Aug. 30, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Former Nittany Lion All-American setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) was named the Best Setter at the 18th FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round held in Ningbo, China Aug. 25-29. The U.S. Women's National Team, ranked fourth in the world by the FIVB, captured the World Grand Prix Title with a 5-0 record in the Final Round. Her teammate, Foluke Akinradewo, was named the MVP and Best Blocker.
Glass, who is in her first season of international volleyball with the U.S. Women's National Team, averaged 13.11 running sets per set to lead all players during the Final Round. She totaled 249 running sets and set Team USA to a .292 hitting efficiency (250-55-668) and 37.4 kill percent in the five Final Round matches.
During the Final Round, the U.S. Women defeated Poland, Italy, Brazil and China before sweeping Japan on Aug. 29 to close out tournament play. The U.S. Women, who have won 11 straight matches have not reached the World Grand Prix podium since a bronze medal finish in 2004.
Team USA is back in action in a four-match exhibition tour of Brazil Sept. 20-30.
Glass, as well as Megan Hodge and Nicole Fawcett who are also a members of the U.S. Women's National Team, were four-year members of the Penn State women's volleyball team under head coach Russ Rose. Fawcett aided the Nittany Lions in back-to-back NCAA National Championships in 2007 and 2008, while Hodge and Glass closed out their Nittany Lion careers guiding PSU to an unprecedented third straight national title in 2009.
For more information on the U.S. Women's National Team, please visit www.usav.org. Thank you to USAV Media Relations Manager Bill Kauffman and the FIVB for the above information and photos.
U.S. Women's National Team Roster for 2010 World Grand Prix
1- Oganna Nnamani (Opp., 6-1 Bloomington, Ill., Stanford)
2 - Alisha Glass (S, 6-0, Leland, Mich., Penn State)
5 - Stacy Sykora (L, 5-10, Burleson, Texas, Texas A&M)
6 - Nicole Davis (L, 5-4, Stockton, Calif., USC)
7 - Heather Bown (MB, 6-3, Yorba Linda, Calif., Hawaii)
8 - Cynthia Barboza (OH, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Stanford)
9 - Jennifer Tamas (MB, 6-4, Milpitas, Calif., Pacific)
11 - Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Nebraska)
14 - Nicole Fawcett (Opp., 6-4, Zanesfield, Ohio, Penn State)
16 - Foluke Akinradewo (MB, 6-3, Plantation, Fla., Stanford)
17 - Nellie Spicer (S, 5-9, Barrington, Ill., UCLA)
18 - Megan Hodge (OH, 6-3, Durham, N.C., Penn State)
19 - Destinee Hooker (Opp., 6-4, San Antonio, Texas, Texas)
Head Coach: Hugh McCutcheon
Assistant Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Jim Stone
Trainer: Jill Wosmek
Technical Coordinator: Jamie Morrison
Team Leader for Poland/Thailand: Reed Sunahara
Team Leader for Hong Kong/Japan: Laurel Iversen
2010 FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round Standings
USA 5-0 (13 points)
Brazil 3-2 (11 points)
Italy 2-3 (7 points)
China 2-3 (6 points)
Japan 2-3 (4 points)
Poland 1-4 (4 points)
Final Round (Ningbo, China * Ningbo Beilun Gymnasium)
Aug. 25: USA def. Poland, 13-25, 18-25, 28-26, 25-19, 15-12
Aug. 25: Japan def. Brazil, 13-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22, 15-13
Aug. 25: Italy def. China, 25-20, 25-16, 25-21
Aug. 26: USA def. Italy, 25-23, 25-20, 25-14
Aug. 26: Brazil def. Poland, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17
Aug. 26: China def. Japan, 29-27, 23-25, 25-20, 25-19
Aug. 27: Japan def. Italy, 23-25, 25-14, 26-28, 25-20, 17-15
Aug. 27: USA def. Brazil, 22-25, 25-19, 30-28, 17-25, 15-13
Aug. 27: China def. Poland, 25-19, 25-19, 25-17
Aug. 28: Poland def. Japan, 25-15, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22
Aug. 28: Brazil def. Italy, 25-18, 25-13, 25-16
Aug. 28: USA def. China, 25-21, 27-25, 25-22
Aug. 29: USA def. Japan, 26-24, 25-20, 25-23
Aug. 29: Italy def. Poland, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-17
Aug. 29: Brazil def. China, 25-12, 25-16, 25-15