U.S. Sitting Teams Win First Matches

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

DENVER, Colo. (March 6, 2010) – The U.S. Men’s and Women’s Sitting Volleyball Teams opened the 2010 Parapan American Championships on Saturday with victories over Canada and Brazil respectively at the Colorado Convention Center.

The competition, which is part of the Colorado Crossroads tournament, is a qualifier for the 2010 Sitting Volleyball World Championships on July 11-18 at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla. However, because the U.S. teams have automatically qualified (due to hosting the event), only Brazil and Canada are fighting for slots.

The U.S. Women’s Sitting Team opened the evening session of the tournament with a 25-18, 25-11, 25-15 victory over Brazil.

The U.S. Women got off to a slow start in the first set, and the teams were tied at 8-8 until Lora Webster (Cave Creek, Ariz.) went on a serving run and increased the U.S. lead to 13-8. Brazil pulled back to within two at 13-11 and then at 14-12. But Katie Holloway (Lake Stevens, Wash.) served for three points to increase the U.S. lead to 16-12 and Brazil never got any closer.

“I didn’t know what to expect (from Brazil),” U.S. Women’s Sitting Team Head Coach Bill Hamiter (Bethany, Okla.) said. “We hadn’t seen them since the World Championships in 2007. I thought we came out a little hesitant.”

The U.S. Women jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the second set behind the serving of Heather Erickson. Holloway had four kills and a block in the run. The United States increased the lead to 14-2, including five straight points behind the serving of Brenda Maymon (Sellersburg, Ind.), who had two aces in the run. With the U.S. Women leading 16-6, Kendra Lancaster (Westfield, Ind.) served for six straight points, including three aces, to put the set out of reach.

“Katie busted out a few kills in that second set,” Hamiter said, “and I really think that got us going.”

The U.S. Women took a 9-3 lead in the third set and extended it to 16-8 at the second technical timeout (TTO) before winning 25-15.

“We’ve been playing and training at home (in Edmond, Okla.), we’re not used to playing with all the noise (of Colorado Crossroads),” Holloway said. “We need to get used to that.”

The U.S. Men followed up the U.S. Women’s victory with a 25-21, 25-16, 25-18 defeat of Canada.

In the first set, Canada took an 8-7 lead at the first TTO and continued to lead at 10-9 when the U.S. Men scored three straight points behind the serving of Brent Rasmussen, including an ace. The United States continued to lead 16-13 at the second TTO and went on to win the first set.

“I thought we were a little rusty,” U.S. Head Coach Edgar Miraku (Elbasan, Albania) said. “That’s not surprising consider we haven’t played an international competition in quite a while.”

The second set started out close as well with Canada leading 8-7 at the first TTO. With the score tied 10-10, the United States scored two straight points on a block by Dan Regan (St. Louis, Mo.) and Eric Duda (Gainesville, Fla.) and a Canadian error. Canada scored once, but Team USA led 15-11 by scoring three straight points on a kill by Roderick Green (West Monroe, La.) and a block by Brad Johnson (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and James Stuck (New Kensington, Pa.) along with a Canadian error.

 Canada did not back down and trailed by only three at 19-16. But the U.S. Men scored the final six points of the match behind the serving of Regan, who had an ace in the run, and several Canadian errors.

The United States held an 8-6 lead at the first TTO of the third set. Canada tied the score at 9-9, but the U.S. Men scored the next five points behind Duda’s serving. Stuck had two kills and a block in the run. Later, with the United States leading 19-14, it scored four straight points, including another Stuck kill, behind Rasmussen’s serving to put the set and match out of reach.

“It felt really good to play again,” Stuck said. ”We need to work on a lot of things.”

Pool play will be completed on Sunday as the U.S. Women play Canada at 9 a.m. MT and the U.S. Men face Brazil at noon. The women’s semifinals will start at 3 p.m. as the second- and third-place teams play and the men’s semifinal will follow at 6 p.m.

The finals will be played at 10 a.m. (women) and 1 p.m. (men) on Monday.

Play opened on Saturday with the Brazilian Women’s Sitting Team defeating Canada, 25-13, 25-4, 25-6. That was followed by the Brazilian Men’ Team defeating Canada, 25-13, 25-17, 25-14.

“It was a very good match for our first match,” Brazilian Men’s Sitting Team Head Coach Celio Cesar Mediato said through an interpreter. He added that it was the first international match for the team in this Paralympic quadrennial. “It is very important to get off to a good start at an American tournament.”

Canada is also seeing its first international competition since it played the United States last year.

“There were a couple rotations where I thought we were really competitive,” Canada Head Coach Ian Haliday said. “There were a couple that really hurt us. That’s just our inexperience.”

Schedule and Results:
March 6
Brazil def. Canada (women): 25-13, 25-4, 25-6
Brazil def. Canada (men): 25-13, 25-17, 25-14
USA def. Brazil (women): 25-18, 25-11, 25-15
USA def. Canada (men): 25-21, 25-16, 25-18
March 7 (All times MT)
9 a.m. Canada vs. USA (women)
Noon: Brazil vs. USA (men)
3 p.m. 2nd place vs. 3rd place (women)
6 p.m. 2nd place vs. 3rd place (men)
March 8
10 a.m. 1st place vs. 3 p.m. winner (women)
1 p.m. 1st place vs. 6 p.m. winner (men)

U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team
1 Lora Webster (Cave Creek, Ariz.)
2 Brenda Maymon (Sellersburg, Ind.)
4 Michelle Gerlosky (Griffin, Ga.)
5 Katie Holloway (Lake Stevens, Wash.)
6 Heather Erickson (Fayetteville, N.C.)
9 Gina McWilliams (The Colony, Texas)
10 Kari Miller (Washington, D.C.)
11 Allison Aldrich (Schuyler, Neb.)
13Nichole Millage (Champaign, Ill.)
14 Kaleo Kanahele (Edmond, Okla.)
15 Kendra Lancaster (Westfield, Ind.)
18Alex Gouldie (St. Paul, Neb.)

Head Coach: Bill Hamiter (Bethany, Okla.)
Assistant Coach: Edgar Miraku (Elbasan, Albania)
Team Leader: Dixie Collins (Marshall, Va.)

U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball Team
2 Dan Regan (St. Louis, Mo.)
3 Charles Swearingon (Gulfport, Miss.)
4 Edward O'Neil (Amherst, Mass.)
5 Eric Duda (Gainesville, Fla.)
7 Brad Johnson (Pompano Beach, Fla.)
8 James Stuck (New Kensington, Pa.)
9 Hugo Storer (Houston, Texas)
11 Roderick Green (West Monroe, La.)
12 Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.)
13 Josh Franklin (Houston, Texas)

Head Coach: Edgar Miraku (Elbasan, Albania)
Assistant Coach: Bill Hamiter (Bethany, Okla.)
Team Leader: Dixie Collins (Marshall, Va.)

Tags: Bill Hamiter, Edgar Miraku, Sitting Volleyball, U.S. Men's Sitting Volleyball Team, U.S. Women's Sitting Volleyball Team