Aug. 4, 2005

Stanford, CA - Former Stanford volleyball all-star Kevin Hansen was named to the 12-player roster that will represent the United States at the 2005 World University Games. Competition begins next week in Izmir, Turkey, and runs through Aug. 21st.

The roster includes: Matt Denmark (Edmond, Okla./Ball State); Shaun Dyk (Mooresville, N.C./Cal Baptist University); Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif./Stanford);Andy Hein (Carol Stream, Ill./Pepperdine); Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, Ariz./Long Beach State); Kristopher Kraushaar (Irvine, Calif./UCLA); Nathan Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn State); Paul Munoz (Huntington Beach, Calif./Long Beach State); Nils Nielsen (Fallbrook, Calif./Cal State Northridge); Jimmy Pelzel (Lake Forest, Calif./UC Irvine);Robert Tarr (Rockledge, Fla./Long Beach State); and Brian Zodrow (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Pacific).

In 2005, Hansen was named First-Team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, MPSF First-Team All-Conference, and MPSF All-Academic. The 6-foot-5 setter finished his collegiate volleyball career third in Stanford history with 5,036 assists. Hansen posted a 12.7 assists per game average his senior season, leading the Cardinal to an 11-15 record.

The World University Games squad - which departed Tuesday for team processing in Washington, D.C., before traveling to Turkey - was selected from among a group of 19 players that have been training at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., since July 18.

"We feel good about the group going over there," said Team USA head coach Joe Wortmann (Stockton, Calif./Pacific). Wortmann will be assisted by Rutgers-Newark men's and women's volleyball head coach Sean Byron (North Plainfield, N.J.).

The United States is looking to continue its string of recent success at the World University Games. Team USA captured the gold medal in the event in 2001 in Beijing, China, and earned a bronze medal at the last World University Games in Daegu, South Korea.

The United States will be a member of Pool D in the 24-team tournament along with Belgium, China, France, Lebanon and Slovakia. The American's first match will be on Thursday, Aug. 11 against Lebanon.

Team USA's toughest competition in pool play figures to be France, whom they defeated, 3-2 (19-25, 25-22, 26-24, 20-25, 15-10) in the bronze medal match in 2003. China finished 16th at the last WUG volleyball tournament, while Belgium, Lebanon and Slovakia did not field teams.

Three other pools make up the field for the men's volleyball tournament. Pool A consists of Bulgaria, Canada, Iran, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey, while Pool B includes defending gold medalist Korea, Brazil, Cyprus, Germany, Italy and United Arab Emirates. Pool C features Denmark, Hong Kong, 2003 silver medalist Japan, Mexico, Poland and Serbia and Montenegro.

Courtesy of USA Volleyball