USA Volleyball Blogs

Day 12 in Italy: Jump Floats Like Bu …

Sat Sep 05 20:17:00 -0400 2009

Mohammed Ali used to "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”  With an array of vicious jump floats and a couple of deep floaters, Brazil destroyed the USA serve reception and beat the USA in four, 27-25, 25-19, 25-27, 25-19.  Down 15-21 in the 1st set, Brazil scored 12 of… Read More

Day 11 in Italy: Remember the U.S. Boys' Team

Fri Sep 04 17:16:00 -0400 2009

Today was a different day from the beginning. No rush to get to the gym for a match. Breakfast was much later than for the first six matches. And then a sprained ankle to our libero Evan Mottram in a morning practice. Injuries happen and none of them are good; but when they happen to your… Read More

Day 10 in Italy: The Haunted Hotel

Thu Sep 03 23:30:00 -0400 2009

Sept. 3, 2009 The U.S. Boys' Youth National Team played a good competitive match against six-time world champion Brazil today, but came up short 25-22, 23,23,23-25. This was new territory for their coach Percy and his team as they are not used to playing in the lower pools. As I mentioned, they… Read More

Day 9 in Italy: Big People, Little World

Wed Sep 02 17:24:00 -0400 2009

Sept. 2, 2009 The Boys' Youth National team qualified for the semifinals of the 9-16 bracket with a 3-0 win over Egypt today. Scores were 25-21, 16 and 18. Playing with more resolve and consistency, USA was led again by Taylor Sander with 16 Kills followed by Jeremy Dejno (11), Josh Taylor (7K),… Read More

Day 8 in Italy: Riding the Roller Coaster

Tue Sep 01 17:00:00 -0400 2009

Sept. 1, 2009 Good month to you all (that means good day but in a new month :-) The USA Boys' Youth National Team developed a new thrill ride in its first, secondary pool match win over Algeria today - the Bassano del Roller Coaster.  Scores were 25-17, 22-25, 25-17, 20-25, 15-6. After an… Read More

Day 7 in Italy: Welcome to Bassano del Grappa

Mon Aug 31 18:58:00 -0400 2009

Aug. 31, 2009 We woke up to a beautiful day in Jesolo. Low humidity, light winds and a clear sky.  Unfortunately we were leaving. The top teams from Bassano del Grappa (Italy, Spain, Argentina and Tunisia) arrived for the top eight.  As they stepped off the bus, the USA, Brazil, Poland… Read More

Day 6 in Italy: Moving Day

Sun Aug 30 17:30:00 -0400 2009

Aug. 30, 2009 They call the third day of a Professional Golf Association tournament "moving day.” Players are positioning themselves to be in or out of contention for the championship. We had our third day of competition today and unfortunately we are moving to Bassano de Grappa tomorrow… Read More

Day 5 in Italy: Tough Loss to Serbia

Sat Aug 29 23:57:00 -0400 2009

Aug. 29, 2009 The joys of yesterday’s win was replaced by the bitter taste of defeat as a good Serbian team played very well and handled our young team and defeated us 25-17, 18, 18. We had trouble passing the jump floats and that put pressure on our siding out. Starters today were Micah… Read More

Day 4 in Italy: Pulling Off the Upset

Fri Aug 28 15:05:00 -0400 2009

Aug. 28, 2009 Well, the kids pulled off the upset!!  After playing nobody but our own teammates for the past two weeks, the U.S. Boys' Youth National Team saw someone different on the other side of the net and responded with some grit and beat the defending champion Iran in four games.  … Read More

Day 3 in Italy: Meetings and More

Thu Aug 27 18:13:00 -0400 2009

Aug. 27, 2009 One item that was omitted in yesterday’s report was the city of San Diego as being the second in the line of cities to host the USA Men's volleyball team. How could I leave out the old Balboa Park gym that took the Dayton refugees in before the Colorado Springs move? My bad. … Read More

Day 2 in Italy: Preparing for Iran

Wed Aug 26 15:03:00 -0400 2009

Aug. 26, 2009 Well, it's Wednesday and it was a pretty  boring day compared to our venture into Venice yesterday. This blogging stuff can be pretty confusing to someone as computer challenged as I am.  But I will do my best and hopefully we can all enjoy a little about our trip. If the… Read More