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Aug. 15, 2007
Courtesy B.J. Evans, USA Volleyball Anaheim, CA - Three-time Olympic setter, and IPFW Hall-of-Fame inductee Lloy Ball (Woodburn, Ind.) will be back competing with the U.S. Men's National Team at the America's Cup on Aug. 15-19 in Manaus, Brazil. Teams from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Cuba and the Dominican Republic are also expected to compete. The U.S. Men won the gold medal at the 2005 America's Cup played in São Leopoldo, Brazil and defeated top-ranked Brazil in the final. U.S. Men's Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon is looking at the America's Cup as preparation for the important tournaments coming up this year. "It's definitely a warm-up for the NORCECA Championships," McCutcheon said. "For us, it's a lot about what's happening on our side of the net. We want to try to gain some momentum going into NORCECA." The 2007 NORCECA Men's Continental Championship will take place Sept. 16-21 in Anaheim, Calif. The top two finishers will qualify for the 2007 FIVB World Cup. The top three finishers at the World Cup will qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games. The U.S. Men have already earned some hardware in 2007, having won the bronze in the 2007 World League and silver at the 2007 Pan American Games, where they lost to Brazil in the final. At the America's Cup, the United States, ranked fifth in the world, is in Group A with Argentina and Canada. Group B includes No. 1-ranked Brazil, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. A rematch between the United States and Brazil in the final is certainly a possibility. Ball, who last played with the U.S. Men's National Team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, began training with the team earlier this year in hopes that he could boost its efforts to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. "Practices have been going great," said U.S. outside hitter Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.), who led the U.S. Men in scoring in World League and finished second overall among all scorers. Priddy also played with Ball on the 2004 Olympic Team. "So far it's been a good integration with Lloy back in the mix. I think everyone's older. I think there's a good vibe on the court and good communication." Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.) is the other setter on the roster and has gained valuable international experience this season by starting most of the second half of the World League matches and by playing every match of the Pan American Games. Rich Lambourne (Tustin, Calif.) was named best libero at the 2007 World League and his season continued a week later at the Pan American Games where he played in every match. Now he will be returning to Brazil for the America's Cup. Other U.S. players to watch include middle blocker Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.) who finished World League pool play second among all blockers with a .80 per-set average. Outside hitter Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.) and opposite Brook Billings (Santa Barbara, Calif.) were the leading U.S. scorers at the Pan American Games. Rooney finished third among all scorers with 64 points in five matches. Billings had 61 points in five matches. 2007 America's Cup Schedule Group A Group B Aug. 18 Aug. 19 U.S. Men's National Team 1 Lloy Ball (S, 6-8, Woodburn, Ind., IPFW)
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