Beijing Bound

I would like to start this blog by thanking my friends and teammates who dedicated their summer and lives to USA Volleyball and fell short of the 12 player roster heading to Beijing. Without all the bodies in the gym, non of us nor USA Volleyball would be what or where we are today.

Making this team, and going to my third Olympics, could be the greatest thing that has happened to me in my 31 years. It was a long, hard and bumpy road for all of us. My happiness and joy was accompanied by sadness and hurt for my closest friends/teammates who will not be going.

I cried for the first time Olympians that will experience the Games for the first time. I cried for the girls going back to college that were so close but will now use their talents to win a National Championship. I cried for Jen Joines who was in Colorado Springs for 2 weeks training, waiting, wondering and the only one who made the team that was not in Japan with us.

Last but not least, I cried for the girls training in Colorado Springs who sweat, bled, hurt, train and commit their lives to USA Volleyball and will not be able to experience the Olympics with us. Though all these athletes will not be there with us physically, I can reassure yall that they will be with us in spirit.

U.S. Women’s Indoor Volleyball Olympic Roster
1 - Ogonna Nnamani OH, 6-1, 2004, Bloomington, Ill., Stanford
2 - Danielle Scott-Arruda MB, 6-2, 1996-2000-2004, Baton Rouge, La., Long Beach St.
3 - Tayyiba Haneef-Park OPP, 6-7, 2004, Laguna Hills, Calif., Long Beach St.
4 - Lindsey Berg S, 5-8, 2004, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Minnesota
5 - Stacy Sykora L, 5-10, 2000-2004, Burleson, Texas, Texas A&M
6 - Nicole Davis L, 5-4, None, Stockton, Calif, USC
7 - Heather Bown MB, 6-3, 2000-2004, Yorba Linda, Calif., Hawai’i
9 - Jennifer Joines MB, 6-4, None, Milpitas, Calif., Pacific
10 - Kimberly Glass OH, 6-2, None, Lancaster, Pa., Arizona
11 - Robyn Ah Mow-Santos S, 5-7, 2000-2004, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Hawai’i
12 - Kim Willoughby OH, 5-10, None, Napoleonville, La., Hawai’i
15 - Logan Tom OH, 6-1, 2000-2004, Salt Lake City, Utah, Stanford
Head Coach: “Jenny” Lang Ping Assistant Coach: Sue Woodstra Therapist/Trainer: Li Yong Technical Consultant: Thomas Hogan Technical Coordinator: Diane French Team Leader: Joan Powell

I hope that ya’ll enjoyed my blog. We will be leaving Colorado Springs soon to train at CAL to get used to sea-level and also to process for the Olympics. We leave for Beijing August 1st. My next blog will be a post Olympic Blog sharing my experiences and pictures. Wish us luck and support our National Teams as we head over to Beijing in search of success.

Well, If you have to be in Japan, you should still feel at home. I found myself here, at Mc Donalds before every game and almost always afterwards. It was basically attached to our hotel so I could walk there in 5 minutes. The two most wonderful things about eating Mc Donalds over seas is that the french fries are actually always “Golden” and they still fry their apple pies.

Well, for those of yall who did not know, I was not chosen to go to the World Grand Prix tournament this year as the libero. At this tournament they would change out one girl every week for the 4 week long tournament and at the last and final week, the 2008 Olympic Team would be announced.

I have to say that this was the hardest time of my life. I was training hard in Colorado Springs but could not help to think about the team playing over in Asia without me. Before the fourth and final week, Ogonna was chosen to go and I was to stay at home another week.

Unfortunately at a practice, in Asia, an outside hitter was on a table putting on her kneepads and the table collapsed and she fell to the ground hard, giving her back spasms and pain all over. She was given a medical release and this was the reason why I participated in the fourth and final week as the libero. Blessings come in disguises. I would never in my life want to benefit from someone elses loss but things happen for a reason and the outside hitter who fell also made the team so THINGS REALLY DO HAPPEN FOR A REASON.....

After the conclusion of the Grand Prix, myself and a few of my teammates flew to Los Angeles for the ESPY Awards hosted by my sponsor UNDER ARMOUR.

We went to dinners, parties, after parties, the ESPY’s and I met so many amazing people and idols that I have enjoyed watching on television my entire life. It was such a great weekend and I really owe it all to Under Armour and my representative, Tori Hanna, who is absolutely wonderful!

Kim Glass and I at the ESPY’s

I played my collegiate career at Texas A & M where my volleyball journey began. I am honored to become the first 3-Time Olympic Aggie. I could go on and on about how wonderful Texas A&M is but for the full press release please click on the logo or here.

U.S. Women's 2008 Olympic Games Indoor Volleyball Schedule
Pool A: China, Cuba, Japan, Poland, USA, Venezuela Pool B: Algeria, Brazil, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, Serbia
Saturday, Aug. 9 - at Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Pool B: Italy vs. Russia, 10 a.m. Pool B: Serbia vs. Kazakhstan, Noon
Saturday, Aug. 9 - at Capital Indoor Stadium Pool B: Algeria vs. Brazil, 12:30 p.m. Pool A: Poland vs. Cuba, 2:30 p.m. Pool A: Venezuela vs. China, 8 p.m. Pool A: Japan vs. USA, 10 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 11 - at Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Pool B: Algeria vs. Serbia, 10 a.m. Pool B: Kazakhstan vs. Italy, Noon
Monday, Aug. 11 - at Capital Indoor Stadium Pool A: USA vs. Cuba, 12:30 p.m. Pool B: Brazil vs. Russia, 2:30 p.m. Pool A: China vs. Poland, 8 p.m. Pool A: Japan vs. Venezuela, 10 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 13 - at Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Pool B: Italy vs. Algeria, 10 a.m. Pool A: Venezuela vs. USA, Noon
Wednesday, Aug. 13 - at Capital Indoor Stadium Pool B: Russia vs. Kazakhstan, 12:30 p.m. Pool B: Serbia vs. Brazil, 2:30 p.m. Pool A: Cuba vs. China, 8 p.m. Pool A: Poland vs. Japan, 10 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 15 - at Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Pool B: Algeria vs. Russia, 10 a.m. Pool B: Brazil vs. Kazakhstan, Noon
Friday, Aug. 15 - at Capital Indoor Stadium Pool A: Venezuela vs. Poland, 12:30 p.m. Pool B: Serbia vs. Italy, 2:30 p.m. Pool A: USA vs. China, 8 p.m. Pool A: Japan vs. Cuba, 10 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 17 - at Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Pool B: Kazakhstan vs. Algeria, 10 a.m. Pool A: Cuba vs. Venezuela, Noon
Sunday, Aug. 17 - at Capital Indoor Stadium Pool A: Poland vs. USA, 12:30 p.m. Pool B: Italy vs. Brazil, 2:30 p.m. Pool A: China vs. Japan, 8 p.m. Pool B: Russia vs. Serbia, 10 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 19 - at Capital Indoor Stadium Women's quarterfinal 01, 10 a.m. Women's quarterfinal 02, Noon Women's quarterfinal 03, 8 p.m. Women's quarterfinal 04, 10 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 21 - at Capital Indoor Stadium Women's semifinal 01, 12:30 p.m. Women's semifinal 02, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 23 - at Capital Indoor Stadium Women's bronze-medal match, 12:30 p.m. Women's gold-medal match, 8 p.m. Women's Award ceremony, 9:50 p.m.