Volleyball Special Report: 2010 Season preview of American Volleyball
The United States of America is an active associate of the volleyball world. The American teams have appeared in the most popular volleyball competitions around the world and volleyball fans recognise them for their memorable play. America obtained the world wide attention in 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing, China for their outstanding performance. The U.S. Volleyball teams made their country proud by capturing three gold medals. In addition, they gripped the nation’s attention for earning silver medal at the Paralympic Games on month later. The season 2008 brought a good luck for the American players.
The history repeats its circle and that is how America experienced another breakthrough in season 2010. With an array of achievements, the teams have once again captured the fancy of volleyball enthusiasts and fans have celebrated their great success with passion.
Indoor Volleyball (Women’s section)
In the recent memory, the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team made their mark at the FIVB Grand Prix 2010. They outplayed the defending champion Brazil in the final match and seized the gold medal in their custody. The women’s team experienced an early set back in the first preliminary round, as they lost two of their matches. Somehow, they made a strong come-back in the game and stormed the entire FIVB Grand Prix scene. They achieved 11 consecutive wins and made their way to the top spot. The U.S. team captured their third FIVB Grand Prix Title. The Outside Hitter (OH) Flouke Akinradewo and Blocker Alisha Glass, and Destinee Hooker played vital role in team’s success. The other players also contributed to the overall achievement of U.S. Team.
Beach Volleyball (Men’s duo)
Likewise, the U.S. men’s pair made shocking waves in the beach volleyball game. The top-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers produced record victories. The duo totally rocked the SWATCH FIVB World Tour events. Before the start of 2010, Dalhausser and Rogers were known as Olympic winners as they claimed the gold-medal in 2008 Olympic Games. Dalhausser and Rogers started the 2010 season by earning gold medal in Brasilia Open, Brazil in April.
The gold medal victory in the first event of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour event put them on the winning track. Afterwards, Dalhausser and Rogers captured eight more titles. They broke all the previous records of maximum number of titles in a single season. In 2004, the Brazilian men have had achieved 7 titles in a season, while Brazilian women had set a record of 8 titles in 2008. Dalhausser and Rogers set a new record of nine titles in the season 2010.
Besides this, Dalhausser/Rogers performed well in AVP and FIVB Tour events and brought honour to their country.
Beach Volleyball (Babe’s section)
The U.S. Girls Beach Volleyball Team also proved their effort and wrote new chapters of success in history. American Jane Croson and Summer Ross won the U-19 Beach Volleyball Championship in August. Jane Croson also played on U.S. squad that won the NORCECA Women’s Junior Continental Championship. She was also a part of the gold-medallist USA U-18 Volleyball team. Therefore, she earned three gold medals in 2010 season.
Indoor Volleyball (Men’s category)
The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team also made the country proud by capturing their first-ever NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship Title. They defeated host Canada in the final battle and posted 5-0 victory. With that particular win, the U.S. Men’s Junior Volleyball team earned a berth at the 2011 FIVB men’s Junior World Championship scheduled to hold in Brazil.
Girls’ Junior Team
The U.S. Girls’ Youth Olympic Team turned many heads around by defeating top-seeded Belgium and Egypt in Pool play matches. They shocked Japan with a win in semi-final. The U.S. team played the final match against Belgium without its leading scorer as she was out due to injury. Therefore, USA couldn’t win the match but settled for silver medal.
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