The U.S. qualified to compete in the Youth Olympic Games by winning the 2010 NORCECA Girls’ Youth Continental Championship played April 27 to May 2 in Guatemala. In addition, the NORCECA gold medal also secured the U.S. a spot into the 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship to be held next year in Turkey.

Selected players for the U.S. Girls' Youth Olympic Team roster are middle blockers Samantha Cash (San Diego, Calif.), Madison Mahaffey (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) and Olivia Okoro (Carrollton, Texas). Outside and opposite hitters on the roster are Crystal Graff (Madison, Wis.), Natalie Hayes (Ozark, Mo.), Christina Higgins (Inglewood, Calif.), Elizabeth McMahon (Liberty Township, Ohio), Katherine Mitchell (The Woodlands, Texas) and Taylor Simpson (Colorado Springs, Colo.).

The two setters on the squad are Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) and Madison Kamp (Orland Park, Ill.). The libero is Tiffany Morales (Redondo Beach, Calif.).

U.S. Girls' Youth Games Head Coach Rod Wilde has selected Cash to serve as the team captain. She, along with McMahon, were part of the gold-medal winning 2010 NORCECA Women's Junior Continental Championship team that went undefeated without dropping a single set at the event held July 5-10 in Mexico.

Cash, Graff, Kamp, Mahaffey, McMahon, Okoro and Simpson were all part of the U.S. Women's Junior National Training Team that trained May 20-22 at the U.s. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The remaining 11 players were originally selected to the U.S. Women's Junior National A2 Team program.

Rod Wilde has moved from being an international elite player to being a coach at various levels of competition in the United States, including college and USA Volleyball's High Performance Pipeline.

Wilde played setter for four seasons (1976-79) at Pepperdine. He was named in the All-American first team three times. His teams shared two SCIVA titles and went to the NCAA Championships three times. He made the NCAA All-Tournament Team in 1978 when the Waves won their first national championship. He was a four-time all-conference selection (twice on the first team).

Wilde later served as Pepperdine’s men’s Volleyball coach from 1986 through 1988 when Marv Dunphy was coaching the U.S. National Team. Wilde’s Wave teams were 58-27 and won the 1986 national championship.

Wilde was a member of the USA team and an alternate on the 1984 Olympic squad. He served as an assistant coach for the U.S. teams at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. He has worked as the men’s coach at UC San Diego, the women’s coach at Drake and an assistant women’s coach at Wisconsin.

Rod is a six-time USAV All American and was MVP in 1989. He was a member of the 1983 Pan American Team. Rod was the 30 and over MVP at Nationals in 1992 and 1999.