USA Women’s National Team Prepares for Pan American Cup

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, June 16, 2006.- Entering into the second year of the Olympic Quadrennial, USA Women’s National Team Head Coach “Jenny” Lang Ping will be looking to expand on the late-season successes of 2005, her first year with the team.

The next competition step will be the V Pan American Cup, to be held June 27-July 8 at Puerto Rico. Lang Ping and her staff are still working on the final roster for the Pan American Cup, but she said many of the younger players will be given an opportunity to play.

“It will be a hard decision to set the roster,” Lang Ping said. “We need to give the young players a chance to play, and for many of the players just out of the university system, it will be their first international experience.”

Potentially, the American roster for the Pan American Cup at Puerto Rico could have as many as five players who competed in the 2004 Olympics. Outside hitter Tayyiba Haneef , opposite Nancy Metcalf , setter Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, middle blocker Heather Bown and middle blocker Elisabeth Bachman all competed in the last Olympics.

Lang Ping will provide playing time at the Pan American Cup to a youthful setter group, including Sam Tortorello. She started to train with the national team in May.

“We are trying to train a young setter, which is a big challenge for us,” Lang Ping said. “The setter is like the point guard in basketball – everything has to work its way through that position. We have to go through this with the setter position to get better as a team.”

As for the competition at the Pan American Cup, Team USA will face some top teams in the event.

“Brazil will have its first team playing, and they will be dominant,” Lang Ping said. “Cuba will also be very good at the event. Right now, we are inconsistent in our play and we have to work on that. I would like to see us improve upon last year’s fourth-place finish at the Pan Am Cup.”

Brazil ranks second in the world, while Cuba is two positions behind at number four. Team USA follows in fifth place in the latest published world rankings.

The Americans open the Pan American Cup on June 29 against Peru in Group B action. Team USA also has pool-play matches against Argentina on June 30, Barbados on July 1, Cuba on July 2 and Venezuela on July 3. After a day off following group matches, the quarterfinal round is set for July 5 with the semifinals on July 6. The championship match is scheduled for July 7.