U.S. Sitting Team Notes - Viva Las Vegas

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 21, 2011) – For U.S. Women Sitting Volleyball Team member Michelle Gerlosky, last week was exciting in more ways than one.

Gerlosky (Lake Wales, Fla.), who joined the sitting team in January of 2009, saw her most significant playing time with the team during its weekend of exhibition matches against Shanghai at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.

She finished the four matches having played in 11 sets and scoring 16 points on six kills, three blocks and seven aces.

On Sunday, Gerlosky also celebrated her 28th birthday.

But all that pales in comparison to Sunday, March 13, when Gerlosky married Alex Schiffler, a member of Germany’s men’s sitting volleyball team, in Las Vegas. The two met in 2010 while they were both competing for their respective teams at the Sitting Volleyball World Championships in July at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

“I didn’t know if we could have a long-distance relationship (after Worlds),” Gerlosky said. “But he made the effort and I made the effort.”

Gerlosky and Schiffler did not tell many people about their plans.

“It was a big surprise,” Gerlosky said. “Nobody knew except our immediate families. I finally told the team on Thursday.”

Schiffler is currently in the United States for two and a half months on an extended visitor visa, but will need to return to Germany to help his team try to qualify for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. The German men finished sixth at the Sitting Volleyball World Championships and only the top three teams qualified for the Paralympics. Schiffler has trained with the U.S. Men’s Team while visiting Gerlosky in Edmond.

Gerlosky, who was born missing her right hand and part of her forearm and plays with a prosthetic arm, is a member of the resident team at the University of Central Oklahoma where she is studying for her master’s of science degree in biology.

Gracious Visitors

Although the members of the Shanghai club sitting team that visited Denver did not speak much English, team member Xiong Li Na said she was enjoying the experience of playing volleyball among the many matches going on at the Colorado Crossroads Qualifier.

“This place is very good. The atmosphere is good,” she said. “People are very warm.”

New Women’s Captain

Kendra Lancaster (West Lafayette, Ind.) has taken over as the U.S. Women’s Sitting Team captain from Brenda Maymon (Sellersburg, Ind.).

Lancaster joined the Women’s Sitting Team in 2004 at age 17 and won a bronze medal at the Paralympic Games in Athens. Four years later, she was a member of the team that won silver at the Paralympic Games in Beijing.

U.S. Women’s Sitting Team Schedule

The U.S. Women’s Sitting Team is scheduled to tour China on June 14-19 to get more experience against Chinese teams as it continues to prepare for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

On Sept. 3-11, it will play in a Continental Cup tournament in Ukraine. Then on Sept. 28-Oct. 2, it will compete in a PACVO zone tournament in Brazil. The Parapan American Games will not have a women’s division for sitting volleyball.

Men’s Sitting Team Update

While the U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team was playing the Shanghai club team in Denver, the U.S. Men’s Sitting Team has been preparing for its only chance to qualify for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

U.S. Men’s Sitting Team Head Coach Edgar Miraku, who was in Denver coaching a club team at the Crossroads Qualifier, reports that the men’s team is training intensely at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond to prepare for the Parapan American Games on Nov. 12-20 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The winning team at Parapans will qualify for London.

The team has already had two training camps this season and will have a third in April before traveling to Sarajevo in May for a tournament. It is also scheduled to compete in a Continental Cup in July in England. In October, Canada is scheduled to visit for some exhibition matches in Kansas City, Mo.

“We have been working on team systems,” Miraku said. “We are seeing the benefits of having a resident team program. We are seeing real improvement in the players who are training together all the time.”

Tags: Brenda Maymon, Edgar Miraku, Kendra Lancaster, Michelle Gerlosky, Sitting Volleyball, U.S. Women's Sitting Volleyball Team