USA volleyball has Island flavor

Advertiser Staff

University of Hawai'i alums Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, above, and Heather Bown will play for the U.S. women at the Athens Olympics. Clay Stanley, also a former UH player, will represent the U.S. men. AP/Federation Internationale de Volleyball

Stanley, Robyn Ah Mow-Santos and Heather Bown have been starting for the U.S. teams going into next month's Games in Athens. Punahou graduate Lindsey Berg is Ah Mow-Santos' backup at setter.

The U.S. women are ranked No. 2 in the world and have seven former Olympians on the 12-player roster. Ah Mow-Santos and Bown were part of the U.S. team that finished a surprising fourth at the 2000 Games.

The Americans open against top-ranked China on Aug. 14 in Athens. The U.S. women have won two Olympic medals, taking silver in 1984 and bronze in 1992.

Former Long Beach State All-American Tara Cross Battle became the first American volleyball player to be named to four Olympic teams. She is one of three 49ers, with Danielle Scott and Tayyiba Haneef.

There are two each from the University of Hawai'i (Ah Mow-Santos and Bown) and Stanford (Ogonna Nnamani, Logan Tom), and one from Minnesota (Berg), Nebraska (Nancy Metcalf), Texas A&M (Stacy Sykora) and UCLA (Wiz Bachman). Keba Phipps did not go to college.

The U.S. men are ranked sixth in the world. Stanley is one of seven first-time Olympians on the team. The Americans open Aug. 15 against Italy, which won the bronze medal in 2000 and is ranked second in the world.

Team USA has won two golds (1984 and '88) and a bronze (1992) in men's volleyball.

There are two former Southern California All-Americans on the roster, in Brook Billings and Donald Suxho. Stanley is the only former Rainbow.

Others named to the U.S. team are Phil Eatherton (Ball State), Ryan Millar (BYU), Lloy Ball (Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne), Tom Hoff (Long Beach State), Reid Priddy (Loyola Marymount), Kevin Barnett (Pepperdine), Riley Salmon (Pierce College), Gabe Gardner (Stanford) and Erik Sullivan (UCLA).

The U.S. women opened the World Grand Prix yesterday with a 28-26, 25-13, 25-22 win over South Korea, in Bangkok, Thailand. Bown scored a match-high 13 points to lead three players in double figures.

"The first match of any tournament is a tough one to get through," said Bown, who had nine kills, four blocks and hit .500. "Some adjustments were made on our side to pull out game one. After that we seemed to find our rhythm for the remainder of the match."

This year's Grand Prix will serve as the final pre-Olympic competition for Team USA. It features 10 of this year's 12 Olympic teams.

The top five teams after three weekends of pool play advance to the championship round July 27-Aug. 1, along with host Italy.