Hunter Gets Another Start with USA Volleyball
9/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 25, 2006
From USA Volleyball:
U.S. Women Fall to Puerto Rico
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 24, 2006) - The U.S. Women's National Team dropped a four-set match (25-21, 22-25, 25-16, 26-24) to Puerto Rico on Sunday in the opening day of the TV Azteca Cup held at Monterrey, Mexico.
The U.S. is playing with a shortened roster of only 10 players and just five players from its standard training team in this tournament that was added to the schedule recently. The remaining team members are in Colorado Springs training for the upcoming World Championships to be held in Japan Oct. 31-Nov. 16.
The U.S. started Lindsey Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) at setter, Elisabeth Bachman (Lakeville, Minn) and Zoe Garrett (Laguna Beach, Calif.) at middle blocker, Katie Olsovsky (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) at opposite, Jane Collymore (Englewood, Colo.) and Jamie Dekiewiet (Hemet, Calif.) at outside hitter, and Sarah Drury (Louisville, Ky.) at libero. Jennifer Doris (Houston) started the fourth set in place of Garrett, while all 10 players saw action during the match.
Olsovksy led the U.S. with 14 kills, four blocks and two aces for a total of 20 points. Collymore chipped in 13 kills in the loss. Drury turned in seven digs on defense, while Bachman added two blocks at the net.
"Our goal for the tournament is to improve in every match we play," Tom Hogan, the U.S. head coach for this tournament, said. "Tonight was a good start for us, but we still have a lot of potential. Puerto Rico played very well defensively and executed on transition offense."
The Team USA squad competing in Mexico had not practiced as a complete until yesterday. Three players competed on the U.S. Women's Junior National Team this summer, but had not practiced with the senior national team. Further, two other players have had limited training time with the national team either in the spring or the last couple weeks. In contrast, Puerto Rico was competing with its normal national team minus two players.
"I thought we played well tonight, but have a lot of room for improvement - especially in our out of system offense," Hunter said. "We're disappointed with the loss, but encouraged by how we played."
Puerto Rico was led by sisters Eva and Aury Cruz. Eva Cruz tallied 22 points with 17 kills. Aury Cruz added 13 kills in the victory.
The TV Azteca Cup, in its first year of existence, is an eight-team tournament broken into two pools advancing to the classification round. The U.S. is grouped in Pool B with Canada, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Pool A consists of host Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Peru.
Earlier in the day, Cuba defeated Canada in four sets, while Dominican Republic swept Peru. The opening day of matches concluded with Mexico hosting Costa Rica.
The U.S. continues pool play on Sept. 25 against Canada at 2 p.m. CT. Team USA concludes pool play on Sept. 26 versus Cuba.
Additional information on the Azteca Cup can be found on the NORCECA web site at http://www.norceca.org/endex.htm and the tournament host site at http://www.tvazteca.com/deportes/especiales/voleibol06/index.shtml#.
No. - Name (Pos, Ht, Hometown, College/Club)
2 - Jennifer Doris (MB, 6-5, Houston, Texas, Willowbrook)
3 - Erin Virtue (S, 5-8, St. Charles, Ill., Illinois)
4 - Lindsey Hunter (S, 5-10, Papillion, Neb., Missouri)
5 - Sarah Drury (L, 5-5, Louisville, Ky., Louisville)
6 - Elisabeth Bachman (MB, 6-3, Lakeville, Minn., UCLA)
7 - Zoe Garrett (MB, 6-3, Laguna Beach, Calif., Mizuno Long Beach)
9 - Juliann Faucette (OH, 6-2, San Diego, Calif., Epic)
13 - Katie Olsovsky (Opp, 6-3, Hermosa Beach, Calif., Southern California)
15 - Jamie Dekiewiet (OH, 5-11, Hemet, Calif., UC Riverside)
17 - Jane Collymore (OH, 6-0, Englewood, Colo., Florida)
Head Coach: Tom Hogan
Assistant Coach/Team Manager: Tom Pingel
Doctor: Lori Boyajian-O'Neill
TV Azteca Cup Schedule (all matches at Nuevo Leon Gym, Monterrey, Mexico)
Pool A: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru
Pool B: Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico, United States
Pool A Standings
Dominican Republic 1-0
Mexico 0-0
Costa Rica 0-0
Peru 0-1
Pool B Standings
Cuba 1-0
Puerto Rico 1-0
United State 0-1
Canada 0-1
Preliminary Rounds (all times listed as Central Time and subject to change)
Sept. 24
Cuba def. Canada 25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 27-25
Dominican Republic def. Peru 25-20, 25-16, 25-21
Puerto Rico def. United States 25-21, 22-25, 25-16, 26-24
Mexico vs. Costa Rica, 8 p.m.
Sept. 25
Canada vs. United States, 2 p.m.
Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic, 4 p.m.
Puerto Rico vs. Cuba, 6 p.m.
Mexico vs. Peru, 8 p.m.
Sept. 26
Canada vs. Puerto Rico, 2 p.m.
Peru vs. Costa Rica, 4 p.m.
Cuba vs. United States, 6 p.m.
Dominican Republic vs. Mexico, 8 p.m.
Classification Rounds
Sept. 27
Pool A 2nd Place vs. Pool B 3rd Place, 6 p.m. (Quarterfinal)
Pool B 2nd Place vs. Pool A 3rd Place, 8 p.m. (Quarterfinal)
Sept. 28
Pool A 4th Place vs. Pool B 4th Place, 4 p.m. (7th/8th Place)
Pool B Winner vs. Quarterfinal Winner, 6 p.m. (Semifinal)
Pool A Winner vs. Quarterfinal Winner, 8 p.m. (Semifinal)
Sept. 29
Quarterfinal Losers, 4 p.m. (5th/6th Place)
Semifinal Losers, 6 p.m. (3rd/4th Place)
Semifinal Winners, 8 p.m. (Championship)
