July 4, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Two former Nittany Lion women's volleyball team members have been named to the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team's Olympic squad. Christa Harmotto (Hopewell Township, Pa.) and Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) were nominated to the 12-player Olympic Games Team by U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon. In addition, Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) and Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) are two of eight alternates.
Harmotto and Hodge are two of seven players making their Olympic games debuts. The pair most recently helped the U.S. Women's National Team to a 14-0 record in the FIVB World Grand Prix to win for the third straight year. Hodge was named the MVP and Best Scorer of the tournament.
According to USAVolleyball.org, the U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team has medaled at the Olympic Games three times, most recently capturing the silver medal in Beijing in 2008. Prior to leaving for London, the U.S. Women will host Bulgaria in a three-match Challenge Series in Anaheim, Calif. beginning on July 14.
Harmotto, Fawcett, Hodge and Glass were all a part of Penn State's historic run to four straight NCAA titles between 2007-10. Harmotto and Fawcett helped Penn State capture two (2007, 2008), while Hodge and Glass were part of three (2007, 2008, 2009).
For more information on the U.S. Women's National Team and the Olympics, visit USAVolleyball.org or follow @USA_Volleyball on Twitter.
2012 U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team
2 - Danielle Scott-Aruda (MB, 6-2, Baton Rouge, La., LBSU)
3 - Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Opp., 6-7, Laguna Hills, Calif., LBSU)
4 - Lindsey Berg (S, 5-8, Honolulj, Hawaii, Minnesota)
5 - Tamari Miyashiro (L, 5-7, Kaneohe, Hawaii, Washington)
6 - Nicole Davis (L, 5-4, Stockton, Calif., USC)
10 - Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Nebraska)
11 - Megan Hodge (OH, 6-3, Durham, N.C., Penn State)
13 - Christa Harmotto (MB, 6-2, Hopewell, Pa., Penn State)
15 - Logan Tom (OH, 6-1, Salt Lake City, Utah, Stanford)
16 - Foluke Akinradewo (MB, 6-3, Plantation, Fla., Stanford)
17 - Courtney Thompson (S, 5-8, Kent, Wash., Washington)
19 - Destinee Hooker (Opp., 6-4, San Antonio, Texas, Texas)
Head Coach: Hugh McCutcheon
Assistant Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Paula Weishoff
Assistant Coach/Technical Coordinator: Jamie Morrison
Technical Coordinator: Ken Sullivan
Consultant Coach: Marv Dunphy
Athletic Trainer: Jill Wosmek
Doctor: Dr. William Stetson
Replacement Players for U.S. Olympic Games Women's Volleyball Team Roster
1 - Alisha Glass (S, 6-0, Leland, Mich., Penn State)
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)
12 - Nancy Metcalf (Opp., 6-1, Hull, Iowa, Nebraska)
14 - Nicole Fawcett (Opp., 6-4, Zanesfield, Ohio, Penn State)
18 - Carli Lloyd (S, 5-11, Bonsall, Calif., California-Berkeley)
20 - Kristin Richards (OH, 6-1, Orem, Utah, Stanford)
2012 Olympic Games Women's Volleyball Schedule
Pool A (World Ranking): Japan (3), Italy (4), Russia (7), Dominican Republic (9), Algeria (16), Great Britain (69)
Pool B (World Ranking): USA (1), Brazil (2), China (5), Serbia (6), Turkey (11), Korea (15)
July 28: Algeria vs. Japan, 9:30 a.m.
July 28: China vs. Serbia, 11:30 a.m.
July 28: Great Britain vs. Russia, 2:45 p.m.
July 28: Italy vs. Dominican Republic, 4:45 p.m.
July 28: USA vs. Korea, 8 p.m. (noon PT)
July 28: Brazil vs. Turkey, 10 p.m.
July 30: China vs. Turkey, 9:30 a.m.
July 30: Serbia vs. Korea, 11:30 a.m.
July 30: Dominican Republic vs. Russia, 2:45 p.m.
July 30: USA vs. Brazil, 4:45 p.m. (8:45 a.m. PT)
July 30: Italy vs. Japan, 8 p.m.
July 30: Great Britain vs. Algeria, 10 p.m.
Aug. 1: Dominican Republic vs. Japan, 9:30 a.m.
Aug. 1: Algeria vs. Russia, 11:30 a.m.
Aug. 1: Serbia vs. Turkey, 2:45 p.m.
Aug. 1: Great Britain vs. Italy, 4:45 p.m.
Aug. 1: USA vs. China, 8 p.m. (noon PT)
Aug. 1: Brazil vs. Korea, 10 p.m.
Aug. 3: Brazil vs. China, 9:30 a.m.
Aug. 3: Japan vs. Russia, 11:30 a.m.
Aug. 3: Turkey vs. Korea, 2:45 p.m.
Aug. 3: Great Britain vs. Dominican Republic, 4:45 p.m.
Aug. 3: USA vs. Serbia, 8 p.m. (noon PT)
Aug. 3: Algeria vs. Italy, 10 p.m.
Aug. 5: Algeria vs. Dominican Republic, 9:30 a.m.
Aug. 5: China vs. Korea, 11:30 a.m.
Aug. 5: Great Britain vs. Japan, 2:45 p.m.
Aug. 5: Italy vs. Russia, 4:45 p.m.
Aug. 5: USA vs. Turkey, 8 p.m. (noon PT)
Aug. 5: Brazil vs. Serbia, 10 p.m.
Aug. 7: Quarterfinal Matches at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m.
Aug. 9: Semifinal Matches at 3 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 11: Women's Bronze Medal Match, 11:30 a.m.
Aug. 11: Women's Gold Medal Match, 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 11: Women's Gold Medal Ceremony, 8:20 p.m.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women's volleyball 2012 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets.
Penn State women's volleyball is on Twitter. Follow @PennStateVBALL to get the inside scoop.