Metcalf Selected for World Championships Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Former Husker All-American Nancy Metcalf was one of 12 players selected to the United States National Team for the FIVB World Championships held at various cities in Japan starting Oct. 31.

Metcalf, who has been a member of the USA National Team since 2000, is one of four returning U.S. Olympians to make the 2006 World Championships roster. Earlier this summer, Metcalf turned in a strong performance, leading Team USA to a fourth-place finish at the Pan American Cup.

Metcalf, who was a three-time AVCA All-American at Nebraska, led Team USA in scornig four times and averaged a team-best.419 points per set at the World Grand Prix and ranked third among all players in the tournament through the end of the nine-match preliminary round. This is her second appearance at the FIVB World Championships, as she was a member of the U.S. Team that finished second in 2002.

USA Volleyball Tournament Preview
The U.S. women’s national volleyball team will compete in the 15th edition of the FIVB World Championships held at various cities in Japan starting Oct. 31. The season-ending tournament concludes on Nov. 16, 17 days and 104 matches after the first serve. 

The U.S. women’s team, 9-8 on the season when using a complete national team roster, has been grouped into Pool C of the World Championships first round at Kobe, Japan. Team USA opens against Kazakhstan on Oct. 31, followed by the Netherlands on Nov. 1. After an off day, the U.S. faces Cameroon on Nov. 3, Brazil on Nov. 4 and Puerto Rico on Nov. 5.

Other first-round pools include Japan, Korea, Poland, Chinese Taipei, Kenya and Costa Rica in Pool A. China, ranked first in the world rankings, headlines Pool B along with Russia, Dominican Republic, Azerbaijan, Mexico and Germany. Pool D consists of 2002 World Championships winner Italy along with Cuba, Peru, Serbia & Montenegro, Turkey and Egypt.

Setter Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (Honolulu) will serve as the captain of the 12-player U.S. squad, while a total of five players with 2004 Olympics experience has landed on the 2006 World Championships roster. Middle blockers Danielle Scott (Baton Rouge, La.) and Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.), outside hitter Tayyiba Haneef (Laguna Hills, Calif.), opposite Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) and Ah Mow-Santos all participated in the most recent Olympic Games held in 2004.

Team USA’s roster will include four players that earned silver medals at the 2002 World Championships held in Germany. Scott, Bown and Haneef all started for the U.S. in the 2002 World Championships, along with Metcalf being on the roster. Scott, who was selected as the Best Blocker in the 2002 World Championships, also competed for the Americans during the 1994 World Championships.

“They help us a lot from game experience,” U.S. Head Coach “Jenny” Lang Ping mentioned in reference to her veteran players. “They have been through all different situations. They are technically pretty consistent and very important to us. Robyn Ah Mow-Santos did not go to the World Championships (in 2002), but she played in the 2004 Olympic Games which is great for us.

“However, that was four years ago and our opponents are different now. Last championships, Brazil and China had young teams. After four years, they have become top two in the world. All the opponents are starting to get more experience than four years ago. Even Cuba is older and more experienced. All the teams (in the World Championships) this year look to have more experience. Even Dominican Republic is experienced as most of its players competed in the 2004 Olympics.”

The remaining Team USA roster spots include outside hitters Therese Crawford (Kalamazoo, Mich.) and Katie Wilkins (Lakeside, Calif.), middle blocker Jennifer Joines (Milpitas, Calif.), opposite Cassie Busse (Prior Lake, Minn.), setter Lindsey Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) and liberos Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.) and Sarah Drury (Louisville, Ky.).

“The roster has been a last minute deal as some players are still recovering from injury,” Lang Ping said. “Also, we are trying to match the different players. It is like a player puzzle. It doesn’t mean the six players from last year will be the six players that will be good this year. You have to match different skills and help each other. We have to make sure we don’t have a glaring weakness that our opponents can find. We need to match-up our own players, and it is pretty hard for the coach especially with some young players. They have improved a lot, but they are still not very consistent. So with 11 matches (in the World Championships), you want to play with consistency to have good results. We have tried to make the team as stable as possible.”

Ah Mow-Santos was tabbed as the Best Setter at the 2006 Pan American Cup, her only tournament this season while playing for the U.S. team. Metcalf has led the team in scoring in eight matches and has a 4.08 points per set average in 2006. Scott, who rejoined the team in mid-July, averages 2.67 points per set after the World Grand Prix. Bown, who was named Best Blocker in two legs of the World Grand Prix preliminary rounds, averages 0.62 blocks and 3.15 points per set. Haneef averages 3.60 points per set in 2006.

The World Championships will be Joines’ third major international tournament of the season. She averages 2.47 points per set this season. Wilkins, who has not competed since the Pan American Cup, holds a 3.38 points per set average this season. Crawford started throughout the 2006 World Grand Prix with two double-digit scoring matches. Wilkins scored 99 points in seven matches at the 2007 Pan American Cup, including 15 points against Brazil on July 6. Busse was on the Pan American Cup and World Grand Prix rosters, highlighted by a seven-point performance in a reserve role against China on Aug. 25. Hunter was the starting setter for Team USA at the TV Azteca Cup last month and was the second-best setter in the tournament according to the final stats. Davis was the U.S. libero for the final two weekends of the 2006 World Grand Prix and still managed to finish sixth in the Best Libero race for the tournament. Drury was the starting libero at the TV Azteca Cup and finished second overall in the Best Digger and Best Receiver categories.

“We have a couple good players who can not go because of injuries or some other reason,” Lang Ping said. “But we have been consistently training very hard under this difficult situation and we will see how far we can go.”

Prior to the start of the World Championships, Team USA will train with Takefuji Volleyball Club in Japan the week leading up to the opening match in hopes of acclimating to the new climate and change in elevation. The U.S. trains at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, which resides at 6,185 feet above sea level.

“It is a great thing for us to go there (and train with Takefuji) for two reasons,” Lang Ping said. “First thing, we need to get used to jet lag and the food. Second, we need to train at sea level as it will affect serving and passing, and it will be very different. The players will need to adjust very fast. Hopefully, we can play a couple of friendship matches with Takefuji so that we can get our tournament mood early. Our first match is against Kazakhstan and the second is against Netherlands, and those two matches very important for us.”

The sixth-ranked U.S. will face the stiffest opening round competition as Pool C has an overall 12.67 average world ranking. Brazil currently is ranked second in the world, while Puerto Rico ranks 12th, Kazakhstan and Netherlands are tied for 16th and Cameroon is ranked 24th.

Pool D ranks second in terms of average world ranking at 13.00 with fourth-ranked Italy and fifth-ranked Cuba leading the way. Despite China’s number-one world ranking, Pool B measures third in terms of average ranking among the four pools. Pool A, which consists of host Japan, holds an average 15.17. Japan is the highest ranked team in the pool at number seven, while Costa Rica is the lowest ranked team in the 24-team field at number 33.

“I have never seen the pools this strong,” Lang Ping said. “The top four teams are in our first pool and cross-over pool. Everybody has prepared very well for World Championships this year. The first pool we have Brazil, and Netherlands has been playing very well as it won second place in the European Championships. Puerto Rico has taken us to five sets last June. We don’t know much about Kazakhstan, but they finished second in the Asian Championship. So we have to pay very much attention to all these teams.

“In the second round, we are guessing to meet China and Russia who are both in the top three in the world. Throw in Brazil in the first round, and they are all the best. Dominican Republic will be for sure in the top four in their pool. They have been playing very well this year as it has defeated us twice and lost once. We have not played Azerbaijan, but they have been playing very good after taking China and Russia to five sets. All those teams are very much a challenge. Germany is also in that pool and cannot be overlooked.”

The U.S. has never faced first-round opponents Kazakhstan or Cameroon. Team USA is 24-9 overall against the Netherlands, but lost its last meeting with the European squad in three sets at the 2005 World Grand Prix. The U.S. is 30-40 against Brazil all-time as the second-ranked team in the world has posted two four-set victories over the Americans in 2006. Team USA is officially 1-1 against Puerto Rico this year, although the loss was with only five U.S. national team players competing against the regular Puerto Rican roster at the TV Azteca Cup in September. Overall, the U.S. is 20-1 against Puerto Rico since 1983.

Team USA finished second in the most recent World Championships held in 2002. The U.S. also collected a World Championship silver medal in 1966, along with bronze medals in the 1982 and 1990 events.

A total of 218 countries and regions are given equal opportunity to compete in the World Championships, a number that exceeds the total International Olympic Committee members. After continental qualifying rounds, only the top 24 male and top 24 female teams from around the globe advance to compete in the final rounds held every four years in the second year of each Olympic quadrennial.

The World Championships was the first world volleyball event created by the FIVB. The first men’s championship was held in 1949, while the first women’s championship was held in 1952. In contrast, indoor volleyball was not added to the Olympics slate until 1964.

Team USA finished second at last year’s season-ending FIVB Tournament, the World Grand Champions Cup also held in Japan.

U.S. Women’s National Team Roster for World Championships
No. - Name (Pos, Ht, Hometown, College)
2 ? Danielle Scott (MB, 6-2, Baton Rouge, La., Long Beach State)
3 ? Tayyiba Haneef (OH, 6-7, Laguna Hills, Calif., Long Beach State)
5 ? Sarah Drury (L, 5-5, Louisville, Ky., Louisville)
7 ? Heather Bown (MB, 6-3, Yorba Linda, Calif., Hawai'i)
8 ? Katie Wilkins (OH, 6-4, Lakeside, Calif., Pepperdine)
9 ? Jennifer Joines (MB, 6-3, Milpitas, Calif., Pacific)
10 ? Therese Crawford (OH, 5-11, Kalamazoo, Mich., Hawai'i)
11 ? Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (S, 5-9, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Hawai’i)
12 ? Nancy Metcalf (OPP, 6-1, Hull, Iowa, Nebraska)
15 ? Nicole Davis (L, 5-6, Stockton, Calif., Southern California)
16 ? Lindsey Hunter (S, 5-10, Papillion, Neb., Missouri)
18 ? Cassie Busse (OPP, 6-1, Prior Lake, Minn., Minnesota)

Head Coach: “Jenny” Lang Ping
Assistant Coach: Li Yong
Assistant Coach/Trainer: Tom Hogan
Technical Coordinator: Diane French
Team Manager: Doug Beal
Medical Support: Emery Hill, Jr.
Doctor: William Briner
Technical Consultant: Darrell Akimoto

FIVB World Championships Competition Format
The 24-team field has been drawn into four pools of six teams (A, B, C and D) for the first round. The teams play each other in a round-robin format for a total of five first-round matches. The winner of each match receives two match points, while the loser receives one point and a team that forfeits a match receives no points.

At the end of the round-robin, the top four teams in each pool advance to the second round (16 teams in total), and the bottom two teams in each pool (eight in total) are eliminated. If two or more teams have the same number of match points, the tie will be broken by points ratio (the number of points won during the five matches, divided by the number of points lost). This rule will also apply for the second round. The four teams finishing in fifth position in their respective pools will all be given a final ranking of 17th. The four teams finishing sixth in their pools will all be given a final ranking of 21st.

The second round will have two pools ? Pool E and Pool F. The top four teams from Pool A and the top four teams from Pool D will advance to Pool E. The top four teams from Pool B and the top four teams from Pool C will move into Pool F.

Each team will play four additional matches in the second round, but only against teams from the opposite first-round pools. For example, the four teams from Pool A will play only the four teams from Pool D in the second round.

The results and the points of matches in the first round will be carried forward to the second round, and these matches will not be played again. On completion of the second round, the top six teams in both Pool E and Pool F will advance to the final stage (12 teams in total). The bottom two teams in each pool (four teams in total) will be eliminated.

The teams finishing seventh in Pool E and Pool F will both have a final ranking of 13th. The teams finishing eighth in Pool E and Pool F will both have a final ranking of 15th.

The top two teams from Pool E and Pool F will enter the semi-finals, with E1 playing F2 and F1 playing E2. The two winners will meet in the final, and the two losers will play for third and fourth positions.

The teams finishing third and fourth in Pool E and Pool F will decide the final rankings from fifth to eighth. E3 will play F4 and F3 will play E4. The two winners will meet to determine fifth and sixth places, and the two losers will contest the play-off for seventh and eighth places.

The teams finishing fifth and sixth in Pool E and Pool F will decide the final rankings from ninth to 12th. E5 will play F6 and F5 will play E6. The two winners will meet to decide ninth and 10th places, and the two losers will meet to decide 11th and 12th places.

The full tournament schedule can be found at http://www.usavolleyball.org/national/06WorldChampionshipSked-W.asp.

Past FIVB World Champions (Women)
Year: Winner (USA Placement)
1952: Soviet Union (USA, DNP)
1956: Soviet Union (USA, ninth)
1960: Soviet Union (USA, sixth)
1962: Japan (USA, DNP)
1966: Japan (USA, second)
1970: Soviet Union (USA, 11th)
1974: Japan (USA, 12th)
1978: Cuba (USA, fifth)
1982: China (USA, third)
1986: China (USA, 10th)
1990: Soviet Union (USA, third)
1994: Cuba (USA, sixth)
1998: Cuba (USA, 13th)
2002: Italy (USA, second)