| Lotman Named To World
University Games Team
Joins Knipe and Tarr on U.S. Squad
July 2, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO-- Long Beach State senior Paul Lotman (Lakewood,
CA) was named to the USA Men’s Volleyball team that will be participating
in the World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand, August 8-18. Also
named to the squad was former 49er Robert Tarr. Long Beach Head Coach
Alan Knipe will serve as the head coach for the USA squad. Training for
the team will begin July 16 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado
Springs, CO.
Lotman had an outstanding junior season as he was named honorable mention
All-MPSF. Lotman led the 49ers with 496 kills on the year, an average
of 4.51 kills per game. He also averaged 1.60 digs and 0.87 blocks per
game while hitting an impressive .308. Lotman led the 49ers with 34 service
aces, hit double figures in kills 27 times and registered seven double-double's.
He was named MVP of the Active Ankle/Long Beach Guesthouse Classic and
he was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I Men's National Player
of the Week, and MPSF Player of the Week, for March 19.
Tarr was a four-year letterwinner for the 49ers who finished his eligibility
in 2006. A two-time AVCA first team All-American, Tarr ranks #6 all-time
with 1,556 career kills. This will be his second trip to the World University
Games as he was a member of the US team in 2005 in Izmir, Turkey, along
with former 49ers Tyler Hildebrand and Paul Munoz.
"This is a very talented group,” said U.S. Head Coach Alan
Knipe, who will be assisted by John Hawks (Southern California) and Daniel
Fisher (Pacific). “I have a lot of respect for these guys and their
abilities after seeing many of them on the other side of the net for the
past few years. Tryouts were very competitive. Anybody who was there was
invited to try out, and a strong case could be made for any of the replacement
players. But the guys we selected definitely deserve to be on the team.
These guys need to understand that this is USA Volleyball, not college.
The quicker we can get these guys to take off their university identity
and put on the red, white and blue to go for the gold as a unit, the better
we will be.”
In other 49er men’s volleyball news, assistant coach Andy Read will
serve as the head coach for the USA Junior Men’s National Team.
That squad will be competing at the 2007 FIVB Men’s Junnior World
Championships, July 7-15 in Morocco. The lineup includes eight players
from last year’s team that won the silver medal at the NORCECA Championships
(fell to Cuba in final). Before heading to Morocco, the team will travel
to Italy to compete in a “Friendship Tournament” with Japan
and Argentina. The U.S. Men will be playing in Pool B with defending champions
Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt and Slovenia. All matches will be played
in Rabat, Morocco. Pool A will consist of Morocco, Iran, Cuba, Italy,
Japan and Bulgaria. Casablance will host the Pool A competition. Local
players on the Junior National Team are Los Alamitos’ Kevin Carroll
and Hermosa Beach’s Austin Zahn.
2007 U.S. World University Games Men’s Volleyball Team
Andy Hein (MB, 6-11, Carol Stream, Ill., Pepperdine)
Jayson Jablonsky (OH, 6-5, Yorba Linda, Calif., UC Irvine)
Paul Lotman (OH, 6-7, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)
C.J. Macias (OH, 6-4, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., IPFW)
Evan Patak (Opp., 6-8, Pleasanton, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
Matt Proper (Opp., 6-7, Meadville, Pa., Penn State)
Alfred Reft (L, 5-9, Oxnard, Calif., Hawai’i)
Nick Scheftic (MB, 6-11, Santa Barbara, Calif., UCLA)
David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)
Robert Tarr (OH, 6-6, Cape Canaveral, Fla., Long Beach State)
Brian Thornton (S, 6-3, San Clemente, Calif., UC Irvine)
Jonathan Winder (S, 6-8, Irvine, Calif., Pepperdine)
Head Coach: Alan Knipe (Long Beach State)
Assistant Coach: John Hawks (Southern California)
Assistant Coach: Daniel Fisher (Pacific)
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