Jim Polster
Position: Outside Hitter
Height: 6-6 (198cm)
Weight: 220 lbs (100kg)
Hometown: Laguna Niguel, Calif.
College: Long Beach State
Birth Date: Feb. 8, 1979
Joined Team: June 2001
PERSONAL: Born James Andrew Polster on Feb. 8, 1979 in St. Paul, Minn.... Now calls Laguna Niguel, Calif., home... Parents are Jeff and Ella Polster... Has two sisters, Becky and Michelle... Attended Apple Valley High School in St. Paul, Minn., and focused on baseball until his sophomore year... Jim's family moved from St. Paul to Southern California during his junior year... Graduated in 1997 from Dana Hills High School in Dana Point, Calif.... Played volleyball for two years in high school... Named all-South Coast League as a junior and senior... Named second team all-CIF as a senior... Also enjoys playing beach volleyball... Has played professionally in Greece, Italy and Turkey.
MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2007 - FIVB World Cup... NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... Americas' Cup (Gold Medal)... Pan American Games (Silver Medal)... FIVB World League (Bronze Medal). 2006 - FIVB World Championships... FIVB World League... Pan American Cup (Gold Medal)... Argentina Tour. 2005 - Pacific Northwest Tour vs. Netherlands...USOC International Sports Invitational (Silver Medal)... Argentina Tour... America's Cup (Gold Medal)... FIVB World Championship Qualifying Tournament (Gold Medal)... NORCECA Continental Championships (Gold Medal)... World Grand Champions Cup (Silver Medal). 2003 - Colorado/Nebraska Tour... Canada Tour... Pan American Games (Fourth Place)... NORCECA Zone Championships (Gold Medal)... World Cup (Fourth Place). 2002 - Dallas Tour... Six-Nation Tournament (Italy)... Louisville Tour... Bulgaria Tour... Greece Tour... Florida Tour... World Championships. 2001 - Jeep America's Cup... World University Games (Gold Medal).
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2007 - Polster played in 23 sets for the U.S. Men in 2007 and finished the season averaging 2.17 kills per set and had a hitting percentage of .417. He also averaged .17 aces per set and .35 blocks per set... Jim helped the U.S. Men to a fourth-place finish at the FIVB World Cup. Only the top three teams qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games... Jim scored five points on four kills and one block in a match against Barbados as the U.S. Men won the NORCECA Men's Continental Championship in Anaheim, Calif., and qualified for the 2007 FIVB World Cup... Jim served as the team captain at the Pan American Games and finished that tournament with 43 points on 37 kills, four blocks and five aces... Traveled to every World League match but due to injury, he did not play until he started the final pool-play match against Italy, when he scored 11 points. 2006 - Led the U.S. in scoring in two out of 11 World Championship matches... Led the U.S. in scoring in four out of 12 World League pool play matches... Helped net the gold for the U.S. at the Pan American Cup in June... Tied for the leading scorer in the tournament with 31 points...Led in scoring against Panama (11) and Canada (20)...Helped the team take the Argentina series 4-1... Finished the 2006 season third on the team in scoring (297), kills (234), scoring blocks (43) and aces (20). Final kill percentage was 51. 2005 - Jim capped the 2005 season as a member of the USA squad that captured the silver medal at the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup in November in Japan... The Americans, who lost to defending Olympic gold medalist Brazil in the first match of the tournament, lost just one set the rest of the way as they defeated Japan (3-1), 2004 Olympic silver medalist Italy (3-0), Egypt (3-0) and China (3-0) en route to their fifth medal in five events this season... Finished fourth on the team in scoring with 38 points on 32 kills, five blocks and one service ace in the five matches... Scored 11 points as the USA Men stunned the world's best team when it defeated 2004 Olympic gold medalist Brazil in five sets to win the America's Cup tournament in Brazil on Aug. 7... Scored 11 points as Team USA won its second-straight NORCECA Continental Championship with a four-set victory over Cuba on Sept. 15...The USA Men qualified for the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup with the gold-medal win... Also earned a gold medal in August at the FIVB World Championship Qualifying Tournament as the USA Men qualified for the 2006 World Championships. 2004 - Was one of six alternates for the 2004 USA Men's Olympic Volleyball Team. 2003 - Member of the team that played in the NORCECA Zone Championships in Mexico as Team USA captured the gold medal and a berth in the 2003 World Cup, the first Olympic qualifier. 2002 - Saw extensive action during the season, playing in 104-of-141 total sets... Ranks second on the team in kills (196), totals points (247) and digs (125)... He was tied for third in service aces (23), fourth in blocks (28) and eighth in points per set (2.38)... Scored a team-season-high 23 points in a five-set loss to Italy on June 11 (18 kills, three blocks, two service aces)... Played libero for final three matches of the Dallas Tour against the Czech Republic after an injury sidelined Chris Seiffert. 2001 - Won a gold medal at the World University Games in Beijing, China... Saw limited action for the U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team in the 2001 season, competing at the Jeep America's Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina... Finished the season with 12 kills in 21 attempts and posted a hitting percentage of .381.
COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2001 - Earned second-team All-America honors by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)... Named to the All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation third team...Averaged 3.53 kills, 0.89 blocks and 1.62 digs per game for the fourth-ranked 49ers, who finished the year 18-7 and tied for first-place with Hawaii in the Pacific Division of the MPSF. 2000 - Earned All-MPSF honorable mention... Appeared in 75 games on the season...Averaged 3.89 kills per game... Posted an average of 1.81 digs per game...Had a .318 hitting percentage on the season... Recorded 19 double-figure kill matches. 1999 - Earned All-MPSF honorable mention ... Led the team in total digs with 223 and in digs per game with 2.42... Was ranked fifth nationally in digs per game... Had a hitting percentage of .272... Posted 24 kills in back-to-back matches at USC (February 20) and at Stanford (February 26)... Had a season-high 25 kills on March 12 vs. Hawaii. 1998 - Earned All-MPSF honorable mention... Finished second on the team in kills with 370 and in kills per game average at 4.02... Led the team in digs with 185 and in digs per game average at 2.01. Posted 27 kills vs. Hawaii on February 20.
