U.S. Olympic Athletes
Tyra Turner
Resides: Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.
Height: 6-1
College: University of Central Florida
Current Coach: Kerri Pottharst
Olympic History: None
PERSONAL: Born Tyra Lynn Harper on July 21, 1976 in Bloomington, Ill. ... Mother's name is Patricia Harper. Father's name is Mark Hogan... Tyra is an only child... Tyra's husband is beach volleyball player Chad Turner. They married in January, 2005. They live in Southern California during the beach volleyball season and in Florida during the offseason... Tyra played two years of high school volleyball at Cypress Lake High School in Fort Myers, Fla. She also played four years of softball... She graduated from high school in 1994 and went to the University of Central Florida, where she played volleyball all four years... She graduated from UCF in 1998 with a degree in speech language pathology... Tyra was all-conference all four years at the University of Central Florida (first-team in 1995-97)... She was AVCA all-District in 1996 and 1997 and in 1997 she was the conference Player of the Year as well as being named to the all-Academic team... Tyrea was named the 1998 UCF Scholar Athlete of the Year as well as the Female Athlete of the Year.... She set a school record for blocks and is second in career kills... Her 151 consecutive matches played ranks fifth in NCAA history... In 2004, she was inducted into the UCF Athletic Hall of Fame. She played on the U.S. National Team before brief stints with the USPV and playing in Greece in 2003... Tyra is a member of USA Volleyball's Board of Directors as an athlete representative... Tyra enjoys reading, shopping and spending time with family... She listens to Sade, Bob Marley, India Arie and Jars of Clay... Her favorite movies are Remember the Titans and Forrest Gump... Her favorite TV show is The Biggest Loser... Her role model is Oprah Winfrey because "she makes a difference. She has changed people's lives."
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: Tyra partnered with Nicole Branagh for two FIVB Beach events at the end of the 2008 season. The pair took second place in Thailand (Nov. 4-9) and third in China (Nov. 11-16)... Tyra and partner Rachel Wacholder had their best finish on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour on June 8, 2008, when they finished second at the event in Stare Jablonki, Poland... Prior to that, they had won the bronze medal at the FIVB Grand Slam tournament in Paris in 2007. They had to play in the qualifier to make it to the main draw... They are currently ranked fourth among the U.S. women's teams trying to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games. The United States can only send two teams to the Olympics.
DOMESTIC HIGHLIGHTS: Tyra had a breakout year in what was her fifth season on the beach, more than doubling her career earnings in 2007 and playing in 11 AVP semifinals, including four title matches... Tyra had a pair of fifths in 2004, earning her a full-time spot in the main draw... In 2005 she was part of the fourth-ranked team (with Makare Wilson) on the AVP Tour with two semifinal appearances and eight fifth-place finishes... In 2006, she also played on the FIVB Tour, resulting in competitions in 18 out of 19 consecutive weeks. .. On the AVP Tour in 2006 Tyra ranked ninth in blocks (.79 per game)... In 2007, she was fifth in blocks (1.11 per game), sixth in kill percentage (.547) and 10th in aces (.65 per game).
PARTNERS: 2008 - Rachel Wacholder. 2007 - Rachel Wacholder. 2006 - Makare Wilson/Nancy Mason. 2005 - Makare Wilson. 2004 - Makare Wilson. 2003 - Franci Van Zwieten.
Current Coach: Kerri Pottharst
Olympic History: None
PERSONAL: Born Tyra Lynn Harper on July 21, 1976 in Bloomington, Ill. ... Mother's name is Patricia Harper. Father's name is Mark Hogan... Tyra is an only child... Tyra's husband is beach volleyball player Chad Turner. They married in January, 2005. They live in Southern California during the beach volleyball season and in Florida during the offseason... Tyra played two years of high school volleyball at Cypress Lake High School in Fort Myers, Fla. She also played four years of softball... She graduated from high school in 1994 and went to the University of Central Florida, where she played volleyball all four years... She graduated from UCF in 1998 with a degree in speech language pathology... Tyra was all-conference all four years at the University of Central Florida (first-team in 1995-97)... She was AVCA all-District in 1996 and 1997 and in 1997 she was the conference Player of the Year as well as being named to the all-Academic team... Tyrea was named the 1998 UCF Scholar Athlete of the Year as well as the Female Athlete of the Year.... She set a school record for blocks and is second in career kills... Her 151 consecutive matches played ranks fifth in NCAA history... In 2004, she was inducted into the UCF Athletic Hall of Fame. She played on the U.S. National Team before brief stints with the USPV and playing in Greece in 2003... Tyra is a member of USA Volleyball's Board of Directors as an athlete representative... Tyra enjoys reading, shopping and spending time with family... She listens to Sade, Bob Marley, India Arie and Jars of Clay... Her favorite movies are Remember the Titans and Forrest Gump... Her favorite TV show is The Biggest Loser... Her role model is Oprah Winfrey because "she makes a difference. She has changed people's lives."
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: Tyra partnered with Nicole Branagh for two FIVB Beach events at the end of the 2008 season. The pair took second place in Thailand (Nov. 4-9) and third in China (Nov. 11-16)... Tyra and partner Rachel Wacholder had their best finish on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour on June 8, 2008, when they finished second at the event in Stare Jablonki, Poland... Prior to that, they had won the bronze medal at the FIVB Grand Slam tournament in Paris in 2007. They had to play in the qualifier to make it to the main draw... They are currently ranked fourth among the U.S. women's teams trying to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games. The United States can only send two teams to the Olympics.
DOMESTIC HIGHLIGHTS: Tyra had a breakout year in what was her fifth season on the beach, more than doubling her career earnings in 2007 and playing in 11 AVP semifinals, including four title matches... Tyra had a pair of fifths in 2004, earning her a full-time spot in the main draw... In 2005 she was part of the fourth-ranked team (with Makare Wilson) on the AVP Tour with two semifinal appearances and eight fifth-place finishes... In 2006, she also played on the FIVB Tour, resulting in competitions in 18 out of 19 consecutive weeks. .. On the AVP Tour in 2006 Tyra ranked ninth in blocks (.79 per game)... In 2007, she was fifth in blocks (1.11 per game), sixth in kill percentage (.547) and 10th in aces (.65 per game).
PARTNERS: 2008 - Rachel Wacholder. 2007 - Rachel Wacholder. 2006 - Makare Wilson/Nancy Mason. 2005 - Makare Wilson. 2004 - Makare Wilson. 2003 - Franci Van Zwieten.
