July 2, 2012
SEATTLE - Husky All-Americans Courtney Thompson and Tamari Miyashiro stated their cases one final time for a spot on the USA Volleyball Olympic Team this past weekend, when they helped Team USA capture the gold medal at the prestigious FIVB World Grand Prix. The FIVB World Grand Prix is the premier annual international women's volleyball tournament featuring 16 teams. The USA won the title for the third year in a row, joining Brazil as the only teams to three-peat. The gold medal was secured with a 3-0 win over China in the finale held in Ningbo, China. Team USA was 5-0 in the final round (defeating China, Cuba, Turkey, Thailnad, and Brazil) after going 9-0 in preliminary round matches. Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon had a preliminary roster of 25 players, and chose 12 players for each round of the three rounds of preliminary play, making adjustments in-between rounds, with many players overlapping. Miyashiro was one of just five players to make all four trips, competing in all preliminary rounds, first in the Dominican Republic, then Brazil, then Thailand, and then on to China for the final round. Thompson made the trip to China for the final round and also played in two of three prelim rounds, in Brazil and Thailand. Miyashiro was frequently used as a serving specialist, but started the final two matches of the championship round at libero. Over the entire tournament, the 2009 grad played in 43 of a possible 48 sets. As a serving sub in 35 sets, she served 60 times with two aces averaging 1.71 serves per substitution. She averaged 1.02 digs per set, but had eight digs in the gold-medal clinching match against China on July 1. This is the second gold for Miyashiro in the World Grand Prix. She was on the team last year as well but played in just 13 sets in that run. Thompson was in a three-setter rotation for Team USA during the tournament. Lindsey Berg was the primary setter for the first two preliminary rounds. Over the last prelim round and the final round, Thompson split starting duties with Alisha Glass. The 2006 grad averaged 3.85 running sets with 26 sets played. This is the first gold medal in a major tournament for Thompson with Team USA. "We're extremely happy with tonight's win," U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) said. "Our Team played some wonderful volleyball over the course of these four weeks and to be able to win this event for the third time in a row is certainly special. Our team works hard and they play together - it's a special group. As our focus now shifts towards London, we will continue with our plan and we hope to play our best volleyball of 2012 at the Games." |
