USA Women Team currently in China

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, March 19, 2008.- The U.S. Women’s National Training Volleyball Team is on a three-week training tour of China that will lead the squad to four different locations for training sessions and exhibition matches against Chinese club teams.

Head Coach “Jenny” Lang Ping will use the tour as an evaluation tool for the young squad. Her team has qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, thanks to a bronze medal finish at the 2007 FIVB World Cup. However, the Team USA Olympic Games roster will not be determined until early July.

“We will test this group’s level of volleyball, especially in how they can transfer what they are learning here in Colorado Springs into a competition setting against top international players,” Lang Ping said. “We will have a clearer picture in a game situation for each athlete after this tour.”

The tour will also expose many of the players to the international world of volleyball with limited substitutions and higher caliber of play.

The travelled with 14 players, including five outside hitters, three middle blockers, two opposites, three setters and one libero. The outside hitters are Therese Crawford, Juliann Faucette, Destinee Hooker, Alix Klineman and Angie Pressey. The middle blockers for the China Tour are Foluke Akinradewo, Lauren Paolini and Tracy Stalls. The opposite are Cassie Busse and Heather Hughes. The setters are Lindsey Hunter, Angie McGinnis and Nellie Spicer. The libero for the tour is Nicole Davis.

Team USA will make a second trip to China in May for the four-team, round-robin China Invitational Tournament. The first round will be held May 23-25 at Ningbo, while the second round will be played at site to be announced May 28-30. The U.S. roster for the second trip to China will be heavily weighted with a veteran group who are currently overseas playing in professional leagues.

Other 2008 tournaments on the U.S. schedule include the Pan American Cup held May 28 to June 8 in Mexico and the FIVB World Grand Prix June 20 to July 13.