USA women’s junior
national team announces World Championship roster
 Colorado,
USA, July 18, 2005 – The United States will be sending a
veteran team to Turkey later this week to compete in the
FIVB Junior Women’s U-20 Volleyball World Championships.
The USA Women’s Junior National Team final roster of 12
players was announced Monday by head coach Shelton
Collier at the United States Olympic Training Center in
Lake Placid, N.Y., where a group of 18 athletes has been
practicing since July 8.
The roster includes: Foluke Akinradewo; Morgan Beck;
Diane Copenhagen; Alexis Crimes; Christa Harmotto;
Marcie Hampton; Bryn Kehoe; Janet Okogbaa; Airial Salvo;
Nellie Spicer; Ami Stevens; and Summer Weissing.
“We have had a very short training period, so I can
honestly say that I don't feel as if we are as truly
prepared as we would like to be,” admits Collier. “But
we have tried to accelerate our development to get as
ready as possible. We tried so many possible lineup
combinations. We really did not settle on a lineup until
two days before departure, which is not ideal, but we
will make it work.”
Akinradewo, Copenhagen, Crimes, Hampton, Harmotto,
Kehoe, Spicer and Stevens were all members of the USA
squad that qualified for the World Championships by
going undefeated (4-0) and winning the gold at the 2004
NORCECA Zone Championships last August in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada.
The tournament, which runs from July 23-31, consists of
12 teams broken up into two pools playing in two
different cities. Pool A is composed of Brazil, Croatia,
Japan, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey and the United
States. Those teams will play in the city of Ankara.
Pool B teams, which will compete in Istanbul, include
China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Italy, Puerto Rico and
Russia.
“We have such a tough pool,” Collier added. “Our goal,
realistically, is to win some matches, get into the
crossover and make something happen there. Hopefully, we
will evolve as the tournament progresses, as we did in
Poland two years ago.”
In 2003, many of last year’s WJNT members competed at
the FIVB Youth World Championships in Poland and posted
a best-ever fourth-place finish after losing to Brazil
in the bronze medal match.
Tournament play begins on July 23 for Team USA when they
face Serbia and Montenegro. |
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