Women's Sitting Team Wins 2 More; Men are 1-2

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 22, 2010) – The U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team won two matches without dropping a set on Monday while the U.S. Men’s Team fell to top-ranked Iran at the WOVD (World Organization for Volleyball Disabled) World Cup in Port Said, Egypt.

Each team will play its final pool play match on Tuesday. The U.S. Women (3-0) will face host Egypt while the U.S. Men (1-2) will go up against Iraq.

After a hard-fought victory over Netherlands on Sunday, the U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team sailed through its two matches on Monday.

First, Team USA topped Slovenia, 25-19, 25-12, 25-13. The U.S. Women dominated at the net and served tough to keep Slovenia out of system. Katie Holloway (Lake Stevens, Wash.) led the United States with 18 points followed by Kendra Lancaster (Westfield, Ind.) with nine.

The Americans women faced Russia in the second match, taking control right away and winning, 25-12, 25-17, 25-17. Russia put up a fight in the second and third sets, but the U.S. Women’s transition game and serving were too much it in the end.

“It was nice to see the team play well today, especially in transition,” U.S. Women’s Sitting Team Head Coach Bill Hamiter (Bethany, Okla.) said. “We are a very good serving team and when we play as well as we did today at the net we are tough to beat,”

Holloway again led the United States with 17 points. Heather Erickson (Fayetteville, N.C.) added 14.

The U.S. Men’s Team had a tougher task as it faced Iran, which won the gold medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

The United States fell to Iran, 9-25, 19-25, 11-25, but came away feeling good about it effort against an experienced Iranian team.

Team captain Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.) led the U.S. Men with a 0.364 hitting percentage.

“We are playing very well right now,” Rasmussen said. “The scores reflect it but the win-loss record doesn’t. We should play another good match tomorrow.”

“The Iranian team does an excellent job at ball control. We need to continue playing good teams like them in order to gain international experience,” U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball Head Coach Edgar Miraku (Elbasan, Albania) said.

 
U.S. Tournament Results/Schedule (All times CT)
Men
Pool Play
March 21
Ukraine def. USA, 25-22, 25-23, 25-21
USA def. Great Britain, 25-19, 25-21, 25-20
March 22
Iran def. USA, 25-9, 25-19, 25-11
March 23
USA vs. Iraq, 11 a.m.

Women
Pool Play
March 21
USA def. Netherlands, 22-25, 22-25, 25-15, 25-23, 15-11
March 22
USA def. Slovenia, 25-19, 25-12, 25-13 
USA def. Russia, 25-12, 25-17, 25-17
March 23
USA vs. Egypt, 4 a.m.

U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team
Number Name (Hometown/Resident athletes at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla. are noted)
1 Lora Webster (Cave Creek, Ariz.)
3 Brenda Maymon (Sellersburg, Ind./Edmond, Okla.)
4 Michelle Gerlosky (Griffin, Ga./Edmond, Okla.)
5 Katie Holloway (Lake Stevens, Wash./Edmond, Okla.)
6 Heather Erickson (Fayetteville, N.C.)
9 Gina McWilliams (The Colony, Texas)
10 Kari Miller (Washington, D.C./Edmond, Okla.)
13 Nichole Millage (Champaign, Ill./Edmond, Okla.)
15 Kendra Lancaster (Westfield, Ind.)
18 Alex Gouldie (St. Paul, Neb.)

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

U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball Team
Number Name (Hometown/Resident athletes at the University of Central Oklahoma are noted)
2 Dan Regan (St. Louis, Mo./Edmond, Okla.)
3 Charles Swearingon (Gulfport, Miss./Edmond, Okla.)
4 Edward O'Neil (Amherst, Mass./Edmond, Okla.)
5 Eric Duda (Gainesville, Fla./Edmond, Okla.)
7 Brad Johnson (Pompano Beach, Fla.)
8 James Stuck (New Kensington, Pa./Edmond, Okla.)
9 Hugo Storer (Houston, Texas)
10 Edgardo LaForest (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
11 Roderick Green (West Monroe, La./Edmond, Okla.)
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.)
Athletic Trainer: Brian Choate

Tags: Bill Hamiter, Brad Johnson, Brenda Maymon, Brent Rasmussen, Dan Regan, Edgar Miraku, Eric Duda, Gina McWilliams, Heather Erickson, Hugo Storer, James Stuck, Josh Franklin, Kari Miller, Katie Holloway, Kendra Lancaster, Lora Webster, Nichole Millage, Roderick Green, sitting, Sitting Volleyball, U.S. Men's Sitting Volleyball Team, U.S. Women's Sitting Volleyball Team