U.S. Men's Update - May 11

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

ANAHEIM, Calif. (May 11, 2009) – U.S. middle blocker Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.) and his Greek team Olympiacos won the Hellenic league championship on May 7.

Host Olympiacos defeated Panathinaikos, 3-0 (30-28, 25-16, 25-19) in the final match to win the championship series 3 matches to 1.

Hoff was credited with 4.17 points on three kills and 1.7 blocks.

Russia

The Russian publication Sport Express Daily has run an interview with U.S. setter Lloy Ball (Fort Wayne, Ind.) following his team’s victory in the Super League championship.

Zenit Kazan defeated Iskra Odintsovo, 3 matches to 1 in the final round.

In the article, Bll says, “I would like to forget about volleyball for several months and spend this time with my family.

"I will play golf and watch playoff series in NBA and NHL.”

Read the full article at http://english.sport-express.ru/articles/9_290/.

To use Google translation to read an interview with Ball on the team’s web site, click here.

The Zenit Kazan web site also reports that Ball was the only player on the team to compete in all 32 Russian Super League championship matches in which the team participated. He also played 122 sets. His teammate Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawai'i) was close behind, playing in 31 championship matches and 115 sets. Stanley led the team in scoring with 502 points.

France

Tourcoing, the French league team that features U.S. setter Jonathan Winder (Irvine, Calif.) advanced to the league finals where it lost to Paris, two matches to zero.

Winder played as a substitute in the championship matches.