USA Volleyball Names its Teams of the Year

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

Bill Kauffman
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 13, 2010) – USA Volleyball has announced its teams of the year for the 2010 season.

Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers comprise the Beach Team of the Year. The U.S. Women’s National Team has been named the Indoor Team of the Year. The U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team has been named the U.S. Sitting Team of the Year.

Dalhausser/Rogers and the U.S. Women’s National Team will be nominated for the United States Olympic Committee Team of the Year. The U.S. Women’s Sitting Team will be nominated for Paralympic Team of the Year.

Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) won 75 of 86 matches on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour in 2010 as well as all 34 matches in which they competed on the AVP Tour before it ceased operations on Aug. 13.

In 2010, Dalhausser and Rogers became the first American men’s team to win the SWATCH FIVB World Tour championship since the early 1990s when Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos were the top international team when the season overlapped two years (1992-1993). Dalhausser and Rogers also established a record for winnings by a men’s team in a single-season with US$387,700 in earnings.

Dalhausser and Rogers were named the FIVB’s Team of the Year after capturing nine SWATCH FIVB World Tour titles in 2010, including Grand Slam gold medals in Italy (Rome), Switzerland (Gstaad), Austria (Klagenfurt) and Poland (Stare Jablonki) along with second- and third-place finishes at major events in Russia (Moscow) and Norway (Stavanger), respectively.

At the opening 2010 FIVB World Tour event in Brasilia, Brazil, Dalhausser and Rogers came through the contender's bracket to win and become the first American team to win a title in that country since 1996.

Domestically, Dalhausser and Rogers dominated the AVP Tour winning five out of six of the tournaments in which they competed. They finished the opening tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., tied for second with Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) because the final was cancelled due to weather.

Photo: Kishimoto for USA Volleyball The U.S. Women listen to the National Anthem prior to a match at the 2010 FIVB World Championships. The U.S. Women’s National Team held a 10-match victory improvement over its 2009 season in head coach Hugh McCutcheon’s (Christchurch, New Zealand) first season. After an 18-14 season in the first year of the Olympic quadrennial using a young but talented roster, the Americans improved to 28-13 in 2010 and medaled in three of their four match events.

The U.S. Women captured the silver medal at the 26th Montreux Volley Masters event June 8-13 in Switzerland. The Americans won six of seven matches at the Pan American Cup held June 18-26 in Mexico, bringing home the bronze after a semifinal loss to eventual champion Dominican Republic. Team USA used a split roster for the two events, using a balance of young talent just out of college interspersed with a handful of veterans.

At the FIVB World Grand Prix held in August, the U.S. Women caught fire after a disastrous 1-2 start in the first preliminary weekend. The side won its final six preliminary round matches to earn a spot in the FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round held Aug. 25-29 at Ningbo, China. The Americans bounced back from a two-set deficit to Poland in the first Final Round match to win in five sets and went on to victories over Italy, Brazil, China and Japan to claim their third World Grand Prix gold medal and first since 2001. The U.S. Women defeated teams currently ranked No. 1, No. 3, No. 3, No. 5 and No. 8 in the Final Round.

The Americans’ success continued at the FIVB Women’s World Championship in which they won their first six matches, pushing their overall win streak to 17 matches in FIVB tournament matches. However, the U.S. lost to Italy and Brazil in the second round around a sweep of Netherlands. The U.S. Women ended the World Championship in fourth place after a four-set loss to eventual champion Russia in the semifinals and five-set loss to host Japan in the bronze-medal match.

The U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team capped off a successful summer with a silver medal at Photo: John Armuth The U.S. Women's Sitting Team waits to receive its silver medals at the 2010 World Championships. the Sitting Volleyball World Championships, which qualified the team for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

The U.S. Women’s Sitting Team finished the World Championships, which were held July 11-18 in Edmond, Okla., with a match record of 7-1 and a set record of 21-5. Katie Holloway (Lake Stevens, Wash.) was named the tournament’s Best Spiker while Kari Miller (Washington, D.C.) was named Best Libero.

The U.S. Women’s Sitting Team opened 2010 by defeating Brazil and Canada to win the Parapan American Championships on March 6-8 in Denver, Colo. It then traveled to Port Said, Egypt, where it won the WOVD World Cup, finishing with a 6-0 record and losing only three sets along the way, all to Netherlands.

Tags: Athlete of the Year, Awards, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers, U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, U.S. Women's Sitting Volleyball Team