USA Volleyball Announces Women's Olympic Team Nominations

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 9, 2004) – USA Volleyball nominates the following 12 athletes to the U.S. Women's Olympic Team pending certification by the United States Olympic Committee:

Setters—Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Lindsey Berg (Honolulu,
Hawaii); Middle Blockers—Wiz Bachman (Lakeville, Minn.); Heather Bown (Yorba
Linda, Calif.) and Danielle Scott (Baton Rouge, La.); Outside Hitters—Tara
Cross-Battle (Houston, Texas), Ogonna Nnamani (Normal, Ill.), Keba Phipps
(Las Vegas, Calif.) and Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah); Opposites—Tayyiba
Haneef (Laguna Hills, Calif.) and Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa); and
Libero—Stacy Sykora (Burleson, Texas).

Under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Toshi Yoshida, the United States is ranked No. 2 in the world going into the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Team USA is currently competing at the World Grand Prix in Asia.

The USA women, led by four-time Olympian Cross-Battle and three-time Olympian Scott, are long on experience: a total of seven past Olympians make up the 12-player roster.

Cross-Battle becomes the first athlete in USA Volleyball history (male or female, beach or indoor) to be named to four Olympic teams. She earned a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and was also a member of the 1996 and 2000 Olympic teams.

Scott, considered one of the best middle blockers in the world, was also a member of the 1996 and 2000 Olympic teams.

Phipps, who returned to the national team in 2002 following a 12-year absence, was a starter on the 1988 Olympic team. The other four past Olympians—Ah Mow-Santos, Bown, Sykora and Tom—played on the 2000 Olympic Team that finished fourth in Sydney, Australia.

Bachman, Berg, Haneef, Metcalf and Nnamani will all be making their first Olympic appearances in Greece.

For the women's Olympic indoor volleyball competition, which starts on Aug. 14, the 12 qualified teams are split into two pools. Pool A is made up of Brazil, Greece, Italy, Japan, Kenya and Korea, while Pool B consists of China, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Russia and the USA. The USA women will be challenged right off the bat: the team will play top-ranked China to begin play on Saturday, Aug. 14. The women will then play Germany (Aug. 16), the Dominican Republic (Aug. 18), 2000 silver medalist Russia (Aug. 20) and three-time defending gold medalist Cuba (Aug.22) to wrap-up pool play.

2004 USA Women's Olympic Volleyball Team Quick Facts

Years
1964, 1968, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004

Medals
1984 (Silver); 1992 (Bronze)

Multiple Olympians
4-Tara Cross Battle (1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004)
3-Danielle Scott (1996, 2000 and 2004)
2-Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (2000 and 2004)
2-Heather Bown (2000 and 2004)
2-Keba Phipps (1988 and 2004)
2-Stacy Sykora (2000 and 2004)
2-Logan Tom (2000 and 2004)

First-Time Olympians
Wiz Bachman
Lindsey Berg
Tayyiba Haneef
Nancy Metcalf
Ogonna Nnamani

Olympians by State
California (2): Heather Bown; Tayyiba Haneef
Hawaii (2): Robyn Ah Mow-Santos; Lindsey Berg
Texas (2): Tara Cross-Battle; Stacy Sykora
Illinois (1): Ogonna Nnamani
Iowa (1): Nancy Metcalf
Minnesota (1): Wiz Bachman
Louisiana (1): Danielle Scott
Nevada (1): Keba Phipps
Utah (1): Logan Tom

Olympians by College
Long Beach State (3): Tara Cross-Battle; Tayyiba Haneef; Danielle Scott
Hawaii (2): Robyn Ah-Mow Santos; Heather Bown
Stanford (2): Ogonna Nnamani; Logan Tom
Minnesota (1): Lindsey Berg
Nebraska (1): Nancy Metcalf
Texas A&M (1): Stacy Sykora
UCLA (1): Wiz Bachman

Photo Courtesy of FIVB