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

Professional | American volleyball stars advance in Champions League

Courtney Thompson leads Zurich to showdown against Cannes; Becky Perry’s UYBA club faces Baku

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

Olympics | Playing for gold: USA defeats South Korea

USA 3, South Korea 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22)

Gold Medal Match: USA vs. Brazil, Saturday, August 11, 10:30am

On a day when its passing and setting were less than stellar, USA found a way to outlast South Korea in straight sets to reach Saturday’s Olympic gold medal match.

Destinee Hooker celebrates during USA's 3-0 semifinal victory over South Korea
-Associated Press

Destinee Hooker was again the star. She had 21 kills and just 1 error on 33 attempts. Her incredible .606 average marked the sixth straight match she has improved her efficiency.

Olympics | How USA and Dominican Republic match up

2012 London Olympic Quarterfinals

USA (5-0) vs. Dominican Republic (2-3)

Tuesday, August 6, 2012, 11:00am (Pacific Time)

Pool Play

USA: 5-0 in Pool B [beat South Korea (3-1), Brazil (3-1), China (3-1), Serbia (3-0), Turkey (3-0)]

Dominican Republic: 2-3 in Pool A [lost to Italy (1-3), Russia (1-3), Japan (0-3); beat Great Britain (3-0), Algeria (3-0)

World Ranking (as of July 4)

USA: #1

Dominican Republic: #11

Foluke Akinradewo attacks against South Korea
-Getty

Keys:

USA’s setters

Starting setter Lindsey Berg left Sunday’s Turkey match with an apparent right ankle injury. After the match, head coach Hugh McCutcheon said she had not torn anything, and Berg said she hoped to play against Dominican Republic. Sources tell us Berg had an MRI on Monday—standard practice, we assume—but no word on results. Berg, who says her knees hurt “all the time,” announced a couple weeks ago that she will retire after these Olympics.

Berg has forged a strong setter/hitter connection with Destinee Hooker, USA’s most consistent and devastating weapon. Berg’s distribution to her outside hitters has remained fairly constant, but she seems less confident setting her middles. Her serving is adequate, and her defense (perhaps because of her knees) can be uninspired. But because she gets the ball to Hooker—right side, left side and back row—the team wins.

When backup setter Courtney Thompson enters matches, Hooker comes out, so Thompson usually works without USA’s best player. Thompson does a great job setting her middles, though, and tends to disguise her sets until the very last moment, often leaving opposing blockers flat-footer. Her serving, usually a plus, has been so-so during the Olympics. But her defense is outstanding, and anytime she plays an entire set, her leadership shines. Both Berg and Thompson are 5-8, so their blocking is a wash. Frankly, if Berg can’t go, the USA will be a slightly different team, but just as good a team.

Dominican Republic’s defense

Libero Brenda Castillo is one of the world’s best defenders, and leads all Olympic setters in digging and serve receiving. USA must have the confidence and patience to serve short or to the deep corners … anywhere except right at Castillo. Great teams also find ways to attack line and set quicks; both strategies usually take liberos out of the play.

Consistent hitting

Dominican Republic has three big experienced hitters (see below,) but each has struggled at times during these Olympics. The middles see very few sets, so USA’s usually overpowering block advantage can make the difference. For USA, Hooker has been great throughout; Logan Tom and Foluke Akinradewo get better each match. McCutcheon will likely keep Jordan Larson in the match as long as she is producing, but he’s been willing to insert Megan Hodge if Larson falters.

	vs. Italy (L 1-3)	vs. Russia (L 1-3)	vs. Japan (L 0-3)	vs. Britain (W 3-0)	vs. Algeria (W 3-0)	total Pool A
Bethania de la Cruz de Pena (6-2 OH)	13/7/45 (.133)	21/6/54 (.277)	15/7/44 (.182)	9/1/12 (.667)	0/0/1 (.000)	58/21/156 (.237)
Milagros Cabral de la Cruz (5-11 OH)	17/7/37 (.270)	16/7/39 (.230)	4/3/15 (.077)	7/5/19 (.105)	11/2/22 (.409)	55/24/132 (.235)
Prisilla Rivera Brens (6-1 OPP)	2/0/5 (.400)	4/4/18 (.000)	14/5/34 (.265)	10/1/20 (.450)	17/0/25 (.680)	47/10/102 (.363)

Prediction

This looks like a 3-0 USA sweep.

I’ll also guess Italy 3-2 over South Korea and China 3-1 over Japan

In the biggest match of the quarterfinals, I think Russia will prevail over defending gold medalist Brazil. It should be 3-1, but a five-set thriller wouldn’t surprise me.

Olympics | USA defeats Serbia, secures top medal round seed

Final score: USA 3, Serbia 0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-16)

Next match: Sunday, 12noon (Pacific) vs. Turkey (2-2)

This could be Logan Tom’s last Olympics.

If so, the 31-year-old Stanford grad seems determined to make it memorable.

Logan Tom (right) snaps a kill past Serbia's block attempt
-Reuters

Tom finished with 10 kills and just 2 errors on 18 swings (.444) as USA (4-0) defeated Serbia (0-4) in three sets. With the win, USA clinches the top Pool B seed in next week’s quarterfinals.

This is Tom’s fourth Olympics, and she did not take London by storm. In the first match, a 3-1 victory over South Korea, Tom hit a miserable .088, with just 8 kills and 5 errors on 34 swings. But in a 3-1 win against Brazil, she had just one error with 12 kills and hit a sensational .407.

Against China—a 3-0 victory—Tom saw 19 attack attempts, and converted just 5 kills (.210). But as her performance today against Serbia showed, the team is better when she's on her game.

Tom is USA’s most consistent server, and is usually the opponent’s serving target. She had just one serve-receive error against Brazil (out of 23 attempts), and had no errors against the Serbians. Her game face seems famously locked in a scowl, but when she’s in her zone, she plays defense with the intensity of a libero.

For the match, USA outgunned Serbia .353 to .147. In large part, Serbia’s weak serve allowed USA to stay in system, so it ran its offense with minimal effort. USA totaled just 87 attack attempts—by far its lowest match total of these Olympics.

As usual, USA setter Lindsey Berg gave most attack opportunities to Destinee Hooker, who responded with 12 kills and 2 errors on 21 attempts (.476)—half her average of 42 attempts for the first three matches. Tom and Foluke Akinradewo (6 kills, .286) were the beneficiaries of Berg's wider distribution.

Destinee Hooker and Foluke Akinradewo
-AP

Hooker’s defense was way off the mark; she had six digging errors, an area of some concern entering the Olympics.

Megan Hodge came off her stellar China performance with a thud—1 kill, 2 errors on 7 attempts (-.142) She split time with usual starter Jordan Larson, who contributed what she could (5 kills, .333).

All 12 roster players saw playing time, with Danielle Scott-Arruda and Christa Harmotto sharing time, and Courtney Thompson and Tama Miyashiro making spot appearances. Thompson was the setter for the final six serves of the first set. Neither Thompson nor starting setter Berg distinguished themselves during the end of a somewhat lackluster second set.

USA will be the top seed from Pool B when medal round play begins next week. Its likely first opponent will be Dominican Republic (1-3).

First, however, USA must face Turkey on Sunday. Turkey is one of four Pool B teams with 2-2 records, and will likely need to win at least two sets against USA to advance.

---

With an 0-3 loss today to Dominican Republic, host Britain's hopes to advance to the medal round all but evaporated. Former Washington player Janine Sandell had six kills for Britain, which was outhit .395 to .068 as a team for the match. The British can still advance if it beats Japan (2-2) and Algeria (0-4) manages to defeat Dominican Republic.

---

[Note: teams are awarded three points for a 3-0 or 3-1 victory; 2 points for a 3-2 victory; 1 point for a 2-3 loss; and no points for a 1-3 or 0-3 loss. The top four team in each pool advances to the medal round quarterfinals, with the #1 seed in each pool facing the #4 seed in the other pool and the #2 seeds squaring off against the opposite pools #3.]

Pool A

		WINS	LOSSES	POINTS
1	Russia	Gr. Britain (3-0) Dom. Rep. (3-1) Algeria (3-0) Japan (3-1)		12
2	Italy	Dom. Rep. (3-1) Japan (3-1) Gr. Britain (3-0) Algeria (3-0)		12
3	Japan	Algeria (3-0) Dom. Rep. (3-0)	Italy (1-3) Russia (1-3)	6
4	Dominican Republic	Gr. Britain (3-0)	Italy (1-3) Russia (1-3) Japan (0-3)	3
5	Great Britain	Algeria (3-2)	Russia (0-3) Italy (0-3) Dom. Rep. (0-3)	2
6	Algeria		Japan (0-3) Gr. Britain (2-3) Russia (0-3) Italy (0-3)	1

Sunday's schedule: Russia vs. Italy, Japan vs. Great Britain, Dominican Republic vs. Algeria

Pool B

		WINS	LOSSES	POINTS
1	USA	Korea (3-1) Brazil (3-1) China (3-1) Serbia (3-0)		12
2	South Korea	Serbia (3-1) Brazil (3-0)	USA (1-3) Turkey (2-3)	7
3	China	Serbia (3-1) Turkey (3-1)	USA (0-3) Brazil (2-3)	7
4	Turkey	Serbia (3-0) Korea (3-2)	Brazil (2-3) China (1-3)	6
5	Brazil	Turkey (3-2) China (3-2)	USA (1-3) Korea (0-3)	4
6	Serbia		China (1-3) Korea (1-3) Turkey (0-3) USA (0-3)	0

 Sunday's schedule: USA vs. Turkey, South Korea vs. China, Brazil vs. Serbia

Olympics | How was USA able to dominate volleyball powerhouse China?

Final score: USA 3, China 0 (26-24, 25-16, 31-29)

One is the youngest member of the team. The other is the oldest.

Until today, neither Megan Hodge, 24, nor Danielle Scott-Arruda, 39, had seen action in the 2012 Olympic Games.

China's Ruoqi Hui misses a block attempt in a 3-0
loss to USA
-Associated Press

But in a pair of jaw-dropping performances, both Hodge and Scott-Arruda came up huge in USA’s stirring 3-0 Olympic conquest of volleyball power China.

In the first set, the Americans came out of a timeout trailing 20-23. Destinee Hooker, who would finish with 17 kills and 7 errors on 40 attempts (.250), connected for a left-side kill. Unexpectedly, USA head coach Hugh McCutcheon substituted Hodge for starting outside hitter Jordan Larson, who had tallied just 2 kills and 2 errors on 7 swings. It would prove a brilliant move.

With Logan Tom serving bullets, Hodge bounced an attack off the head of her Chinese opponent. It was the first of what would eventually be 18 kills and just 4 errors on 27 attempts (.518).

Foluke Akinradewo and Hodge teamed for a block to tie the score at 23. Hooker had a right side kill to get to set point. After a China kill (on a questionable set), setter Lindsey Berg went back to Hodge for her second kill. USA prevailed 26-24 on a Chinese out-of-bounds attack.

“She (Hodge) is very composed in the big moments,” said McCutcheon after the match. “She always feels comfortable when the match or the set is on the line.”

USA's Megan Hodge tips over Junjing Yan's
block attempt
-Getty Images

Keeping Hodge in the match was a risk for McCutcheon. Despite her power, Hodge has struggled with serve receive. In the second set, she was aced when the score was 0-1, had a bad reception at 2-4, and was blocked on a back row attack at 7-9. By the time USA called timeout trailing 7-11, Hodge had just one kill the entire second set.

But after China served in the net (what coaches like to call “time out/side out”), USA was back in rotation two. That meant that, once again, Logan Tom was serving, with the imposing line of Hodge, Akinradewo and Hooker across the front. USA ran off four straight points, starting with a Hodge kill. After a service error, it was another Hodge kill, and Scott-Arruda replaced Christa Harmotto at middle.

At 13-13 came a double block by Scott-Arruda and Hodge. Then a Hodge kill, then another, then another, then another. After China took timeout trailing 13-19, Scott-Arruda scored the next four American points in a row, on three kills and block. After its time-out at 7-11, USA had gone on to win 15 of the next 18 points, 11 by Hodge and Scott-Arruda. The Americans closed out on an 18-5 run to earn a resounding 25-16 second set win.

On December 19, 2009, we were courtside in Tampa, Florida when Penn State and Texas met in the NCAA Finals. Many agree it was perhaps the most dramatic—and possibly the best-ever—championship match in women’s D1 volleyball history. (Penn State overcame an 0-2 deficit and won the fifth set 15-13). Almost everyone on press row that night had the same thought: if both Penn State’s Hodge (21 kills that night) and Texas’ Hooker (34 kills) ever played together at the Olympics, the USA would be unstoppable.

In the third set, they were. Throughout the set, USA never built more than a 3-point lead (3 times), China never pulled ahead by more than 2. At 17-17, Hooker blasted a back row missile that knocked the Chinese defender off her feet.

USA called its first timeout trailing 18-20. McCutcheon looked at the team and said just one thing: “Side out, USA.”

After a Chinese service error, Tom played manic defense, allowing USA to fight off several out-of-system opportunities until Hodge pounded yet another cross-court kill. Tom’s defense and serving were key throughout the match.

Logan Tom served two aces against China
Getty Images

“Their serve is really good and their strong serves made it difficult for us to defend,” said China’s captain Qiuyue Wei afterwards.

Trailing 21-23, McCutcheon called his last timeout. “We side (out), we get one” was all he said. With Courtney Thompson briefly serving and setting, Hodge got the next two USA kills.

At 24-24, USA’s defense dug time and again, until China’s out-of-bounds attack sent McCutcheon leaping with joy.

But China would not fold; it fought off five match points. USA countered with a Hooker back-row kill at 25-25, a Hodge back-row kill at 26-26, an Akinradewo block at 27-27, and a Hodge cross-court kill at 28-28. Tied at 29, Hooker hit a cross-court attack that was so quick, it hit Chinese setter Wei in face, knocking her to the ground.

Now leading 30-29, the last ball went to Hodge, who pushed a tip off the block for the final point.

“What an amazing game,” said Akinradewo. “We showed China what we’re made of.“

Although USA came into the Olympics ranked #1 in world, it has never won Olympic gold (the indoor men’s team won gold in ’84, ’88 and ’08.) The USA women now own pool play victories over both China and Brazil, but are likely to meet one or both of those teams once again in the medal rounds next week.

All 12 women on the USA roster saw action today. That’s a fact that should guarantee late London nights for opposing coaches the rest of the way.

Olympics | #1 USA defeats #2 Brazil

Final score: USA 3, Brazil 1 (25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21)

Next match: Wednesday, noon (Pacific) vs. China

When two top teams meet in a marquee match, it usually comes down to serving.

Brazil’s inability to serve well was the most important storyline as top-ranked USA prevailed 3-1 in a much-anticipated Olympic pool play showdown. At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Brazil took the gold and USA the silver.

Jordan Larson, Nicole Davis, Logan Tom, Foluke Akinradewo and Destinee Hooker celebrate a point against Brazil
-USA Volleyball

At the most obvious level, Brazil gave away far too many points—15—on outright service errors, compared to just 7 for the USA (3 by Jordan Larson). In the decisive fourth set, Brazil missed its final two serves, while Larson and Logan Tom served tough.

And throughout the match, Brazil’s in-bounds serves were generally not tough enough, producing just 3 aces and allowing the Americans to make far too many decent passes. When the USA was in system, it rarely made mistakes.

Brazil proved to be a lopsided team. When middle blocker Thaisa Menezes was in the front row, the offense clicked. But on two rotations, both the second middle blocker (usually Fabiana Claudino) and the setter (alternating between Fernanda Ferreira and Danielle Lins) were ineffective, allowing the USA to concentrate on just one hitter. In fact, Brazil rarely went to its opposite hitter, and it set few quicks to either middle.

“[USA] is a team that deserves a lot of respect,” said veteran Brazilian hitter Paula Pequeno, “but they have a lot of weak points that we have to know how to take advantage of. They put all of the responsibility on top of us and just defended. We need to have more patience and better ourselves a lot.”

Logan Tom tips past Fernanda Ferreira (9) and Fabiana Claudino
-Getty Images

Libero Nicole Davis, despite a few lapses in the fourth set, played much better than she did against South Korea, committing just two serve-receive errors and just two digging errors. That allowed setter Lindsey Berg to set with notable confidence and better deception.

Once again, Destinee Hooker was the top attacker, recording 22 kills and 3 errors on 45 attempts (.422). Logan Tom bounced back with big numbers: 12 kills and just 1 error on 27 attempts (.407). Jordan Larson was once again solid with 16 kills and 6 on 36 attempts (.277).

With better passes, Berg was also able to get her middles more involved in the offense. Foluke Akinradewo had 9 kills and 4 errors on 19 attempts (.263), while Christa Harmotto added 4 kills and 1 error on 8 attempts (.375).

Both Courtney Thompson and Tama Miyashiro saw time as substitutes; both played well, but neither was in long enough to influence the match.