USA NT

Setter Lloy Ball, a veteran of three Olympic Games (1996, 2000 and 2004) and the former team captain, will be back in the gym to provide his talent and experience. Ball, 35, has not played with the team since the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
“My return to the National Team was a difficult decision,” Ball said in an e-mail from Russia. Ball told McCutcheon that his return “would depend on my physical condition after the European season. As of now, I feel fit enough to help the National Team accomplish their goals, to qualify for China.”
Ball’s return became even better news last week when setter Donald Suxho, the team’s primary starting setter since Ball’s departure, partially ruptured his left Achilles tendon while playing for Acqua Paradiso in Italy. Suxho had surgery in Italy on March 27 and will remain there for two weeks before returning to the United States to begin rehab with Aaron Brock, the U.S. team’s athletic trainer.
Doctors estimate Suxho should be “100 percent” by the end of July.

http://www.usavolleyball.org

Blocker's been around the block
The old guard of the U.S. men’s national volleyball team is 29 years old.
Ryan Millar will be the seasoned veteran when the United States meets France in two World League matches May 26 and May 27 at the Chiles Center.
“I don’t seem old. I don’t feel old. But I have been around a long time,” says Millar, who has eight years of national experience.
Millar, a middle blocker, was one of the U.S. captains last year. He led the Americans in blocks and was fourth in points. Even at 6-8, he says he uses his quickness and court awareness more than his size.“In the world of volleyball, 6-8 is about average,” he says.
He’s played in two Olympics and helped the U.S. finish fourth at Athens in 2004, when he was fourth on the team in scoring and fourth overall in total blocks.
“We didn’t win that third-place match (against Russia), but playing for a medal was pretty unbelievable,” he says.
The annual World League is one of volleyball’s biggest events. Last year, the 16 participating teams earned $20 million in prize money, with Brazil beating France in the final.
Italy has won the World League eight out of 17 times.
This year, Italy, France, Japan and the U.S. are in the same World League pool. The teams play one another four times, for a total of 12 pool matches. To get to the six-team final in July, teams have to either win their pool or get the one wild-card selection (the sixth spot goes automatically to the host country, Poland).
The Americans are ranked eighth in the world, with Italy second, France seventh and Japan 10th.
“We’ve really got a tough pool,” Millar says. “And we’ve kind of fallen a little bit over the last couple of years. We maybe haven’t had the continuity we’d like, and the coach has been trying some different lineups.”
On the plus side is the national team’s move a year ago from Colorado Springs, Colo., to Anaheim, Calif.
“That was a big deal for us,” Millar says. “We wanted to do that for quite some time. It’s been great. California is a hotbed for volleyball.”
Millar played professionally in Italy during parts of the previous six years, earning well into six figures each time. But his wife, Suzanne, gave birth to their first child, Max, last year, and Millar lined up an assistant coaching job at BYU. Millar had played for BYU when it won the NCAA title in 1999.
After BYU’s head coach resigned, Millar became co-head coach. His Cougars were ranked No. 1 in the nation for three weeks and lost to eventual NCAA champion UC Irvine in five games in the postseason.
U.S. national team coach Hugh McCutcheon says Millar should be able to play at a high level, even though he has been coaching instead of competing in Europe.
“He’s a very talented player,” McCutcheon says. “He gets on the ball in a hurry and brings a lot of good energy to the gym. Guys like playing with him.”
Millar wants to continue coaching, somewhere; BYU has reopened its position.
But Millar also wants to play in another Olympics or two. The U.S. will have to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games, and Millar will have to hold up for 2012 in London.
“My wife wants me to go to London,” he says. “I’ll be 34, which is on the downside of a career, but who knows? If I feel good and am still enjoying the game … no other U.S. indoor player has been in four Olympics.”

http://www.portlandtribune.com

Karch Kiraly to U.S. national team?
Can Karch Kiraly be the next USA men´s volleyball national team coach? With his volleyball experience and the name without question.

In the past weeks some information that Julio Velasco could be a new USA national team coach appeared. Now Velasco signed contract with Spanish federation. Name of Hugh McCutcheon was discussed in Poland, as a possible new national team coach. Hugh McCutcheon take over U.S. women´s national team.

There is a rumor from coaches in USA that Karch Kiraly would consider being the USA Men's Coach with John Speraw as one of his assistant coaches and Marv Dunphy (who coached Kiraly at the Olympics) as an advisor. Speraw after being asst. in 2008 won't do it for 2012 as head coach, but would help as asst.

People forget that Kiraly coaches Boys VB on the HS Level and has his own Academy and the training would take place in Anaheim with his best friend running the training center. It all fits and who else could the USA get of that magnitude to make a mark internationally as coach of the defending gold medalists.

http://www.volleycountry.com

Hugh McCutcheon of U.S. volleyball moves beyond Beijing

McCutcheon, the new U.S. women's volleyball coach, says of the 2008 Olympics: 'There is no page in the book of life that tells you how to be a gold-medal winner and have your father-in-law murdered.'

Bill Dwyre
January 12, 2009

Life has settled down somewhat for Hugh McCutcheon, the man for whom the Beijing Olympics became the best of times and the worst of times.

He is home in Irvine, but also back in Minnesota frequently, where his mother-in-law, Barbara Bachman, has recovered from the stab wounds she suffered in the attack at a tourist spot. The same attacker, Tang Yongming, killed her husband, Todd, the 62-year-old chief executive of a Minnesota gardening business.

McCutcheon says his wife, Elisabeth, "has good days and bad days," that her mother has her two older daughters living right next door in Minnesota, and that yes, as the youngest of three Bachman daughters, Wiz, his wife, was daddy's girl.

"She is the sweetest woman in the world," adds the 39-year-old McCutcheon.

As the inevitable momentum of life pulls him forward, McCutcheon admits to having frequent moments of amazement over what happened to him, his family and his volleyball team in Beijing, and how it changed him, probably forever.

"There is no page in the book of life," he says, "that tells you how to be a gold-medal winner and have your father-in-law murdered."

When it gets too overwhelming, he thinks about it as a "testament to the randomness of life."

A little more than five months ago, McCutcheon was just another coach on another U.S. Olympic team that United States viewers might get a glimpse of between long doses of Kobe and Michael Phelps. You find out about USA Volleyball once every four years, and they better be very good or you won't find out a lot.

It turned out both teams were very good, the women winning a silver medal and McCutcheon's men beating Brazil for the gold.

It also turned out that McCutcheon, a native of New Zealand and a newcomer to the top job in USA Volleyball, would have to navigate the most difficult of situations imaginable with an international spotlight shining on him.

The attack on Todd and Barbara Bachman, as well as their Chinese guide, took place the day after the opening ceremony. Had they been tourists from any country, it would have been a story. But when the victims were the in-laws of a U.S. coach, attacked in a country that flaunts militarism and had stressed security, it was front-page and network news.

McCutcheon was thrust onto a stage where the bright lights usually blind and paralyze even the best-prepared. Not McCutcheon, who just kept doing the right thing, right to the end.

He immediately handed the volleyball duties to his assistants and attended to the family business of a dead father-in-law and a badly injured mother-in-law, who eventually was able to be flown home for continued treatment.

The men's volleyball team started playing and kept on winning in pool play. McCutcheon remained in Minnesota until Barbara Bachman's condition stabilized. Eventually, pushed out the door by family in Minnesota, he returned to an unbeaten volleyball team.

Even now, that amazes him.

"I was at a conference in Australia in October," he says, "and a former volleyball player I know came up to me and said, 'You guys could have coughed it all up in the corners and nobody would have thought a thing about it.' "

Instead, McCutcheon's team beat Russia in the semifinals and came back from a set down in the final to beat Brazil for the gold medal.

Again, McCutcheon could have used the circumstance to take a quick bow and bow out. Many would have expected that. But moments after match point, he stepped off the court, gathered himself and then reappeared to be with his players and fulfill his media commitments.

"When I stepped away there," he says, "I had to make sure I wasn't going to lose it on national TV."

When he came back, celebrated with his team, patiently dealt with the media and even helped shape the coverage by gently reminding people writing stories that this one was about a team that had worked four years for the gold medal it had just won, he had a reason.

"If I don't," he says, "then the bad guy wins."

If McCutcheon let the story of a USA Volleyball gold medal remain more a story of a murder, then the bad guy, or in this case the apparent mentally ill attacker remains the focus.

McCutcheon will never totally put Beijing behind him, nor will he want to as far as the gold-medal memories are concerned. But he has moved on.

Recently, USA Volleyball named him the coach of the women's team for the next Olympiad, and McCutcheon says he not only likes the challenge of building something new from start to finish, but he sees a professional advantage to his resume this way.

"Men's volleyball is kind of a niche sport in this country," he says, adding that there are only 21 men's Division I college volleyball teams and 325 women's teams.

"When the Olympics are over in London [in 2012], I'll be 42 years old and looking for a job in college sports administration," he says. " I hope this will help."

The men's team trains at the American Sports Center in Anaheim, a 5-year-old, privately owned building that currently houses the largest wood floor in the world. The women's team trains at Colorado Springs, but McCutcheon is hoping -- pushing for it -- to move to Anaheim too.

Anaheim is so happy with being volleyball central, as well as having McCutcheon around, that it put him on its float for this year's Rose Bowl parade.

That's pretty heady territory for a volleyball coach, but then, in circumstances unlike anything his peers have faced, McCutcheon proved he is much more than that.

source: Los Angeles Times

Alan Knipe Named U.S. Men's Head Coach
USA Volleyball has announced that Long Beach State Men’s Head Coach Alan Knipe will be the new U.S. Men’s National Team head coach for the 2009-2012 Olympic quadrennial.

Knipe, 40, will take a leave of absence from Long Beach State, where he has been the head coach for the past nine years. Two of Knipe’s former players – David Lee and Scott Touzinsky – were members of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Volleyball Team that won the gold medal in 2008 in Beijing. Knipe was an assistant coach when U.S. Team Captain Tom Hoff played at Long Beach State.

“Anyone who gets involved with volleyball sets their sights on being involved with the Olympic team,” Knipe said. “I don’t think that changes from your playing days to your coaching days.

“I would not have been able to take this position if I did not work at Long Beach State. They were great to work with in making this happen and giving me a leave of absence.”

Knipe takes over for Hugh McCutcheon, who guided the U.S. Men’s Team to victories at the 2008 FIVB World League and the Beijing Olympics. McCutcheon took over the U.S. Women’s Team in January.

“I am very excited to have Alan join the USA Volleyball staff and lead our men’s team toward London in 2012. This is a very big hire,” USA Volleyball CEO Doug Beal said. “His experience and success with USAV’s national and high performance programs have been outstanding. I look for him to continue the momentum the U.S. men built in 2008.”

“I think Alan will do a great job continuing the success of the men’s program,” McCutcheon said. “He’s an excellent coach with a lot of collegiate experience that will allow a seamless and successful transition into the international arena.”

Knipe said the support he has received from former U.S. men’s team coaches was a big reason he took the position.

“The U.S. Men's National Team has an amazing fraternity of former coaches that have always been willing to help the current staff. I’ve spoken to a number of the former coaches and the guys who have been involved in previous years,” Knipe said. “They have offered their support during the transition and throughout the quad. I feel fortunate to have so many valuable resources willing to help continue the wonderful tradition that has been cultivated over many years."

Knipe’s first competition with the U.S. Men will be the Pan American Cup on June 1-7 in Colima, Mexico. The team will begin FIVB World League play on June 13-14 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Knipe has a long relationship with USA Volleyball. Most recently, he served as the head coach for the U.S. Men's National Team at the 2008 Pan America Cup in Winnipeg, Canada, where it won a gold medal.

He was the head coach for the U.S. Men’s Team that won a bronze medal at the 2007 World University Games in Thailand.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to work with these great athletes. There is a very good and successful group coming back from the Olympics,” Knipe said. “A lot of these guys have a lot of great volleyball left in them. Plus, I worked with many of the younger players during the past two summers and they are a nice group."

Knipe has run the Southern California tryouts for USA Volleyball’s high performance department since 1999. He was an assistant coach for the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team in 1999 and has helped at high performance camps in other years.

Knipe also played on the U.S. National Team in 1992-93 and competed at World League.

Knipe is in his 17th year with the 49ers men's volleyball program, including three years as a player (1990-92) and five years as an assistant (1996-2000). Long Beach State is ranked seventh in the most recent Bison/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll

In his nine seasons as the head coach of the Long Beach State, Knipe has led the 49ers to one NCAA final (2004) and one semifinal appearance (2008 ) along with six other postseason appearances in nine years. He earned 2008 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Coach of the Year honors and was also named 2008 Volleyball Magazine Coach of the Year as Long Beach State advanced to the NCAA semifinals behind AVCA co-Player of the Year Paul Lotman.

Knipe was named the 2004 AVCA National Coach of the Year when he guided his squad to an appearance in the NCAA Championship match, where it fell to BYU.

In the 1994 and 1995 seasons, Knipe served as the head men's volleyball coach at Golden West College. In his second season, the Rustlers won the California State JC title and Knipe was named California State Coach of the Year.

Knipe played at Long Beach State from 1990-92, winning the NCAA Championship in 1991 and being named All-America in 1992. Knipe graduated from Long Beach State in 1992 with a degree in communications.

Knipe played on the Bud Light 4-Man Pro Beach Volleyball Tour and has won seven USA Volleyball National Open Championships with Team Paul Mitchell.

In 1995, Knipe played for Spoleto in the Italian Pro League and in 1996 he played for the Zellik Club in Belgium.

A graduate of Huntington Beach's Marina High School in 1987, Knipe spent one year at Orange Coast College before transferring to Long Beach State.

Knipe lives in Huntington Beach, Calif., with his wife, Jennifer, and their two sons, Aidan and Evan. The U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team trains at the American Sports Centers in Anaheim, Calif.

source: usavolleyball.org