Hunter and Team USA Begin Season With Five-Straight Wins
6/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
June 26, 2007
Hunter, a two-time All-American at Missouri, started the second and third sets in a 25-8, 25-9, 25-5 rout of Trinidad & Tobago on Saturday, driving an offense that hit .800 in the second frame and .632 in the final stanza. The former Tiger also found playing time against Costa Rica earlier in the week.
The American team is currently comprised of three that are currently playing or have played for Big 12 Conference schools. Including, Tracy Stalls, who will be a senior at Nebraska next year, and recently graduated Laura Tomes of Oklahoma are two of three middle blockers on the tournament's team.
Hunter is joined in the setter position by Team USA veteran Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, a two-time Olympian, and Courtney Thompson, who recently departed Washington. Mow-Santos played collegiate volleyball at Hawaii and was named "Best Setter" of this tournament a year ago.
Team USA (5-0), who finished fourth in this tournament last year, defeated the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Trinidad & Tobago in sweeping through Pool A action. As the pool winner, the USA gets a bye in the six-team medal round, automatically advancing to Thursday's semifinals where they will play either the winner of the Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico quarterfinal or the winner of the Brazil/Argentina quarterfinal. No. 5 Cuba upset No. 2 Brazil in the final match of pool play to earn the other automatic bye to the semis.
The 2007 season is the qualifying year for teams to make the next year's Olympic Games in Beijing. Only 12 teams will earn births into the games with a spot already given to host country China. The first qualifying tournament will be the FIVB World Cup held in Japan in November in which the top three teams automatically earn births to the Olympics. But, to earn a spot in the World Cup, a team must win their continental championship or earn an at-large bid based on their world ranking. World Cup qualifying will begin with the NORCECA Championships in Canada in September. Other tournaments are also at play for Olympic birth including a tournament in Mexico in December and a last-chance meet in Japan in May 2008.
Once the Pan-Am Cup is completed, Team USA will move on the Pan-American Games which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in mid-July. In August, the schedule will be comprised of competition in the FIVB World Grand Prix with dates in Poland, Russia, and China.
More information can be found on USA Volleyball's home page ...
http://www.usavolleyball.org/National/
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