U.S. Women’s Sitting Team Looks to Bat Cycle at Paralympics COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 15, 2012)- The 2012 U.S. Para- lowed by Team USA with the third seed. Ukraine, ranked No. 3 lympic Women’s Volleyball Team will attempt to make history in in the world, takes the fourth seed. London, Aug. 29-Sept. 9 at the ExCel venue, vying to capture the program’s first-ever gold medal at a Paralympic Games. The U.S. Women will start competition in Pool B with Brazil, China and Slovenia. Pool A is occupied by Great Britain, Japan, Team USA, ranked second in the world according to the World The Netherlands and Ukraine. Organization for Disabled Volleyball (WOVD) under head coach Bill Hamiter (Bethany, Okla.), will kick-start its Paralympic com- The team earned its Paralympic qualification in July of 2010 petition on Friday, Aug. 31, in Pool B at 4 p.m. local time (8 a.m. after capturing the silver medal at the 2010 WOVD Sitting VolPT) against the No. 2 seed and top-ranked team in the world, leyball World Championships. Since then the team has captured China. two gold medals and competed in a hand full of international exhibition matches. The U.S. Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team has claimed hardware from the 2004 and 2008 Paralympic Games, winning bronze in In September of 2011 the team took the gold medal at the ECVD Athens and silver in Beijing under then-head coach Mike Hulett, Continental Cup in Yevatoriya, Ukraine. Holloway was named who was awarded USA Volleyball’s highest honor as the Harold tournament most valuable player, Miller was named best libero T. Friermood ‘Frier’ award recipient at the 2012 Boyce Awards and Gerlosky was named best server. Banquet on May 24 in Dallas. The team now looks to bat a full- In late September the team posted another gold-medal perforcycle with gold in London. mance, this time at the Parapan Am Zonal Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Holloway was again named tournament most valuTeam USA, consists of eight returning athletes from the 2008 able player and added best spiker to her awards, Erickson U.S. Paralympic Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team: Allison Aldrich earned best server and Kanahele best setter. (Schuyloer, Neb.), Heather Erickson (Fayetteville, N.C.), Katie Holloway (Lake Stevens, Wash.), Brenda Maymon-Jensen With its dominance as a team and individual success the team (Charlestown, Ind.), Lora Webster (Phoenix, Ariz.), Nichole was named the 2011 Sitting Volleyball Team of the Year. HolMillage (Champaign, Ill.), Kari Miller (Washington, D.C.) and loway was named the 2011 Sitting Athlete of the Year. team captain Kendra Lancaster (Westfield, Ind.). The team suffered a devastating blow in May 2011 when LanAldrich, Maymon-Jenson, Webster and Lancaster are making caster, who had just been named team captain, suffered injuries their third Paralympic appearances as they also competed at the in a head-on car accident in Morgan Country, Ind. Lancaster, 24, 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. The four athletes are trying was taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis in critical condito win their third Paralympic Games medal. tion. But after a year of recovery, she returned to the team for its recent trip to Netherlands where it won the DELA Trophy Monique Burkland (Ardmore, Okla.), Michelle Gerlosky-Schiffler 2012. (Lake Wales, Fla.) and Kaleo Kanahele (Oklahoma City, Okla.) will make their Paralympic debuts in London. As a last stitch effort to prepare for the Paralympics the team traveled to Shanghai for exhibition play with Ukraine and China. Hamiter is making his first Paralympic trip as the U.S. Women’s The matches brought the top three ranked teams in the world Sitting Volleyball Team head coach. He joined the program as under one roof. Team USA went 1-5 on the tournament and head coach and high performance director in June of 2009. came home for its last team camp to iron out kinks and get ready to jump the pond. Joining Hamiter on the staff for London will be assistant coach Cara Lang, team leader Cecile Reynaud, athletic trainer Brian The team will be tweeting from the games so be sure to follow Choate and statistician Elliot Blake. @USA_Volleyball (USA Volleyball), @KennyLynn15 (Kendra Lancaster), @KSHolloway (Katie Holloway), @Kaleo_vb10 (Kaleo With the host seeding, Great Britain will take the first seed and Kanahele), @HeatherSitVB6 (Heather Erickson), enter the competition for the first time in its program history. @MoniqueBurkland (Monique Burkland), @allieusa11 (Allison China, ranked No. 1 in the world, will take the second seed fol- Aldrich), @bmrocket3 (Brenda Maymon-Jenson), @KarisittingV
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