Three 49ers Named To Men's Olympic Volleyball Team
7/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
July 16, 2008
Anaheim, Calif. - USA Volleyball has announced the 12 athletes it has nominated to the 2008 U.S. Men's Olympic Indoor Team that will compete in Beijing, pending confirmation by the U.S. Olympic Committee. Three members of the squad played their collegiate volleyball at Long Beach State. Scott Touzinsky, David Lee and Tom Hoff all competed for the 49ers. This will be the first Olympics for Touzinsky and Lee and the third for Hoff.
The 12 nominated athletes are Lloy Ball (Woodburn, Ind.), Gabe Gardner (San Clemente, Calif.), Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.), Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.), Rich Lambourne (Tustin, Calif.), Lee (Alpine, Calif.), Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.), Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.), Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.), Riley Salmon (League City, Texas), Clay Stanley (Honolulu) and Touzinsky (St. Louis).
Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand), the U.S. Men's National Team head coach since 2005, will serve as the Olympic team's coach. It will be his first Olympic Games as a head coach. He served as an assistant under Doug Beal in 2004 in Athens, when the U.S. Men finished fourth.
"We feel very confident that we have selected the best team to represent this country at the upcoming Olympic Games," McCutcheon said. "We have a good mix of experience and youth and we have 12 very good volleyball players on this roster. They work well together both on and off the court and they compete at a very high level.
"The decision to determine the final 12 was difficult because we've had so many people contribute to the success this team has had over the last four years."
Assisting McCutcheon will be Ron Larsen (Lafayette, Calif.) as the first assistant coach, John Speraw (Irvine, Calif.) as the second assistant coach, Marv Dunphy (Malibu, Calif.) as the consultant coach, Jamie Morrison (Dana Point, Calif.) as the technical consultant, Carl McGown (Provo, Utah) as the scout, and Rob Browning (Newport Beach, Calif.) as the team leader.
Aaron Brock (Storm Lake, Iowa), the team's athletic trainer, will be in Beijing as part of the U.S. Olympic Committee's medical staff.
In terms of experience, Ball will lead the way as he becomes the first U.S. Men's volleyball player to compete in four Olympic Games - 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008.
Ball, 36, said the experience if playing in three past Olympic Games has made him a better player and teammate.
"As you get older and have more big-match experience, you become more confident in your own game as an individual player and also as a team," Ball said. "We have a solid team, one through 12. The Olympics is such a different kind of tournament. It's such an emotional ride up and down... It takes a real strong athlete and a real strong team to do well. I thought we had that in the last Olympics and since we have so many guys carrying over from that team, I think we will have it this time."
Hoff (2000, 2004), the team captain, and Millar (2000, 2004) are both veterans of the last two Olympic Games.
Hoff said the experience of finishing fourth in Athens should help this year's team.
"Hopefully we will draw strength in seeing both our great comeback versus Greece (in 2004), knowing to never give up," Hoff said. "We also saw how small the difference is between winning a medal and not when we played Russia (in the bronze-medal match)."
Four members of the team have competed in one prior Summer Games - Gardner, Priddy, Salmon and Stanley.
Five members are first-time Olympians - Hansen, Lambourne, Lee, Rooney and Touzinsky.
"We would all agree that the amount of effort and work we've put in and the quality of team play allow us to believe that anything short of a medal would be a disappointment," Hansen said. "It will probably be the most fun and the proudest moment I've ever felt to be representing the USA."
The U.S. Men's National Team is ranked third in the world and is competing in the FIVB World League, where it will face Bulgaria in two matches on Friday and Saturday in Varna. However, the United States, with a record of 9-1, has already secured the pool victory and will go straight from Varna to compete in the six-team final round in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 23-27.
The team will then spend about a week at its headquarters at the American Sports Center in Anaheim, Calif., before leaving for Beijing on Aug. 3.
In the men's Olympic draw, the United States is grouped in Pool A with Bulgaria, China, Italy, Japan and Venezuela. Pool B is Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Poland, Russia and Serbia.
The U.S. Men start the Olympic Games on Aug. 10 versus Venezuela at the Capital Indoor Stadium at 12:30 p.m., followed by an Aug. 12 match versus Italy at the same time and venue. Team USA plays Bulgaria on Aug. 14 at 10 p.m. in the Capital Indoor Stadium. The Americans face China on Aug. 16 at 10 a.m. at the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium before wrapping up pool play on Aug. 18 versus Japan at 10 p.m. at the Capital Indoor Stadium.
The United States qualified for the Olympic Games by winning the NORCECA Men's Continental Olympic Qualifier on Jan. 6-11 in Puerto Rico.
Story written by B.J. Hoeptner Evans of USA Volleyball
2008 USA Men's Olympic Volleyball Team Quick Facts
U.S. Men's Olympic Team Roster (pending approval)
1 Lloy Ball (S, 6-8, 36, Woodburn, Ind., IPFW)
2 Sean Rooney (OH, 6-9, 25, Wheaton, Ill., Pepperdine)
4 David Lee (MB, 6-8, 26, Alpine, Calif., Long Beach State)
5 Rich Lambourne (L, 6-3, 33, Tustin, Calif., BYU)
8 Reid Priddy (OH, 6-5, 30, Richmond, Va., Loyola Marymount)
9 Ryan Millar (MB, 6-8, 30, Palmdale, Calif., BYU)
10 Riley Salmon (OH, 6-6, 32, League City, Texas, Pierce College)
12 C Tom Hoff (MB, 6-8, 35, Park Ridge, Ill., Long Beach State)
13 Clay Stanley (OPP, 6-9, 30, Honolulu, Hawai'i, Hawai'i)
14 Kevin Hansen (S, 6-5, 26, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford)
15 Gabe Gardner (OPP, 6-9, 32, San Clemente, Calif., Stanford)
18 Scott Touzinsky (OH, 6-6, 26, St. Louis, Mo., Long Beach State)
Staff
Head Coach: Hugh McCutcheon
Team Leader: Rob Browning
First Assistant Coach: Ron Larsen
Second Assistant Coach: John Speraw
Consultant Coach: Marv Dunphy
Technical Consultant: Jamie Morrison
Scout: Carl McGown
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
Years (result) 1964 (9th), 1968 (7th), 1984 (1st), 1988 (1st), 1992 (3rd), 1996 (9th), 2000 (11th), 2004 (4th) and 2008
Medals 1984 (Gold); 1988 (Gold); 1992 (Bronze)
Multiple Olympians
4-Lloy Ball (1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008)
3-Tom Hoff (2000, 2004 and 2008)
3-Ryan Millar (2000, 2004 and 2008)
2-Gabe Gardner (2004 and 2008)
2-Reid Priddy (2004 and 2008)
2-Riley Salmon (2004 and 2008)
2-Clay Stanley (2004 and 2008)
First-Time Olympians
Kevin Hansen
Rich Lambourne
David Lee
Sean Rooney
Scott Touzinsky
