U.S. Women’s Sitting Team Perfect in Brazil

Becky Murdy
Assistant, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: becky.murdy@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 29, 2011) - The U.S. Women’s Sitting Team remained undefeated Thursday at the Para Panamerican Zonal Championships, winning in straight sets over Colombia, 25-0, 25-2, 25-3 and Brazil, 25-17, 25-20, 25-15.

In its first match, Team USA defeated Colombia- a sitting program that is just beginning its development- in three straight sets.

“Colombia put up a good fight but couldn’t match the experience of the U.S.,” U.S. Women’s Sitting Team Head Coach Bill Hamiter (Bethany, Okla.) said. “Heather Erickson (Fayetteville, N.C./UCO Resident Athlete) had a team-high 27 points and Nichole Millage (Champaign, Ill./UCO Resident Athlete) racked up 10 points.”

The Americans then faced off against Brazil in their second match of the day with Erickson and Katie Holloway  (Lake Stevens, Wash./UCO Resident Athlete) at outside, Monique Burkland (Ardmore, Okla.), Kari Miller (Washington D.C.) at middle and Kaleo Kanahele (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Millage at setter/right side and Bethany Zummo (Dublin, Calif./UCO Resident Athlete) at libero.

“The set started out very close early on,” Hamiter said. “But USA took advantage of Brazilian unforced errors and dominated net play to win the set.” 

The second set resembled the first and started out evenly matched until the U.S. took a seven-point lead at the second technical timeout. Leading the way in scoring for the U.S. was Holloway and Burkland who performed exceptionally at the net.

In the third set Angela DeHaan (Yuba City, Calif.) subbed in for Kanahele. Hamiter added that the team quieted the home crowd early taking an 8-2 lead at the first technical timeout. The Americans continued to pull ahead leading at 16-8 from “strong serving by DeHaan, excellent passing from Zummo and strong net play but the team was too much for the Brazilians to overcome,” Hamiter added.

“Every member of the U.S. team scored with Holloway scoring 16 points,” Hamiter said. 

Holloway connected on 11 kills, five blocks and one assist while Burkland charted 13 points off of seven kills, four aces and two blocks. Erickson scored 11 points from six kills, four aces and a block.

"Our balanced attack and strong blocking was a strength for us tonight," Hamiter said. "We played very emotionally balanced in spite of the loud Brazilian crowd. A big plus for us is that we kept our unforced errors to five or less each set tonight. It's been good to see the strong play from the middle by Monique during this tournament. She has really added to our offensive success.”

The women’s team will face Colombia for the second time at 6 p.m. ET in the semifinal match on Friday. The second semifinal match will be between Brazil and Canada at 8 p.m. ET.

U.S. Women’s Sitting Team Roster for Para Panamerican Tournament 
Name (Hometown)
Katie Holloway (Lake Stevens, Wash./UCO Resident Athlete) 
Heather Erickson (Fayetteville, N.C./UCO Resident Athlete)
Angela DeHaan (Yuba City, Calif.) 
Kaleo Kanahele (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 
Nicole Nieves (Kissimmee, Fla.) 
Bethany Zummo (Dublin, Calif./UCO Resident Athlete) 
Monique Burkland (Ardmore, Okla./UCO Resident Athlete) 
Kari Miller (Washington, D.C.) 
Nichole Millage (Champaign, Ill./UCO Resident Athlete)

Staff
Head Coach: Bill Hamiter (Bethany, Okla.)
Therapist/Trainer: Kazuma Akehi

Tournament Schedule
Sept. 28, 5 p.m. ET: USA def. Canada 25-9, 25-20, 25-22
Sept 29, 11 a.m. ET: USA def. Colombia 25-0, 25-2, 25-3
Sept. 29, 8 p.m. ET: USA def. Brazil 25-17, 25-20, 25-15
Sept. 30: Semifinals 
Oct. 1: Finals

Tags: Angela Dehaan, Bethany Zummo, Bill Hamiter, Heather Erickson, Kaleo Kanahele, Kari Miller, Katie Holloway, mobile, Monique Burkland, Nichole Millage, Nicole Nieves, U.S. Women's Sitting Volleyball Team