12 fortunate USA Volleyball athletes got the opportunity to take a breather from training in Colorado and compete at the Pan American Cup in Mexico. This tournament is to qualify Team USA for the 2009 World Grand Prix which will be one of the largest and most important tournaments of that year. We are currently playing in pool play and we have only lost to Dominican Republic in a 5 game nail biter. We will most likely face them again in the playoff rounds. Hello Everyone. It has been a while since I have written about what is going on in my crazy, fun-filled life but I took some time to fill ya’ll in. After finishing my Italian season, I came directly to Colorado to start training with the National Team. I was the first to arrive of the Overseas players but I felt as though taking almost four years off was enough break. “For the group that has been training since January, we are looking to continue evaluating them in the Pan American Cup, plus the three matches at home against Brazil in June,” Lang Ping said. “We will look at different players and combinations. We want them to use their skills learned here in training during game situations and see the results.” Practice has been going well and as of last week the entire team is back in the gym training and doing everything to prepare for the Olympics. The team has still yet to be named but I feel as though I speak for everyone when I say that everyone in the gym right now, small or big, is playing a vital role in the preparation of the final team. The 2 Liberos for Team USA (Nicole Davis and Myself)
 http://www.usavolleyball.org/Media/National/08OlympicExhibition/women/2008_OLYMPIC_EXHIBITION-WOMEN_POSTER.pdfhttp://www.usavolleyball.org/Media/National/08OlympicExhibition/women/2008_OLYMPIC_EXHIBITION-WOMEN_POSTER.pdfshapeimage_8_link_0
USA vs Brazil June 11, 13 & 14 on American Soil
http://www.usavolleyball.org/http://www.usavolleyball.orgshapeimage_10_link_0
Click Here For Details This is a wonderful opportunity for Americans to fall witness to High-Level International Volleyball on American soil. It will almost be giving America a “sneak peek” of a possible Olympic medal-round match. Brazil is currently ranked #1 in the World and USA #4. Pan American Cup Team My roommate is Kristin Richards, from Stanford, and this picture would be all the snacks that we brought along with us to keep us happy. This picture was taken when we arrived and unpacked. The food is being consumed by only the two of us and it is already half way gone Stanford art class assisted two of my teammates in drawing stick figures of the entire team before one of our matches. Nail Guns=SykoBarbChards
(Sykora, Barboza, Richards)
We play our last pool-play game today, have a day off and then start the play-off round. Our goal is to qualify for the 2009 World Grand Prix so we have to finish among the Top 4. For up to date information please go to the USA Volleyball Official Website at www.usavolleyball.org or just click on the logo.http://www.usavolleyball.orgshapeimage_17_link_0
The entire USA Team will be back together Junes 8th to continue the journey for an Olympic medal. Though the final 12 athlete will be chosen soon, every athlete in the gym has given something to the final team that the team will take with them all the way to Beijing. Some of my teammates here with me at the Pan Am Cup who have been training and competing for Team USA will be going home or back to their Universities after the tournament is terminated. This is always a hard time for me personally because I always grow close to each individual and feel as though I am saying goodbye to one of my own sisters. USA Volleyball will soon be 12 but any and everyone who has stepped foot on the court for USA is apart of that 12. Here is a picture of me with my USA teammate Juliann Faucette. One of the biggest college rivalries is Texas A & M and The University of Texas. Here we are together, an Aggie and a Longhorn representing the United States together, on the same team. Us at dinner in the “Gold Medal Room” at Champs
 
 
Stacy’s Other Blogs Let me step away from volleyball for a moment and pass on some information to ya’ll a great friend of mine, Christina Tammen, passed on to me about INVISIBLE CHILDREN. The movie Invisible Children: Rough Cut is about the children of Northern Uganda who are either living in displaced camps because of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) or are forced to work as child soldiers in this rebel army. The atrocities these children suffer are unfathomable and yet the story exposed is not just about what the children are going through but about their amazingly positive attitudes during such times of suffering. Despite the bumps in the road that these children have encountered they are still hopeful that help is on its way. 
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/media/videos/ http://www.invisiblechildren.com/media/videos/shapeimage_27_link_0