Defending champion USA ready to rumble at 2011 World Grand Prix – Volleyball news
The Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB) has recently announced the pool schedules for the upcoming 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix competition. The Women’s elite international volleyball scrimmage is supposed to run from August 5 to 28.
A total of 16 of the best women’s volleyball squads will be on board to contest their skills in front of an international audience as the teams play in four pools. Last year, Team USA defeated Brazil in the finals, which was held in Ningbo, China. This time around, the first preliminary round will be staged in different countries of the world, while the Chinese city of Macau is confirmed to host the Final Round of the championship.
The defending champions are determined to retain their title and are under-going extensive training in order to hone their skills before the start of competition. American Team will be headed by Coach Hugh McCutcheon, who led his team to success in the previous edition of the championship. McCutcheon has assembled 20-player for 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix. They include:
Middle Blockers: Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.), Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.), Christa Harmotto (Hopewell, Pa.), Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.), Jennifer Tamas (Milpitas, Calif.).
Outside Hitters: Angie Forsett (Lake Mary, Fla.), Kim Glass (Lancaster, Pa.), Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.), Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.), Kristin Richards (Orem, Utah), Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah).
Setters: Lindsey Berg (Honolulu), Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.), Nellie Spicer (Barrington, Ill.).
Opposites: Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio), Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.), Destinee Hooker (San Antonio, Texas), Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa).
Liberos: Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.), Tamari Miyashiro (Kaneohe, Hawaii).
The team roster mostly features players with international exposure as nine players have proved themselves at the Olympics, while 13 have FIVB World Championship experience. The experienced line-up could prove to be dangerous for the other teams contesting the tournament.
Thanks to their overall performance this year, the US team is ranked second in the world. They have been placed in Pool D of the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix by the International Volleyball Federation. They will be traveling to Luohe, China for the first week matches of the tournament where rhey will have to compete against host China, Serbia and Kazakhstan. The first week matches of the World Grand Prix will be staged from August 5-7. Team USA is likely to have tough competition from the sixth ranked Chinese team and the ninth placed Serbian.
U.S. team has bright prospects in the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix as long as they are able to hold their nerve against some of the best teams in the world.
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