USA TEAM in China

Any more info maybe? Like the roster of the US team? or the scores of the matches and the club names?

Team USA Drops Five-Set Heartbreaker to Tianjin

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 22, 2008) – The U.S. Women's National Training Team won the first two sets against Chinese professional club Tianjin on Saturday afternoon, but the rematch from the day before turned into a heartbreaking five-set loss 23-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-21, 15-9 at WuChing, China. Yesterday, Tianjin won in three sets where neither team held more than a three-point edge until the final score of each set (25-22,25-21, 25-21).

The U.S. will play a Chinese Army Club in YiYang at 3 p.m. China time (1 a.m. Mountain Time) on March 24. Team USA is on a three-week training tour of China to evaluate a younger group of players in preparation for Olympic Games roster selections. The U.S. qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games, held Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, by finishing with a bronze medal at the 2007 FIVB World Cup.

Team USA started middle blockers Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) and Tracy Stalls (Denver, Colo.), outside hitters Juliann Faucette (San Diego) and Angie Pressey (Lake Mary, Fla.), opposite Heather Hughes (Fallbrook, Calif.) and setter Angie McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.). Team captain Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.) served as the libero for the match. Alix Klineman (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) subbed into the match in the first set, then replaced Pressey in the starting rotation the final four sets. Pressey came in off the bench in the third and fifth sets.

"Today, we started well," said U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach "Jenny" Lang Ping, a native of Beijing. "We were still focused on trying to improve our skills, coordination, especially for the [first] two sets we really played well at an important time. Also we tested Alix and I think she played well too with her injury. Coming back from an injury I think we had an opportunity for her to see that level and we tried to test her skills and had some evaluation."

Faucette was credited with 17 points via 15 kills on 33 swings, a block and an ace. Stalls tacked on 15 points with 13 kills on 24 swings and just two errors. She added two blocks on defense. Hughes chipped in 11 kills on 34 attacks to go with a block. Akinradewo tallied 13 points on 10 kills, two blocks and an ace. Klineman turned in eight kills on 25 swings and a block for nine points. McGinnis provided three kills on four attacks Pressey recorded three kills in the match. Davis topped the backrow defense with 14 digs to go with a 81 positive service reception (45 excellent percent).

Tianjin had a balanced attack with five players scoring in double figures. Yin Nan totaled a match-high 21 points with 18 kills and three aces for Tianjin. Wang Li added 14 points, while Yan Ya Nan added 13 points.

Tianjin held advantages in aces (6-3) and blocks (8-7). The host team converted 46 percent of its attacks into kills, while the U.S. converted 42 percent.

Team USA trailed much of the first set, and by as many as four points at 14-10. However, the Americans grabbed their first lead at 17-16 on a 5-1 spurt with three points from Faucette (two kills and a block) and a kill and ace from Akinradewo. Tianjin regained a 21-19 advantage, but a 3-0 U.S. scoring run with kills from Hughes and McGinnis followed by a Tianjin setting error gave the U.S. a 22-21 edge. After a Tianjin service error, Faucette scored set point with a kill at 25-23.

Neither team led by more than a point in the early stages of set two until Hughes and Faucette connected for consecutive kills to reach the first technical timeout up 8-6. Team USA extended the gap to three points thanks to back-to-back Tianjin attack errors, then Akinradewo put down a quick attack for a 13-9 advantage. Tianjin whittled the scored to within one at 14-13, but a kill and ace by Faucette gave the U.S. a three-point cushion at 19-16. The reached four points with consecutive Tianjin errors at 21-17, but the host cut the deficit in half at 22-20. After a Faucette kill at 24-21, the U.S. closed the set on the next play as Tianjin was forced into an attack error.

Team USA held a brief 3-2 lead in the third set after a Hughes block. However, Tianjin used an 8-1 run to establish a commanding 16-9 lead at the second technical timeout. The U.S. could come no closer than a five-point deficit the rest of the set.

"After our third set, the Tianjin team started serving very well and we started struggling with our passing and it made it a bit difficult for transitions," Lang Ping said. "Still, I think our girls fought very hard and there were few beautiful volleys which were great for this team and show our fighting spirit. I think we can see improvement from the short time from the first match. I think the girls play very much attention and used every opportunity to improve. We work hard and we had a good time in Tianjin - fabulous hospitality."

The fourth set remained close early as the score was tied at 9-all. Tianjin went on a 4-1 run to take a 13-10 lead and the squads traded points until Team USA narrowed the gap to one at 20-19. Tianjin answered with back-to-back points to regain a three-point cushion at 22-19 and went on to win 25-21.

In the tiebreaking fifth set, Team USA came back from an early 4-1 deficit to tie the stanza at 6-6 on a kill by Akinradewo and block by Stalls. Tianjin reached the switchover first at 8-7 and jumped the margin to two points at 9-7. After a Stalls kill narrowed the gap to one point at 9-8, Tianjin rattled off four unanswered points to take a commanding 13-8 lead en route to a 15-9 score.

For additional information on the U.S. Women’s National Team, check the team’s home page at http://www.usavolleyball.org/National/wnthome.asp.

Post-Match Quotes

"Jenny" Lang Ping:
"Well, the first match was difficult for us because first of all we had jet lag and we had never played so huge an arena, but our girls did a pretty good job and we did a lot of good things on defense and we had pretty good passing and we had not so many errors. I think some of the players showed us some things. Nicole is a team leader, Tracy Stalls and Heather [Hughes] played well, too. Even though we lost in three, the score was very tight and we can see the two months of training result and I think we have better ball control. Of course we need more experience and we need a person who can score. We need a star."

Tom Hogan (U.S. Assistant Coach)
"Their mental and physical consistency is improving. We are struggling in serve receive and passing."

Angie McGuiness:
"The team as a whole played a lot better tonight, we keyed in on quick defense/quick reactions and finishing rallies and the result of the game was much better."

"It's great to see a young team like this take what we've learned from one night and fix it the following night. Teams like this have a lot of potential."

"I think a lot of our players are adjusting to the Chinese style of play, I’m excited for our next match."

Foluke Akinradewo:
"We definitely improved. We’re all more confident, and played more together as a team and it definitely showed. Passing did a really good job, especially since we didn’t get to practice in the gym before the game. It was nice for the middles to be able to hit."

Quotes obtained by Sarah French

Team USA Tour of China Match Information
March 21: Team USA lost to Tianjin club at Tianjin (22-25, 21-25, 21-25).
March 22: Team USA lost to Tianjin club at WuQing (25-23, 25-21, 16-25, 21-25, 9-15)
March 24: Team USA vs. Chinese Army Club at YiYang, 3 p.m.
March 26: Team USA vs. Chinese Army Club at ChangShu, 7:30 p.m.
March 28: Team USA vs. TBA in Hangzhou, 7:30 p.m.
March 29: Team USA vs. TBA in FuYang, 7:30 p.m.
April 1: Team USA vs. TBA in Nanjing, Time TBA
April 2: Team USA vs. TBA in Nanjing, Time TBA

U.S. Women’s National Training Team Roster on China Tour
# - Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
1 - Juliann Faucette (OH, 6-2, San Diego, Calif., Texas)
2 - Destinee Hooker (OH, 6-4, San Antonio, Texas, Texas)
3 - Therese Crawford (OH, 5-11, Kalamazoo, Mich., Hawai'i)
4 - Alix Klineman (OH, 6-4, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Stanford)
5 - Angie Pressey (OH, 5-8, Lake Mary, Fla., California)
6 - Foluke Akinradewo (MB, 6-3, Plantation, Fla., Stanford)
7 - Tracy Stalls (MB, 6-4, Denver, Colo., Nebraska)
9 - Lauren Paolini (MB, 6-5, Ann Arbor, Mich., Texas)
11 - Heather Hughes (OPP, 6-2, Fallbrook, Calif., Loyola Marymount)
13 - Nellie Spicer (S, 5-9, Barrington, Ill., UCLA)
15 - Nicole Davis (L, 5-6, Stockton, Calif., Southern California)
16 - Lindsey Hunter (S, 5-10, Papillion, Neb., Missouri)
17 - Angie McGinnis (S, 5-11, Fraser, Mich., Florida)
18 - Cassie Busse (OPP, 6-1, Prior Lake, Minn., Minnesota)
Head Coach: “Jenny” Lang Ping
Assistant Coaches: Sue Woodstra, Li Yong, Tom Hogan
Technical Coordinator: Diane French

http://www.usavolleyball.org/VolleyballNews/news.asp?id=2103

Team USA Falls to Tianjin in China Tour Exhibition Opener

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 21, 2008) – The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Training Team opened its eight-match exhibition tour of China on Friday evening with a 25-22, 25-21, 25-21 loss to Tianjin, a professional club team based in the host town of Tianjin. The match was televised live by Tianjin TV China before a sellout crowd.

The U.S. will play Tianjin again on March 22 at 3 p.m. China Local Time (1 a.m. Mountain Time). Team USA will train in four different cities with some matches in outlying areas of the towns during the current three-week training period in China, which will host the 2008 Olympic Games Aug. 8-24 in Beijing. The U.S. qualified for the Olympics by finishing with the bronze medal at the 2007 FIVB World Cup.

U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach “Jenny” Lang Ping returned to her native China for the first time to coach Team USA since qualifying the Americans into the Olympics in November 2007. The trip was arranged to better evaluate a younger group of athletes in international match situations, many who have not played international volleyball above the U-20 level or at any level.

The U.S. started Juliann Faucette (San Diego) and Angie Pressey (Lake Mary, Fla.) at outside hitter, Tracy Stalls (Denver) and Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) at middle blocker, Heather Hughes (Fallbrook, Calif.) at opposite and Angie McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) at setter. Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.) served as the libero for the match. Destinee Hooker (San Antonio, Texas) subbed into the match during the second and third sets, while Lindsey Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) saw action late in the third set. Alix Klineman (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) entered into the match briefly in the second set.

Faucette led Team USA in scoring with 14 points all on kills. She converted 48 percent of her attacks into kills. Stalls contributed seven kills on 11 errorless attacks to go with three blocks. Hughes added eight kills on 25 swings with two errors, plus a kill and block for 10 points. Akinradewo chipped in eight points with three kills, team-high four blocks and an ace. Hooker and Pressey each totaled four points in the match. McGinnis charted two setter dumps for kills and two blocks for four points. Davis supplied 11 digs on defense and handled 26 of the team's 63 service receptions. Team USA held an 11-7 advantage in blocks and converted 41 percent of its attacks into kills.

“The team remained composed, but not aggressive enough to challenge for the match,” U.S. Assistant Coach Tom Hogan said. “‘Adjustment’ is a good word for the night.”

“It was a good start for the young team, especially considering most girls not having experience with the quick Asian style of offense,” said Davis, captain of the U.S. team.

Tianjin was led by Yin Nan’s 15 points, followed by Yan Ya Nan with 13 points. As a team, Tianjin converted 45 percent of its attacks into kills and held a 6-2 margin in aces.

“Big difference compared to college,” Hooker said after the match. “(When blocking) in college, I would have my hands high, but here they just shoot between your arms.”

All three sets remained close throughout with neither team holding more than a three-point lead. In the first set, the U.S. scored three straight points on two Stalls kills and a Faucette kill to give Team USA a 9-8 advantage. However, Tianjin came back to take a 11-10 lead that it never relinquished. The U.S. remained within two points in the set until Yin Nan scored a kill at 23-20. McGinnins dumped a kill followed by a Faucette kill to narrow the deficit to 23-22, only to have Tianjin score the final two points.

After falling behind 3-1 in the early stages of the second set, the U.S. tied the set at 3-all with a Hughes kill and Tianjin error. Hughes followed a Akinradewo kill with an ace to yield a 5-4 U.S. advantage. Tianjin used a 4-1 spurt to take a 9-7 lead, which was quickly erased with kills from McGinnis and Stalls to tie the score at 9-all. Tianjin regained a two-point cushion at 14-12 and the U.S. answered with an Akinradewo block after a Tianjin service error to put the scoreboard at 14-all. Tianjin ran off a deciding 3-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. Team USA challenged right back to come within one at 19-18 after a Stalls block. Tianjin returned to a three-point edge at 22-19 and went on to win 25-21.

Tianjin built an early 4-2 lead in the third set, but the U.S. responded with three straight points with blocks coming from Hooker and McGinnis around a Tianjin attack error to give the Americans a 5-4 lead. The U.S. earned its first two-point advantage at 8-6. After the first technical timeout, Tianjin scored three unanswered points and continued to climb into a 14-11 lead. Trailing 15-12, the U.S. scored four unanswered points of its own with blocks from Stalls and Hughes, along with kills from Akinradewo and Hughes to reach the second technical timeout leading 16-15. Faucette downed consecutive kills to provide the U.S. with an 18-16 lead. Tianjin recovered with four straight points including two service aces to build a 20-18 lead. Hughes and Hooker tallied consecutive kills tie knot the score at 20-all, but Tianjin would score five of the next six points to end the match.

For additional information on the U.S. Women’s National Team, check the team’s home page at http://www.usavolleyball.org/National/wnthome.asp.

Post-Match Quotes

Nicole Davis

Q: Describe your leadership with the young team
A: I try to lead by example with how I play and being communicative and helping blockers with their responsibilities and being a leader in passing.

Cassie Busse
Reflections on the game
A: We did “really well adjusting to their style of offense. They used a lot of pump fakes they didn’t use during the scrimmage, [but] toward the end we got a lot more touches. Tomorrow will be better.”
A: “[I] was not expecting such a large crowd. I’m glad the young team got to experience that.”

Destinee Hooker
Q: So was your height a disadvantage in a way?
A: “My height was effective when I hit but not when I blocked.”
Q: Changes for next game?
A: Serve more aggressive, help out defense, give energy and feedback to my team.
Q: What do you think about the atmosphere?
A: “Packed. I’ve seen lots of college arenas, but nothing like this. It shows how much people love volleyball. It’s a privilege for us.

Sue Woodstra (U.S. Assistant Coach)
“The team adjusted well.”

I already saw some of these players in action... they are young but still can do a real mess with the other team
But what scares me is their height (6'4'', 6'5''), that's why there's nothing left to people like me (5'3'')

Today in a Brazilian newspaper there was a report about Lang Ping and the reporter asked her about Brazil's team.

Lang Ping said she was sure Brazil would be a medallist in the OG cause Brazil plays a beautiful volleyball and there's almost no gap in the team, the level of the bench players is as high as the level of the starting-six players.

I think Lang Ping is more optimistic than the Brazil's Team fans! Cause we are not that confident about winning a medal as she seems to be!
If only she was a fortune-teller!

http://www.usavolleyball.org/VolleyballNews/news.asp?id=2103

(March 22, 2008) – The U.S. Women's National Training Team won the first two sets against Chinese professional club Tianjin on Saturday afternoon, but the rematch from the day before turned into a heartbreaking five-set loss 23-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-21, 15-9 at WuChing, China.

There are some photos from a China forum
http://forum.enorth.com.cn/thread_1932711_.html

TianJin Club won 2007~08 championship of China League. TianJin Club is also the championship of 06~07. Actually, TianJin Club won 5 championship in last 6 years since Wang Bao-Quan became the head coach.

The head coach of TianJin club Wang Bao-Quan was assistant of Lang Ping while she was head coach of China nation team. The TianJin club is the best defence team in China. They like to play with USA team because USA team has the remarkable offence power they barely meet.

Trivia:
the libro of China nation team came from TianJin club.
The current libro of TianJin club is the daugther of head coach Wang Bao-Quan.
TianJin is Lang Ping's birth place.
About 8000 people came to see the first game.

Nivea.....you as a big fan of USA team...you must know...hehe

Any of this players were here at Panamerican games???

some more pic for USA traning match against Tianjin

USA NT arrived at Yiyang Sports Hall in Hunan Province and played a friendly match against China Army Club last night (2008.03.24), which is the vice league champion this year. after a fierce battle, USA obtained their first win by 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 26-24) over the host.....

4 pix................

Quote from joanamss

Nivea.....you as a big fan of USA team...you must know...hehe

Any of this players were here at Panamerican games???

Yes
Only three of them: Lindsey Hunter (setter), Cassie Busse (opp) and Foluke Akinradewo (MB)...
(from the main USA nt there are Nicole Davis and Therese Crawford)

Quote from colossus

thanks pappi for the pics, thats lovely
for your name, i thought you are from brazil

generally, from my personal info....you will know i'm in Beijing.....lol...