London Olympic roster, but battled injuries late in the Rio quad and was not selected for 2016.
• Nicole Fawcett, also of Penn State, was just a hair behind Easy in national collegiate awards. She was the 2008 Honda and AVCA Player of the Year, a three time First Team AVCA All-American (2006-08) and two time NCAA Champion (2007-2008). Fawcett, an opposite, has been a key member of the National Team for the past two quads. She just missed making either the London or Rio rosters.
• When it’s time to look forward to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the players with the most national collegiate honors of the next generation of National Team members are Washington’s Krista Vansant, Penn State’s Micha Hancock, Wisconsin’s Lauren Carlini and USC’s Natalie Hagglund.
• So who were the other recent Players of the Year not on the Olympic roster?
  2005: Christiana Houghtelling, Nebraska (AVCA)
  2006: Sarah Pavan, Nebraska (AVCA & Honda) [Pavan is Canadian]
  2010: Blair Brown, Penn State (Honda)
  2011: Alex Jupiter, USC (AVCA & Honda) [Jupiter is French]
  2012: Alaina Bergsma, Oregon (AVCA & Honda)
  2013: Krista Vansant, Washington (AVCA & Honda)
  2014: Krista Vansant, Washington (Honda) & Micha Hancock, Penn St (AVCA)

• Who is the most honored collegian of all time? Stanford’s Logan Tom, a four-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) was Honda POY and AVCA POY in both 2001 and 2002, and a four-time First Team All-American (1999-2002). Stanford won the NCAA title in 2001, and was runner-up in 1999 and 2002.

COURT AND SPARK NOW AVAILABLE IN NEW FORMATS

We’re happy to report that Court & Spark, the one-hour documentary Courtney Thompson, and featuring many of her teammates and coaches, is now available for rent or purchase on both iTunes and Amazon. All proceeds go to Puget Sound Region of USA Volleyball, a nonprofit umbrella for female and male youth, adult, indoor, sand and sitting volleyball. A great gift idea for players who have just completed summer volleyball camp!
starring

National Team | USA overcomes big Russian hitter to go 3-0 in Grand Prix Finals

Courtney Thompson: “We had no doubt”

• USA def. Russia 3-1 (26-24, 19-25, 25-16, 25-22) [World Grand Prix Finals third round-robin]

It was the second set, and Nataliya Goncharova was on fire. Russia’s 6-4 opposite was on her way to a match-high 25 kills on 51 swings, and had her team up 16-10. That’s when USA setter Courtney Thompson and opposite Kelly Murphy entered on the double-substitution.

USA setter Courtney Thompson celebrates a point in a 3-1 World Grand Prix Finals win over Russia
-FIVB

“We could be down by ten, and we’re optimistic that something good is about to happen,” said Thompson. “We had no doubt, and we love those opportunities to make big plays.”

With Thompson dishing across the line, the Americans closed to 20-17 before she and Murphy rotated out. From there, Goncharova again took over, landing 3 more kills to tie the sets at 1-1.

In the USA huddle, USA head coach Karch Kiraly made some adjustments. “We changed our blocking scheme a little to try and slow #8 (Goncharova) down,” said Kiraly. “That’s a tough thing to do. She’s a handful.”

Sure enough, Goncharova began to fade, helped in part by improved USA serving and passing. “We just made little plays,” said Thompson. “We got on ‘em serving, we got on a few runs and we were able to terminate a few balls in transition.”

USA players celebrate a point in a 3-1 World Grand Prix Finals win over Russia
-FIVB

In the fourth set, Russia built a 22-20 lead. Middle blocker Tori Dixon’s quick kill sent her to the line, where she served the final four points of the set, including a match-clinching service ace. That brought the USA record to 3-0 in the round-robin World Grand Prix Final, with Brazil (2-1) and China (1-2) still on the schedule.

The Russians are a tall and young team. Ultimately, it was USA’s quick tempo that made the difference. Except for the second set, sharp passing allowed setters Molly Kreklow and Thompson to go time and again to Karsta Lowe and to the middles. Foluke Akinradewo finished with 13 kills on 24 attacks; Dixon added 8 kills on 18 swings. Once again, Lowe was USA’s scoring leader, tallying 19 kills on 38 attempts and adding 3 blocks.

USA players celebrate a point in a 3-1 World Grand Prix Finals win over Russia; Tori Dixon in center
-FIVB

Saturday features a rare USA/Brazil doubleheader. In Omaha, the two teams square off in the fourth round-robin match of the World Grand Prix Finals. Later in the evening, their split squads—including Krista Vansant and Jenna Hagglund—play for the gold in the Pan Am Games in Toronto.

National Team | USA drops 5-set thriller to China in final World Grand Prix prelim

Courtney Thompson leads team to brink of an upset on China’s home court

• China def. USA 3-2 (22-25, 25-13, 25-22, 19-25, 15-12)

 

USA's Courtney Thompson sets against China during a World Grand Prix pool match in Hong Kong
-FIVB

It was the fifth set, USA led China 5-4. During the run of play, a China first-touch overpass broke the plane of the net, where USA middle Christa Dietzen roofed it back for an apparent point. But the referee called blocking interference, and gave the point to China. Replays showed the ball was clearly on the USA side, but coach Karch Kiraly did not call for a replay.

With Molly Kreklow rotating in for fifth-set starting setter Courtney Thompson, USA dropped the next four points, to trail 9-5. More than once, outside hitter Kelsey Robinson delivered offspeed attacks instead of hard hits. In each case, the Chinese answered with punishing kills.

Foluke Akinradewo (16), Courtney Thompson (3) and Kelly Murphy (12)
-FIVB

Robinson, who is among a group of 5 or 6 outside hitters with an eye on the roster for the Rio Olympics next summer, had 13 kills for the match. That was the most of any USA player … but not much for a five-set match. Middle Foluke Akinradewo finished with 12 kills; outside hitter Jordan Larson-Burbach and opposite Karsta Lowe each tallied 10.

China was the home team in Hong Kong, and cheers in the packed arena were led by the public address announcer. In that din, strong serving by Kim Hill brought the fifth set score to 11-9 China, but a Hill service error and a Robinson passing error put the score out of reach, sending the set and match to China.

Thompson, the former Washington All-American rotated in the first three sets, and started the final two. She effectively ran a quick tempo offense, and made several stellar defensive plays, including a monster dig early in the fifth set.

China (9-0 in pool play) and USA (8-1) are among six teams to qualify for next week’s World Grand Prix Finals in Omaha. USA will face Russia in the first match next week. Brazil and Italy have also qualified. The sixth team will be either Japan, Serbia or Germany.

National Team | USA Women’s Volleyball Road to Rio [Part 3]

Which players are in the running for the 12 USA women’s volleyball roster spots for the 2016 Olympic Games? Today: middle blockers

USA middle blocker Christa Dietzen

With decision time for the 2016 Rio Olympic roster roughly a year away, we’re running through the probable Rio roster candidates, and suggesting what each has to do to make the final cut.

Be sure to see our first two entries, Road to Rio (Part 1) and Road to Rio (Part 2), for a discussion of the decision process and a rundown of setters, opposites, outside hitters and liberos. Today’s post will focus on middles, maybe the deepest position in the USA gym.

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MIDDLE BLOCKERS

2012 London Olympics

• Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, FL, Stanford University)
• Christa (Harmotto) Dietzen (Hopewell, PA, Penn State University
• Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, Long Beach State)

2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic candidates

• Akinradewo
• Dietzen
• Tori Dixon (Burnsville, MN, University of Minnesota)
• Lauren Gibbemeyer (St Paul, MN, University of Minnesota)
• Lauren Paolini (Ann Arbor, University of Texas)
• Cursty Jackson (Los Angeles, University of Arizona)
• Rachael Adams (Cincinnati, University of Texas)

Top to bottom, middles may be the strongest position on USA’s roster. Only three will go to Rio, and the battle for the third spot should be something to watch.

Foluke Akinradewo is the complete package: smart, great teammate, tall, quick, strong. Like all middles, her offense depends almost entirely on how well her teammates pass and dig: if her setter has few options, middle is usually not one of them. When she gets a good quick set, boom, it’s over. Like all middles, she can always up her serving game. Alinradewo was the second-best blocker (all countries) at the London Olympics, and has a clear path to the Rio roster.

Christa (Harmotto) Dietzen was also a London starter. She, too, is strong and smart, and is one of the team’s leaders, including captain of the gold medal 2014 World Championship team. She did not play professionally last winter as she recovered from a nagging knee injury. She is, however, on the roster for the final two World Grand Prix rounds, and we can measure her comeback by her performance in the grueling World Cup this August/September in Japan, where the top teams earn the first Olympic qualifying spots.

USA middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo

Tori Dixon and Lauren Gibbemeyer are both former Minnesota middles. This summer, they seem to be going head-to-head for one of the three middle slots in Rio. Dixon packs a wallop, and often muscles jousts to her advantage. Gibbemeyer is high-energy, converting quick sets with a whip arm and leading cheers after every point. Both are solid servers, so it might come down to intangibles. How would each fit the chemistry of the Rio team? Which one best handles defense after the serve? This battle could come down to the wire.

Lauren Paolini and Cursty Jackson are getting long looks this summer. Both are talented, but a trip to Rio could depend on whether there are injuries up the depth chart. Rachael Adams got lots of playing time last summer, but seems stuck among a wealth of talent. Any of these three might be in the mix for 2020.

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see also: Road to Rio(Part 1) (setters and opposites)

see also: Road to Rio(Part 2) (outsides and liberos)

National Team | USA now 7-0 in volleyball World Grand Prix with close win over Japan

Olympic vets Dietzen and Akinradewo make impact on return

• USA def. Japan 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 26-24)

USA libero Tama Miyashiro (center) leads a cheer during a 3-0 World Grand Prix win over Japan in Hong Kong
-FIVB

USA, welcoming four veteran players for the World Grand Prix third round in Hong Kong, rallied to sweep highly-ranked Japan, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 26-24). USA—now 7-0 in pool play and ranked #1 in the world—will face Thailand Friday morning (3:30AM Pacific Time). Japan, ranked fourth in world, is now 3-4 in pool play, but is still in contention to be among the six teams to qualify for the Finals next week in Omaha.

USA Middle blocker Christa (Harmotto) Dietzen, playing her first major tournament match of the summer, recorded 8 kills and 3 blocks. Her fellow middle Foluke Akinradewo—also playing her first match of the current World Grand Prix—had 8 kills and one block. Two other third round additions were also in the starting lineup: opposite Kelly Murphy contributed 10 kills and a block, while outside hitter Jordan Larson-Burbach had 3 kills and 2 blocks.

USA middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo (16) exchanges high-fives with setter Molly Kreklow
-FIVB

USA’s biggest numbers came from outside hitter Kim Hill. She had 9 kills and a jaw-dropping 6 service aces against one of the best defensive teams in the world. 4 of those aces came during a crucial third set comeback. Libero Kayla Banwarth had another good match, contributing 9 digs.

Molly Kreklow and Courtney Thompson once again shared setting duties, with Thompson entering each set as part of a double-substitution with Karsta Lowe.

USA, China and Brazil are all 7-0 in pool play, and all have qualified for next week’s Finals. Contenders for the final three spots include Italy, Russia, Japan, Thailand and Germany

See also: USA Women’s Volleyball Road to Rio

National Team | Washington Alums named to US National Team Rosters

Courtney Thompson and Tama Miyashiro named to final two rounds of World Grand Prix; Krista Vansant and Jenna Hagglund on Pan Am Games squad

• July 16: USA vs. Japan, 3:30 a.m. PT
• July 17: USA vs. Thailand, 3:30 a.m. PT
• July 18: USA vs. China, 4:30 a.m. PT

Team captain Courtney Thompson (3) will remain on the USA roster for the final two rounds of the 2015 World Grand Prix
-FIVB

Two former Washington All-Americans—Olympians Courtney Thompson and Tama Miyashiro—will remain on the US National Team roster for this weekend’s World Grand Prix third round in Hong Kong, and for the Finals the following week in Omaha, Nebraska.

Thompson, the team captain, played in all six matches of the first two rounds, helping lead USA to a 6-0 record. Miyashiro, one of two liberos on the roster, played during the July 11 win over Turkey.

USA Head Coach Karch Kiraly made four changes to the roster for the final two rounds of the 2015 World Grand Prix
-FIVB

Head coach Karch Kiraly can choose 14 players from a roster of 25 for each round. Four changes were announced for the final two rounds:

• OH Jordan Larson-Burbach (Nebraska) replaces Krista Vansant (Washington)
• MB Christa Dietzen (Penn State) replaces Cursty Jackson (Arizona)
• MB Foluke Akinradewo (Stanford) replaces Lauren Paolini (Texas)
• OPP Kelly Murphy (Florida) replaces Nicole Fawcett (Penn State)

Vansant, Jackson, Paolini and Fawcett are on the roster for the Pan Am Games, now underway in Toronto. Former Washington All-American setter Jenna Hagglund is also on the US Team for Pan Am. Both Vansant and Hagglund played major roles for the US in the earlier similarly-named Pan Am Cup; Vansant was MVP of that tournament, hosted by Peru and won by USA.

2015 U.S. Women’s National Team Roster for FIVB World Grand Prix Weeks 3 & 4

2	Kayla Banwarth	L	5-10	Dubuque, Iowa	University of Nebraska
3	Courtney Thompson	S	5-8	Kent, Wash.	University of Washington
5	Tama Miyashiro	L	5-7	Kaneohe, Hawaii	University of Washington
8	Lauren Gibbemeyer	MB	6-2	St. Paul, Minn.	University of Minnesota
10	Jordan Larson-Burbach	OH	6-2	Hooper, Neb.	University of Nebraska
11	Megan Easy	OH	6-3	Durham, N.C.	Penn State University
12	Kelly Murphy	OPP	6-2	Wilmington, Ill.	University of Florida
13	Christa Dietzen	MB	6-2	Hopewell Twn, Penn.	Penn State University
15	Kim Hill	OH	6-4	Portland, Ore.	Pepperdine University
16	Foluke Akinradewo	MB	6-3	Plantation, Fla.	Stanford University
18	Molly Kreklow	S	6-0	Delano, Minn.	University of Missouri
21	Tori Dixon	MB	6-3	Burnsville, Minn.	University of Minnesota
23	Kelsey Robinson	OH	6-2	Bartlett, Ill.	University of Nebraska
25	Karsta Lowe	OPP	6-4	Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.	UCLA

NOTES

• Although all three World Grand Prix matches in Hong Kong are in the middle of the night, Pacific Time, they should be available for online replay at universalsports.com/Olympics.

• Among those on the 25-player preliminary World Grand Prix roster who were not named to any of the 14-player competition rosters are setter Alicia Glass, libero Nicole Davis, outside hitter Cassidy Lichtman, outside hitter Kristin Hildebrand, opposite hitter Alix Klineman, outside hitter Michelle Bartsch and middle blocker Rachael Adams. Adams, Bartsch, Hildebrand and Lichtman are on the Pan Am roster. Carli Lloyd and Jenna Hagglund are the two setters; Natalie Hagglund is the libero.

National Team | Courtney Thompson lands “dream” volleyball job; Vansant headed to Switzerland

Thompson signs with Rio’s Rexona-Ades; Vansant joins Akinradewo with Zurich’s Valero

National Team | Courtney Thompson comes up big in USA’s thrilling volleyball win over Russia

Washington Hall of Famer sparks two crucial runs in World Championships showdown

• USA def. Russia 3-1 (25-19, 25-223, 15-25, 25-23)

National Team | Courtney Thompson shines but USA misses Grand Prix volleyball finals

Team USA misses qualifying for championship round for the first time in five years

National Team | Courtney Thompson named to USA roster for big Brazil series

• Rematch of the 2012 Olympic Finals set for this weekend and next week

UPDATE: Visit usavolleyballcup.com for live stream of Match 1 (7PM July 5) and Match 2 (5PM July 6)

Olympians Courtney Thompson (L) and Nicole Davis will be on the roster
for all four matches against Brazil 

Olympics | Lessons learned from volleyball's gold medal match

Brazil 3, USA 1 (11-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-17)

After shock and a bit of sadness, fans of USA volleyball will want to evaluate just how sure-fire gold slipped from the team’s fingers. Here, then, are some early talking points:

IT ALWAYS COMES DOWN TO SERVING AND PASSING

Brazilian ball falls between Nicole Davis and Lindsey Berg
-Getty

In every volleyball match, at every level, winning teams have to serve tough and pass well. Many of USA’s 9 service errors came at inopportune momentum-killing times, especially the 4 by Logan Tom. But USA’s serve-receive was the real story: libero Nicole Davis was simply not up to the task, and USA coach Hugh McCutcheon made a huge mistake sticking with poor-passing Megan Hodge too long. Far too often, USA was operating out-of-system and Brazil was in-system. At this level, that essentially spells defeat.

LINDSEY BERG’S WEAKNESSES WERE EXPOSED

Olympics | Gold Medal Match: How USA beat Brazil 12 days ago

Gold Medal match: USA (7-0) vs. Brazil (5-2)
Saturday, August 11 | 10:30am (Pacific)

Only July 30, USA met Brazil in the second match of Olympic pool play. Coming in, USA had looked erratic in a hard-fought 3-1 victory against South Korea. Brazil had struggled to a 3-2 win against Turkey.

USA’s 3-1 win against Brazil that night was hardly easy (25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21). But a careful review of that contest may shed light on what to expect during Saturday’s gold medal rematch:

USA STEPPED UP ITS PASSING

Logan Tom passes as Nicole Davis looks on during
USA's July 30 win against Brazil
-Getty

After a shaky pool play performance against South Korea, libero Nicole Davis greatly improved her serve-receive game against Brazil. It helped that the Brazilians had a terrible serving night; when they weren’t making service errors (15 for the match), they were delivering easy serves. By comparison, USA served tough, particularly Jordan Larson and Logan Tom.

LOGAN TOM WAS ON FIRE