Sean Rooney
Position: Outside Hitter
Height: 6-9 (206cm)
Weight: 220 lbs (100kg)
College: Pepperdine
Joined Team: May 2007
PERSONAL: Born Sean Michael Rooney on Nov. 13, 1982 in Wheaton, Ill.... Parents are Mike and Carol Rooney... Sean also has two sisters, Melissa and Megan... Sean attended Wheaton-Warrenville South High School. He was the 2001 Illinois State Player of the Year as he led the team to a state championship. He also competed in golf and basketball... He competed in the 1999 Junior Olympics, with the U.S. Junior National Team in 2000, and with the AAU National championship teams in 2000 and 2001, garnering the MVP award in 2001... He graduated from Pepperdine in 2005 with a degree in business administration... In 2004, Rooney joined the AVP beach volleyball tour. His highest placing was fifth, which he achieved three times... He was the tallest player on the AVP tour... During the winters of 2006 and 2007, Rooney played for the Hyundai Capital Skywalkers in the Korean League. He led the team to two Korean League titles and was named the league's most valuable player both years. He was considered a sports celebrity in South Korea... In 2007-08, he played for Dinamo-Yantar in Kaliningrad, Russia... In 2008-09 and 2009-10 he played for Fakel Novy Urengoi in Russia... Enjoys the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack Johnson, The Grateful Dead, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dave Matthews and the Counting Crows... SportsCenter is his favorite TV show.... Calls his grandfather his role model for "devoting his life to helping others."
MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2009 - 2010 FIVB World Championship Qualifier for NORCECA Group F (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League. 2008 - Olympic Games (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League (Gold Medal)... NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifying Championship (Gold Medal). 2007 - FIVB World Cup... Americas' Cup (Gold Medal)... Pan American Games (Silver Medal)... FIVB World League (Bronze Medal). 2003 - World University Games (bronze).
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2009 - Sean was named Best Spiker at the 2010 FIVB World Championship Qualifier for NORCECA Group F on Aug. 15-17 in Irvine, Calif., as the U.S. won all three matches and qualified for the 2010 World Championship. Sean finished the competition with 19 kills and one error on 29 attempts for a success percentage of 65.52... Sean was the United States' leading scorer in both pool play and the final round of the FIVB World League competition, where the U.S. Men finished sixth. Sean started every pool play match except the final one against Netherlands. He finished pool play with 167 points on 149 kills, 15 blocks and three aces in 42 sets to put him eighth overall. In the final round, he had 20 points on 17 kills, two blocks and one ace in six sets. 2008 - Sean finished the 2008 season with 167 points (2.98 points per set) and a hitting percentage of .41. He also finished with 140 kills (2.50 per set) and 20 blocks... Sean helped the U.S. Men win the Olympic gold medal in Beijing. Primarily played as a substitute and serving specialist... Helped the U.S. Men win their first FIVB World League title. Led the team in scoring with 20 points in a loss to Bulgaria on June 21...Helped the U.S. Men win the Four Nations Tournament on May 11-13 in Germany... Sean was named "Best Spiker" of the NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifying tournament on Jan. 6-11 in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Sean finished the tournament with 46 points on 43 kills and three blocks. The U.S. Men won the tournament and qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games. 2007 - Sean finished the season as the team's seventh-leading scorer with 151 points. He averaged 2.07 points per set in 73 sets played. His hitting percentage was 0.444 and he averaged 1.88 kills per set... Sean was named the Most Valuable Player of the U.S. Men's match against Egypt at the FIVB World Cup. Sean scored 18 points on 15 kills, two blocks and one ace as the United States won in straight sets... Sean was the team's leading scorer at the Pan American Games and third overall with 64 points on 58 kills, five blocks and one ace in five matches. He was the Pan Am Games' leading "spiker" with an efficiency percentage of 42.11... Traveled to every World League match and started in four. 2003 - Played with the 2003 World University Games team that won a bronze medal in Daegu, Korea.
COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2005 - By the end of his college career, Sean ranked second nationally among NCAA Division I-II players in points per game with 6.35 while hitting .395 on the season as he led Pepperdine to the 2005 NCAA national championship... He extended his consecutive double-digit kill match streak to 50 matches, while averaging 1.46 digs and 0.49 aces per game. Rooney totaled 20 or more kills in 14 matches, including two 30-plus kill contests in 2005... Sean tallied season-highs of 44.5 points, 36 kills and seven aces versus Pacific in the season-opening match on Jan. 14. He contributed a double-double of 22 kills and 10 blocks versus Long Beach State on Jan. 27... Sean was a four-time AVCA All-American and only the seventh male student-athlete to achieve such an honor. 2004: Had a stellar season culminating in being named Volleyball Magazine's Player of the Year... Postseason accolades included being named AVCA first team All-American and Volleyball first team All-American... Tabbed MPSF first team All-Conference... Led the team with 461 kills and hit .406 for the year... Banged out double-digit kills in final 25 matches of the season and 26 of 28 total... Recorded a season-high four service aces twice (Santa Barbara, Northridge) and ended the season with 29 total... Only double-double of the season came against Long Beach State (Feb. 4)... Finished year with 88 total blocks... Hit .667 with 10 kills on 15 swings without an error against Loyola. 2003: Coming off a successful season in 2002, Sean proved his worth once again as a starting outside hitter during the 2003 campaign. Named as a First Team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and by Volleyball Magazine; Sean was also tabbed First-Team All-MPSF. As a key component to the Wave's 24-6 season, Sean led the team with a total of 480 kills (.354 hitting percentage) and also led the team in kills per game, with an average of 4.53. Sean also contributed 25 service aces and 83 total blocks on the season. On January 9, 2003, Sean obtained an individual season-high 22 kills in a five-game win over Cal Baptist. Sean also added an individual season-best 12 digs and four service aces in the 5-game decision loss to Lewis in the NCAA Championship Semi-Finals on May 1, 2003... Averaged 4.53 kills, .16 assists, .24 service aces, 1.59 digs and .78 blocks per game. 2002: Selected the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) "Freshman of the Year"... Helped Pepperdine compile a 29-5 record and advance to the NCAA title match before losing a four-game decision to Hawaii... The Waves captured the regular season MPSF title with a 20-2 mark and won the league's post-season tournament... A second team All-American selection by the AVCA and a second team All-MPSF pick as a rookie... Led the Waves with 510 kills, an average of 4.11 a game, and notched an impressive .378 attack percentage... Posted double-figure kill totals in 31 of the team's 34 matches... Notched career-best total of 28 kills against UCLA... Recorded 26 service aces, 171 digs and 72 total blocks... Recorded career-high total of seven blocks against UC Irvine.
