Four Former LBSU Players Fill Olympic Volleyball Rosters
Cross-Battle Becomes First Athlete in USA Volleyball History to be Named to Four Olympic Teams
July 11, 2004 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – USA Volleyball nominated four former Long Beach State Volleyball players to compete in this year's Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Former women's volleyball players, Tara Cross-Battle, Danielle Scott, and Tayyiba Haneef make up three of the 12 members on the women's squad, while former men's volleyball standout, Tom Hoff was selected to compete on the men's squad. Long Beach State boasts the most players from a single college on the women's squad. Tom Hoff is a two-time Olympian. 2004 Women's Squad:
Setters—Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Lindsey Berg (Honolulu, Hawaii); Middle Blockers—Wiz Bachman (Lakeville, Minn.); Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and Danielle Scott (Baton Rouge, La.); Outside Hitters—Tara Cross-Battle (Houston, Texas), Ogonna Nnamani (Normal, Ill.), Keba Phipps (Las Vegas, Calif.) and Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah); Opposites—Tayyiba Haneef (Laguna Hills, Calif.) and Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa); and Libero—Stacy Sykora (Burleson, Texas).
Under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Toshi Yoshida, the United States is ranked No. 2 in the world going into the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Team USA is currently competing at the World Grand Prix in Asia.
The USA women, led by four-time Olympian Cross-Battle and three-time Olympian Scott, are long on experience: a total of seven past Olympians make up the 12-player roster.
Cross-Battle becomes the first athlete in USA Volleyball history (male or female, beach or indoor) to be named to four Olympic teams. She earned a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and was also a member of the 1996 and 2000 Olympic teams.
Scott, considered one of the best middle blockers in the world, was also a member of the 1996 and 2000 Olympic teams.
Phipps, who returned to the national team in 2002 following a 12-year absence, was a starter on the 1988 Olympic team. The other four past Olympians—Ah Mow-Santos, Bown, Sykora and Tom—played on the 2000 Olympic Team that finished fourth in Sydney, Australia.
Bachman, Berg, Haneef, Metcalf and Nnamani will all be making their first Olympic appearances in Greece.
For the women's Olympic indoor volleyball competition, which starts on Aug. 14, the 12 qualified teams are split into two pools. Pool A is made up of Brazil, Greece, Italy, Japan, Kenya and Korea, while Pool B consists of China, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Russia and the USA.
The USA women will be challenged right off the bat: the team will play top-ranked China to begin play on Saturday, Aug. 14. The women will then play Germany (Aug. 16), the Dominican Republic (Aug. 18), 2000 silver medalist Russia (Aug. 20) and three-time defending gold medalist Cuba (Aug. 22) to wrap-up pool play.
2004 USA Women's Olympic Volleyball Team Quick Facts
Years
1964, 1968, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004
Medals
1984 (Silver); 1992 (Bronze)
Multiple Olympians
4-Tara Cross Battle (1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004)
3-Danielle Scott (1996, 2000 and 2004)
2-Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (2000 and 2004)
2-Heather Bown (2000 and 2004)
2-Keba Phipps (1988 and 2004)
2-Stacy Sykora (2000 and 2004)
2-Logan Tom (2000 and 2004)
First-Time Olympians
Wiz Bachman
Lindsey Berg
Tayyiba Haneef
Nancy Metcalf
Ogonna Nnamani
Olympians by State
California (2): Heather Bown; Tayyiba Haneef
Hawaii (2): Robyn Ah Mow-Santos; Lindsey Berg
Texas (2): Tara Cross-Battle; Stacy Sykora
Illinois (1): Ogonna Nnamani
Iowa (1): Nancy Metcalf
Minnesota (1): Wiz Bachman
Louisiana (1): Danielle Scott
Nevada (1): Keba Phipps
Utah (1): Logan Tom
Olympians by College
Long Beach State (3): Tara Cross-Battle; Tayyiba Haneef; Danielle Scott
Hawaii (2): Robyn Ah-Mow Santos; Heather Bown
Stanford (2): Ogonna Nnamani; Logan Tom
Minnesota (1): Lindsey Berg
Nebraska (1): Nancy Metcalf
Texas A&M (1): Stacy Sykora
UCLA (1): Wiz Bachman 2004 Men's Squad: USA Volleyball nominates the following 12 athletes to the U.S. Men's Olympic Team pending certification by the United States Olympic Committee:
Setters—Lloy Ball (Woodburn, Ind.) and Donald Suxho (Korce, Albania); Middle Blockers—Phil Eatherton (Glencoe, Mo.), Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.) and Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.); Outside Hitters—Kevin Barnett (Naperville, Ill.), Gabe Gardner (San Clemente, Calif.), Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) and Riley Salmon (League City, Texas); Opposites—Brook Billings (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawaii); and Libero—Erik Sullivan (Encinitas, Calif.).
Veteran head coach Doug Beal, who guided the men to an Olympic gold medal in 1984, will be taking a record-tying third team to the Olympics in Athens, Greece, next month.
Team USA, which qualified for Athens by winning the NORCECA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in January, is currently 14-4 on the season and ranked No. 6 in the world. It recently won the USA Global Challenge in Austin, Texas, by defeating No. 5 Russia, the silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games, in five sets on July 5.
A mixture of experience and youth make up the 12-player roster for the USA men, led by team captain Ball, a three-time Olympian who was also a starter on the 1996 and 2000 squads.
Four other players will be playing in their second Olympics in Athens: Barnett, Hoff, Millar and Sullivan. Each was a member of the 2000 Olympic team.
The remaining seven players will all be making their first Olympic appearances in Greece: Billings, Eatherton, Gardner, Priddy, Salmon, Stanley and Suxho.
For the men's Olympic indoor volleyball competition, which starts on Aug. 15, Pool A consists of Argentina, France, Greece, Poland, Serbia and Montenegro and Tunisia, while Pool B features Australia, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia and the USA.
The USA men have a tough draw for the preliminary round. Team USA starts off on Aug. 15 against the world's second-ranked team, Italy, which captured the bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games. The men will then play the Netherlands (Aug. 17), 2000 silver medalist Russia (Aug. 19), Australia (Aug. 21) and Brazil (Aug. 23), the world's No. 1-ranked team, to close out pool play.
2004 USA Men's Olympic Volleyball Team Quick Facts
Years
1964, 1968, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004
Medals
1984 (Gold); 1988 (Gold); 1992 (Bronze)
Multiple Olympians
3-Lloy Ball (1996, 2000 and 2004)
2-Kevin Barnett (2000 and 2004)
2-Tom Hoff (2000 and 2004)
2-Ryan Millar (2000 and 2004)
2-Erik Sullivan (2000 and 2004)
First-Time Olympians
Brook Billings
Phil Eatherton
Gabe Gardner
Reid Priddy
Riley Salmon
Clay Stanley
Donald Suxho
Olympians by State/Country
California (4): Brook Billings; Gabe Gardner; Ryan Millar; Erik Sullivan
Illinois (2): Kevin Barnett; Tom Hoff
Albania (1): Donald Suxho
Hawaii (1): Clay Stanley
Indiana (1): Lloy Ball
Missouri (1): Phil Eatherton
Texas (1): Riley Salmon
Virginia (1): Reid Priddy
Olympians by College
USC (2): Brook Billings; Donald Suxho
Ball State (1): Phil Eatherton
BYU (1): Ryan Millar
Hawaii (1): Clay Stanley
IPFW (1): Lloy Ball
Long Beach State (1): Tom Hoff
Loyola Marymount (1): Reid Priddy
Pepperdine (1): Kevin Barnett
Pierce College (1): Riley Salmon
Stanford (1): Gabe Gardner
UCLA (1): Erik Sullivan |
