Summer Progress Toward Olympic Qualification

Summer 2007 started with the big picture for the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team and worked itself toward the fine details and brush strokes that will be needed for 2008 Olympics qualification. The summer canvas, or results sheet, painted a picture of a team laying the groundwork toward Beijing, as well as a glimpse into the team’s future beyond 2008.

Among the crafted storylines this summer include:

-Veterans Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.) and Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.) providing veteran leadership and consistent scoring in two of three tournaments. Haneef-Park switched positions to opposite, her 2004 Olympics position, for the FIVB World Grand Prix.

-Return of two-time Olympians Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Stacy Sykora (Burleson, Texas) after nearly three years away from the U.S. Women’s National Indoor Team.

-Emergence of Kim Glass (Lancaster, Pa.) as an option at outside hitter in her first international competition at FIVB World Grand Prix.

-College players Tracy Stalls (Denver, Colo.), Cynthia Barboza (Long Beach, Calif.), Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) and Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.) providing glimpses what may not be too far off in the future for Team USA.

-A crowded setter spot with the return of Lindsey Berg (Honolulu) to the team after nearly a year hiatus to help the setting chores. Captain Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (Honolulu) set for the U.S. at two of three tournaments. Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.), less than a year out of college, helped U.S. to a bronze medal at the Pan American Games. Thompson was one of only two players to compete in the first three summer tournaments for Team USA. Further, Lindsey Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) started the first two matches at the Pan American Games.

-Two victories over NORCECA rivals Cuba and Dominican Republic.

The U.S. claimed the silver medal at the NORCECA Continental Championship to earn a berth into the 2007 FIVB World Cup. Team USA swept Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico and Dominican Republic during pool play, then handled host Canada in three sets during the semifinals. Cuba outlasted the U.S. 22-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-23, 18-16 to win the gold medal.

To reach this point in the season, U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach ‘Jenny’ Lang Ping elected to use a combination of veteran and young players at the season’s first two events, the Pan American Cup held June 21-29 at Colima, Mexico, and the Pan American Games held July 14-19 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

After going undefeated during the Pan American Cup pool play, the U.S. finished the tournament in fourth place. However, Team USA reached most of its goals by qualifying for the 2008 FIVB World Grand Prix while playing a young roster against predominantly veteran opponents.

Half the Pan American Cup roster carried over to the Pan American Games at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Haneef-Park and Scott-Arruda, the U.S. delegation flag bearer for the Pan American Games Opening Ceremony, provided a key balance of veteran leadership to a young squad.

Team USA collected victories over Costa Rica and Puerto Rico in pool play, but was overmatched by Cuba’s top team in the final preliminary match. After a rough start against host Brazil in the semifinals, the U.S. stayed close the final two periods of a three-set loss. The Americans rebounded with a sweep of Peru to claim the bronze medal.

Lang Ping assembled a veteran roster for the FIVB World Grand Prix after evaluating the college players and relatively new players to the international scene. However, the U.S. Women’s National Team faced a daunting task to qualify for the FIVB World Grand Prix Finals through three weekends of preliminary action in three distinct locations: Rzeszow, Poland; Khabarovsk, Russia; and Macau, China.

Team USA finished seventh at the conclusion of the three World Grand Prix preliminary round weekends with a 5-4 record, just out of qualification for the Finals Round. The American squad held destiny in its own hands up to the final day of preliminary matches, but lost to Netherlands in four sets in a match that guaranteed the winner a berth in the Final Round.

The U.S. started the Grand Prix with wins over Poland and Russia, the world’s top-ranked team, at Poland. Both squads qualified for the six-team FIVB World Grand Prix Finals. During the second week of the tournament, the U.S. defeated NORCECA rival Cuba and Kazakhstan. After the first two weeks of preliminary action, Team USA had lost to just 2004 Olympic champion China and Russia in a rematch on its home court.

During the final preliminary weekend in Macau, the U.S. dropped a second three-set match to host China to put the Americans in a must-win situation the rest of the round. Team USA responded with a four-set win over Cuba, but failed to earn the finals berth after losing to Netherlands.

Based on the final win-loss records for the 12 countries competing in the FIVB World Grand Prix preliminary rounds, Team USA had the third toughest schedule. The U.S. faced a schedule that compiled 45 wins in the tournament. Chinese Taipei opponents cataloged 55 wins, thanks in part to three matches against Brazil and seven matches versus above .500 teams for the tournament. China played a tournament-high eight matches against teams with at least a .500 record for a total of 48 victories.

Third Year (59-36)

“Jenny” Lang Ping of China, one of the most famous and respected individuals in the history of volleyball, begins her third year leading the U.S. women's national team.

Lang Ping led the U.S. to a 16-12 record in 2006 when using a full U.S. senior national team against international competition. The U.S. finished fourth at the 2006 Pan American Cup, which qualified the Americans for the 2007 World Grand Prix. Team USA finished seventh at the 2006 World Grand Prix and was in contention for the final round up to the last match of the preliminaries. The U.S., ranked seventh in the latest FIVB world rankings, finished ninth at the 2006 World Championships after competing in the strongest first two round groupings based on world rankings.

In 2007, Team USA has a 17-9 record after the first four tournaments of the season. The U.S. qualified for the 2008 FIVB World Grand Prix with a fourth-place finish at the Pan American Cup using a youthful roster. Team USA won a bronze medal at the Pan American Games with a mix of youth and veterans. With one of the toughest routes to the reach the finals, the Americans finished seventh at the FIVB World Grand Prix after the preliminary round and eighth place overall.

In her first year as head coach Lang Ping guided the USA Women’s National Volleyball Team to a record of 26-15. After a slow start to the season, the Americans earned medals in each of their final three events: including a gold medal at the FIVB World Championship Qualifying Tournament (at Puerto Rico); a gold medal at the NORCECA Championships (at Trinidad and Tobago); and a silver medal at the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup (at Japan). Team USA finished the year by winning 15 of its last 17 matches, including a stunning 3-0 win over 2004 Olympic gold medalist China at the Grand Champions Cup in November 2005.

Known as the “Iron Hammer” during her playing days, Lang Ping, 44, was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame as a player on Oct. 18, 2002, culminating an incredible career that saw her establish herself as one of the finest female volleyball players ever.

Lang Ping was a member of the Chinese women’s national team that won an Olympic gold medal over the United States at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, a World Championship crown in 1982 and World Cup titles in 1981 and 1985.

Revered by Chinese fans, Lang Ping has been honored with her own postage stamp, had her wedding broadcast on Chinese national television and has stadiums named after her in China.

She later became a well-respected coach in multiple countries. From 1987-1989 and 1992-1993 Lang Ping was assistant coach at the University of New Mexico. From 1993-1995 she was the head coach of the Yaohan Professional World Superstar Team in Japan.

In 1995, Lang Ping became the head coach of the Chinese national team and eventually guided the squad to the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Later that year she earned FIVB Coach of the Year honors. China also captured a silver medal at the 1998 World Championship, a bronze medal at the 1995 World Cup and a gold medal at the 1995 Asian Championships during her tenure. She resigned from her job as coach in early 1999.

After leaving China’s national team program in 1999, Lang Ping was head coach for a number of championship teams in the Italian League.  Before accepting the Team USA position, she was the head coach of the Pieralisi Volleyball Club (Club Jesi). Among her players at the time in Italy was two-time USA Olympic libero Stacy Sykora.

Lang Ping took over her current position from former Team USA coach Toshi Yoshida, who resigned late in 2004 to accept a professorship position at Biwako Seikei Sport College in Japan.

“(Jenny) is an individual who has been uncommonly successful in every phase of her career as a player and a coach, and her accomplishments are unequaled,” USA Chief Executive Officer Doug Beal said.  “She won every major event as a player for China during her career and was clearly the dominant player in the world in the 1980s.

“And she transitioned more seamlessly than almost anyone in volleyball history to her role as a coach, leading China to a silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and successfully coaching professionally in Italy for many years.”

Others within USA Volleyball echo the sentiments that Lang Ping is the right choice to lead Team USA.

“Doug Beal has made a good and bold choice with the selection of ‘Jenny’ Lang Ping as our new women’s national team coach,” said USA Volleyball President, Al Monaco  “It is a good choice for the continued solidification of the USA women among the world's elite, and it is a bold choice for the future of female volleyball coaches in the U.S.

“By hiring Jenny, USA Volleyball is sending a loud message – to the world that we are serious about having our women's team be the best, and to the nation that we are committed to the advancement of females at the top levels of coaching.”