July 3, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. - The U.S. Women's National Team, ranked No. 1 in the world by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), has nominated its 12-player Olympic Games Team to the United States Olympic Committee, including Stanford alums Foluke Akinradewo and Logan Tom.

Pending approval from the USOC, U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon has selected setters Lindsey Berg and Courtney Thompson for the Olympic Games Team. Middle blockers chosen for the squad are Akinradewo, Christa Harmotto and Danielle Scott-Arruda. Outside hitters earning a spot on the Olympic Games nomination roster are Megan Hodge, Jordan Larson and Tom.

"I can't believe my Olympic dream is finally coming true," said Akinradewo. "I'm so excited to represent the USA in London. I'd like to thank my family, coaches of the past and present, and friends who have supported my journey."

Tayyiba Haneef-Park and Destinee Hooker are opposites selected to the U.S. Olympic Games Team. Nicole Davis and Tamari Miyashiro are liberos being nominated to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games.

"We've developed a lot of depth in this program over the course of the Olympic quadrennial and, as you would expect, it was very difficult to determine the final composition of this team," McCutcheon said. "However, after a lot of time and deliberation, we all believe that the group we've selected gives our program the best possible chance of being successful in London."

Among the replacement athletes for the U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team are Stanford alums and outside hitters Cynthia Barboza and Kristin Richards. Also selected as replacements are setters Alisha Glass and Carli Lloyd , middle blockers Heather Bown and Jennifer Tamas and opposites Nancy Metcalf and Nicole Fawcett.

The 2012 U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team, which holds its training headquarters at the American Sports Centers in Anaheim, Calif., includes five Olympic Games veterans and seven players making their Olympic Games debuts.

Tom, who earned Best Scorer at the 2008 Olympic Games and helping the squad to the silver medal, becomes just the third four-time Olympian for the U.S. in women's volleyball.

The 12-team women's volleyball Olympic Games competition will take place on alternating days at Earls Court starting July 28. The preliminary round consists of two pools of six teams playing a round-robin format with the top four teams in each pool advancing to the quarterfinal round. The U.S. is part of Pool B with No. 2 Brazil, No. 5 China, No. 6 Serbia, No. 11 Turkey and No. 15 Korea. The top pool finisher crosses over to play the fourth-place team in the quarterfinals, while a drawing of lot decides the crossover matches for second- and third-place finishers. Semifinals are on Aug. 9 with the medal-round matches on Aug. 11.

The U.S., ranked No. 1 in the world by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) since November 2011, qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in the first qualification tournament by claiming silver at the 2011 FIVB World Cup held in November.

Team USA has continued its winning momentum into the 2012 season with a 14-0 record after capturing the 2012 FIVB World Grand Prix, the premier annual international volleyball tournament for women, for the third consecutive year. During the World Grand Prix, the U.S. produced victories over Olympic Games bound Brazil twice, Italy, China, Serbia, Dominican Republic and Turkey. The U.S. has now defeated reigning Olympic champion Brazil and Italy in each of the last four meetings, along with three straight wins over China.

The U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team has medaled at the Olympic Games three times, earning the silver medal at the most recent edition at the Beijing Games. The U.S. women also earned the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, as well as the bronze medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. The U.S. seeks its first gold medal in any of the major tournaments - Olympic Games, FIVB World Championships, FIVB World Cup - that happen every four years.

In its final preparations for the Olympic Games, the U.S. Women's National Team and the City of Anaheim will host Bulgaria in a three-match Challenge Series. The first match will be held July 14 at Canyon High School in Anaheim, Calif. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door. Seating is limited, so it advised to arrive early. The second and third matches of the series will be played July 16 and July 18 at University of Southern California's Galen Center. Admission is $10 adults, $5 for children 12-and-under or groups of 10 or more. Tickets can be purchased online at www.usctrojans.com/usa. All three matches will be played at 7 p.m. PT.

2012 U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team
# - Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
2 - Danielle Scott-Arruda (MB, 6-2, Baton Rouge, La., Long Beach State)
3 - Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Opp, 6-7, Laguna Hills, Calif., Long Beach State)
4 - Lindsey Berg (S, 5-8, Honolulu, Hawaii, Minnesota)
5 - Tamari Miyashiro (L, 5-7, Kaneohe, Hawaii, Washington)
6 - Nicole Davis (L, 5-4, Stockton, Calif., Southern California)
10 - Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Nebraska)
11 - Megan Hodge (OH, 6-3, Durham, N.C., Penn State)
13 - Christa Harmotto (MB, 6-2, Hopewell, Pa., Penn State)
15 - Logan Tom (OH, 6-1, Salt Lake City, Utah, Stanford)
16 - Foluke Akinradewo (MB, 6-3, Plantation, Fla., Stanford)
17 - Courtney Thompson (S, 5-8, Kent, Wash., Washington)
19 - Destinee Hooker (Opp, 6-4, San Antonio, Texas, Texas)

Head Coach: Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Assistant Coach: Karch Kiraly (San Clemente, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: Paula Weishoff (Irvine, Calif.)
Assistant Coach/Technical Coordinator: Jamie Morrison (Dana Point, Calif.)

Replacement Players for U.S. Olympic Games Women's Volleyball Team Roster
1 - Alisha Glass (S, 6-0, Leland, Mich., Penn State)
7 - Heather Bown (MB, 6-3, Yorba Linda, Calif., Hawaii)
8 - Cynthia Barboza (OH, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Stanford)
9 - Jennifer Tamas (MB, 6-4, Milpitas, Calif., Pacific)
12 - Nancy Metcalf (Opp, 6-1, Hull, Iowa, Nebraska)
14 - Nicole Fawcett (Opp, 6-4, Zanesfield, Ohio, Penn State)
18 - Carli Lloyd (S, 5-11, Bonsall, Calif., California-Berkeley)
20 - Kristin Richards (OH, 6-1, Orem, Utah, Stanford)

2012 Olympic Games Women's Volleyball Schedule

July 28: Algeria vs. Japan, 9:30 a.m.
July 28: China vs. Serbia, 11:30 a.m.
July 28: Great Britain vs. Russia, 2:45 p.m.
July 28: Italy vs. Dominican Republic, 4:45 p.m.
July 28: USA vs. Korea, 8 p.m. (noon PT)
July 28: Brazil vs. Turkey, 10 p.m.

July 30: China vs. Turkey, 9:30 a.m.
July 30: Serbia vs. Korea, 11:30 a.m.
July 30: Dominican Republic vs. Russia, 2:45 p.m.
July 30: USA vs. Brazil, 4:45 p.m. (8:45 a.m. PT)
July 30: Italy vs. Japan, 8 p.m.
July 30: Great Britain vs. Algeria, 10 p.m.

Aug. 1: Dominican Republic vs. Japan, 9:30 a.m.
Aug. 1: Algeria vs. Russia, 11:30 a.m.
Aug. 1: Serbia vs. Turkey, 2:45 p.m.
Aug. 1: Great Britain vs. Italy, 4:45 p.m.
Aug. 1: USA vs. China, 8 p.m. (noon PT)
Aug. 1: Brazil vs. Korea, 10 p.m.

Aug. 3: Brazil vs. China, 9:30 a.m.<
Aug. 3: Japan vs. Russia, 11:30 a.m.
Aug. 3: Turkey vs. Korea, 2:45 p.m.
Aug. 3: Great Britain vs. Dominican Republic, 4:45 p.m.
Aug. 3: USA vs. Serbia, 8 p.m. (noon PT)
Aug. 3: Algeria vs. Italy, 10 p.m.

Aug. 5: Algeria vs. Dominican Republic, 9:30 a.m.
Aug. 5: China vs. Korea, 11:30 a.m.
Aug. 5: Great Britain vs. Japan, 2:45 p.m.
Aug. 5: Italy vs. Russia, 4:45 p.m.
Aug. 5: USA vs. Turkey, 8 p.m. (noon PT)
Aug. 5: Brazil vs. Serbia, 10 p.m.

Aug. 7: Quarterfinal Matches at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m.

Aug. 9: Semifinal Matches at 3 p.m., 7:30 p.m.

Aug. 11: Women's Bronze Medal Match, 11:30 a.m.
Aug. 11: Women's Gold Medal Match, 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 11: Women's Gold Medal Ceremony, 8:20 p.m.

Player Notes

15 - Logan Tom (OH, 6-1, Salt Lake City, Utah, Stanford)
Four-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) with first Olympics coming at the age of 19 ... Becomes just the third U.S. women's volleyball player to compete in four Olympic Games ... Made U.S. senior national team international debut in 1998 at age 16 as part of the NORCECA World Champions Qualification Tournament ... Has now made 221 international appearances with the U..S ... Earned Best Scorer at the 2008 Olympic Games with 124 points and a 3.76 scoring average per set ... Chosen MVP, Best Scorer and Best Server of the 2004 FIVB World Grand Prix...Earned Best Receiver at the 2003 Montreux Volley Masters ... Selected Best Server at 2003 Yeltsin Cup and the 2011 NORCECA Continental Championship ... Sat out all of the 2005 and 2006 seasons before rejoining the team late in 2007 to help the team win the silver medal at the FIVB World Cup to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games ... Sat out the 2009 season and returned in July 2010 to help the U.S. win the first of three consecutive FIVB World Grand Prix titles ... Helped the U.S. to the silver medal at the 2011 FIVB World Cup ... Became just the third player to earn four consecutive American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American First-Team honors (1999-2002) while playing at Stanford University, which won the 2001 NCAA title...Named AVCA Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002.

16 - Foluke Akinradewo (MB, 6-3, Plantation, Fla., Stanford)
Making her first appearance in the Olympic Games ... Made first appearance with the U.S. senior team at 2005 Pan American Cup and now has 127 international matches ... Joined the U.S. National Team full-time in 2009 after spending summers with the team in 2007 and 2008 while still competing at Stanford University ... Helped U.S. to bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games ... Named MVP and Best Blocker at the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix in which the U.S. captured the first of three straight titles ... Starter 2011 FIVB World Cup silver medal team ... Named either American Volleyball Coaches Association or Volleyball Magazine National Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008 while at Stanford where she concluded her career as a four-time AVCA All-American ... Finished Stanford career with then-NCAA record .446 hitting efficiency ... Starting middle blocker for the 2005 U.S. Women's Junior National Team that competed in FIVB Women's Junior World Championship ... Holds tri-citizenship with USA, Canada and Nigeria.

Courtesy of USA Volleyball