USA Volleyball Blogs

NORCECA Gold and Thank Yous

Sun Jul 11 18:37:00 -0400 2010

Saturday, July 10 Packed and ready to head home! Oh wait, what happened today.... Same daily schedule - breakfast, practice, video/meeting, rest, play match, win, dinner, good night. Well, ok, a few things were different: First, we played for the gold medal tonight at 7 p.m. (same starters and… Read More

Locking Up a Spot at Worlds

Sat Jul 10 23:40:00 -0400 2010

Friday, July 9, 11:15 p.m. Breakfast at 9 a.m.; light practice at 11 a.m. followed by video session; lunch, resting and prepare for tonights re-match with Mexico. Usual starters (Kreklow, Holthus, Reeves, Wopat, Hampton, Croson, and Bonilla). After a slow start of the opening set, the USA ball… Read More

Off Day, Now Mexico Again in Semifinals

Fri Jul 09 02:56:00 -0400 2010

Thursday, July 8, 11:15 p.m. Short entry tonight as little to report, it's late and a busy day tomorrow. B-fast this morning followed by 9:30 a.m. training session on the main court. It was then decided that the team would go out for lunch and some shopping on our day off. Soon we were loaded on a… Read More

USA Reaches NORCECA Semifinals

Thu Jul 08 02:35:00 -0400 2010

Wednesday, July 7, 10:30 p.m. A good win for Team USA 3-0 - 25-19; 25-16, and 25-23. The 1st set was close until our girls went on a point run about 1/2 way through the set. The 2nd set was never really in much doubt, but the 3rd was close to the very end. Starters were Kreklow, Croson, Hampton,… Read More

Today is a Big Day

Wed Jul 07 18:37:00 -0400 2010

Wednesday, July 7 Sorry for the lack of send yesterday. Internet connections are available in both the dorm and the gym. Typically, they have been very good, but we've experienced some periodic outages. This occurred to me at the dorm last night. Anyway.... yesterday was a good day for Team USA as… Read More

Two Training Sessions Today, Two Matches Tomorrow

Mon Jul 05 23:00:00 -0400 2010

July 5 Back to volleyball today as competition begins for 6 of the 10 teams in the tournament. Earlier in the day Puerto Rico dispatched Trinidad & Tobago and Canada handled Costa Rica, both in three sets. We've just completed the Opening Ceremonies and are awaiting the equipment crew, aka the… Read More

U.S. Women's Junior Team in Mexico

Mon Jul 05 13:33:00 -0400 2010

Greetings from chilly Tijuana, Mexico; site of the 2010 NORCECA Women's Junior Continental Championships. More on the 'chilly' part shortly.... For the 3rd year in a row, this age-group of athletes has had to deal with a less-than-optimal schedule to prepare for an international event. In 2008, as… Read More

Tom Pingel with Men's Junior National Team

Sun Jul 06 02:25:57 -0400 2008

Saturday, July 58:30a b-fast and straight to the bus for a short practice in preparation for MEX and a hopeful trip to the medal stand tonight.Special thanks to the family members of players that made the trip to San Salvador on short notice as the team was announced on about June 23.  The USA… Read More

Tom Pingel with Men's Junior National Team

Sat Jul 05 01:37:58 -0400 2008

Friday, July 4The coaches chose not to practice this morning, given that we played 2 matches yesterday.In what was no surprise, DOM defeated ESA and PUR defeated GUA in classification matches earlier in the day.We start as we started yesterday.  We hang with Cuba for while, but we can’t… Read More

Tom Pingel with Men's Junior National Team

Fri Jul 04 02:42:52 -0400 2008

Thursday, July 3 – Part 2Upon returning to the hotel the primary focus of the team was lunch and rest – not necessarily in that order.The rains have once again returned, but so far, the leak has not (knock, knock).  The first quarterfinal went surprisingly quickly.  In what… Read More

Tom Pingel with Men's Junior National Team

Fri Jul 04 02:36:57 -0400 2008

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 An early start today as we have the 8a practice time on the competition floor.  B-fast at 7, bus at 7:20a.Not sure I mentioned earlier, but there is NOTHING around our hotel other than a few sport federations and housing.  The hotel and connected buildings are… Read More

Tom Pingel with Men's Junior National Team

Wed Jul 02 00:43:39 -0400 2008

Tuesday, 7/1 12:15pNo rest for the weary as we arrived back to the hotel about 12:30a last night.  Hungry as no food available post-match and no places to get anything at or near the hotel.  Hungry also for a better result today.  After downloading and synchronizing video and a quick… Read More