Aug. 9, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Former Nittany Lion women's volleyball players Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.), Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) and Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) aided the U.S. Women's National Team during the opening weekend of preliminary pool play of the 18th FIVB World Grand Prix in Gdynia, Poland.
The U.S. women opened the World Grand Prix with a 26-24, 22-25, 25-14, 25-19 win against the Dominican Republic on Aug. 6. Hodge posted 12 kills, one block and an ace for 14 points, while Glass contributed 28 running sets, 16 digs, two aces and a block. Fawcett tallied one kill in the match. Head coach Hugh McCutcheon started Hodge at outside hitter and Fawcett at opposite. Glass subbed in during the first set and was the starting setter during the final three sets.
On Saturday, Team USA suffered a 25-23, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23 loss to Germany. Hodge put down 12 kills and had four blocks for a total of 16 points, while also registering 13 digs. Glass had one block and one kill with 14 digs and 40 running sets.
The U.S. closed out the first weekend with a 16-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-23 setback to Poland on Sunday. Hodge, who started on the outside, had 11 kills, three blocks and 16 digs. Glass, the starting setter, had 41 running sets and 16 digs in the match.
Next week, the U.S. women head to Bangkok, Thailand for the second weekend of preliminary round play and will face Italy, Thailand and Puerto Rico. The U.S. concludes pool play in Hong Kong with matches against Germany, Thailand and Chain on Aug. 20-22.
Nittany Lion fans can plan to watch the former Penn Staters play in two matches, including the Aug. 13 match against Italy and the Aug. 22 match versus China thanks to FIVB TV. The matches will be streamed live on http://www.laola1.tv/en/int/fivb/video/203---.html.
Glass, Fawcett and Hodge 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.
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 Schedule
Pool A (Sao Carlos, Brazil * Ginasio Nilton Olaio Filho)
Aug. 6: Brazil def. Chinese Taipei, 25-15, 25-19, 25-12
Aug. 6: Japan def. Italy, 30-28, 27-29, 25-20, 25-13
Aug. 7: Brazil def. Japan, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20
Aug. 7: Italy def. Chinese Taipei, 25-15, 25-20, 25-19
Aug. 8: Italy def. Brazil, 25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 25-19
Aug. 8: Japan def. Chinese Taipei, 25-16, 25-16 25-16
Pool B (Gdynia, Poland * Gdynia Competition Hall)
Aug. 6: USA def. Dominican Republic, 26-24, 22-25, 25-14, 25-19
Aug. 6: Poland def. Germany, 25-18, 16-25, 25-22, 26-24
Aug. 7: Poland def. Dominican Republic, 25-23, 25-16, 25-14
Aug. 7: Germany def. USA, 25-23, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23
Aug. 8: Poland def. USA, 16-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-23
Aug. 8: Germany vs. Dominican Republic, 7:15 p.m.
Pool C (Chengdu, China * Sichuan Provincial Sports Bureau)
Aug. 6: Netherlands def. Thailand, 25-22, 25-22, 25-23
Aug. 6: China vs. Puerto Rico, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22
Aug. 7: Netherlands def. Puerto Rico, 25-9, 25-12, 25-21
Aug. 7: China def. Thailand, 25-16, 25-16, 25-22
Aug. 8: China def. Netherlands, 19-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-21
Aug. 8: Puerto Rico def. Thailand, 25-22, 25-23, 25-21
Pool D (Bangkok, Thailand * Keelawes 2)
Aug. 13: USA vs. Italy, 3 p.m.
Aug. 13: Thailand vs. Puerto Rico, 5:30 p.m.
Aug. 14: Puerto Rico vs. Italy, 2 p.m.
Aug. 14: USA vs. Thailand, 5:30 p.m.
Aug. 15: USA vs. Puerto Rico, 3 p.m.
Aug. 15: Italy vs. Thailand, 5:30 p.m.
Pool E (Macau, China * Forum de Macau)
Aug. 13: Brazil vs. Dominican Republic, 5:30 p.m.
Aug. 13: China vs. Netherlands, 9 p.m.
Aug. 14: Brazil vs. Netherlands, 2 p.m.
Aug. 14: China vs. Dominican Republic, 4:30 p.m.
Aug. 15: Netherlands vs. Dominican Republic, 1 p.m.
Aug. 15: China vs. Brazil, 3:30 p.m.
Pool F (Okayama, Japan * Okayama Momotaro Arena)
Aug. 13: Chinese Taipei vs. Poland, 3 p.m.
Aug. 13: Japan vs. Germany, 6 p.m.
Aug. 14: Germany vs. Chinese Taipei, 2 p.m.
Aug. 14: Japan vs. Poland, 5 p.m.
Aug. 15: Germany vs. Poland, 2 p.m.
Aug. 15: Japan vs. Chinese Taipei, 5 p.m.
Pool G (Hong Kong, China * Hong Kong Coliseum)
Aug. 20: USA vs. Germany, 3 p.m.
Aug. 20: China vs. Thailand, 8 p.m.
Aug. 21: USA vs. Thailand, 1:15 p.m.
Aug. 21: China vs. Germany, 3:45 p.m.
Aug. 22: Germany vs. Thailand, 1:15 p.m.
Aug. 22: USA vs. China, 3:45 p.m.
Pool H (Taipei, Chinese Taipei * Taiwan University Gym)
Aug. 20: Brazil vs. Puerto Rico, 3:30 p.m.
Aug. 20: Poland vs. Chinese Taipei, 7 p.m.
Aug. 21: Puerto Rico vs. Poland, 2:30 p.m.
Aug. 21: Chinese Taipei vs. Brazil, 4:30 p.m.
Aug. 22: Brazil vs. Poland, 2:30 p.m.
Aug. 22: Chinese Taipei vs. Puerto Rico, 4:30 p.m.
Pool I (Tokyo, Japan * Yoyogi National Stadium)
Aug. 20: Italy vs. Netherlands, 3:30 p.m.
Aug. 20: Japan vs. Dominican Republic, 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 21: Dominican Republic vs. Netherlands, 2 p.m.
Aug. 21: Japan vs. Italy, 7 p.m.
Aug. 22: Dominican Republic vs. Italy, 2 p.m.
Aug. 22: Japan vs. Netherlands, 5 p.m.
Final Round (Ningbo, China * Ningbo Beilun Gymnasium)
Aug. 25-29: Teams TBA