April's Beach Volleyball Log

Volleyballnation hosts Las Vegas native Casey Jenning bio

Casey Jennings tells us all about him

US President Bush hails 2008 US Olympians

WASHINGTON (AFP) — President George W. Bush on Tuesday hailed US Olympians, including swimming sensation Michael Phelps, in a light-hearted White House celebration of their gold medal haul at the Beijing Games.



Bush also expressed disappointment over the absence of beach volleyball champions Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor -- and joked about May-Treanor's recent injury as she took part in the television show "Dancing With the Stars."

"I'm just so sorry that Misty May got injured," said the US president. "God, if only she had me as a partner, you know? Except I can't dance."

Pro Beach player Angie Akers overcomes personal obstacles

One of the reasons I created Volleyball Voices was so that younger players can learn from the personal stories of experienced professional players.

Angie Akers has a great interactive website that all young indoor and outdoor players should visit. Be sure to visit her "Overcoming Obstacles" link which she retells the story of having to recuperate from leg injuries.

In many cases the hardest part of recuperating from an injury is the mental part. Overcoming the fear of not repeating the injury or regaining the natural normal movement that you had before getting hurt. Check out how Angie endured her experience.

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Olympic Gold medalists in beach volleyball want a repeat

2004 Olympians in women'€™s beach volleyball Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh have set their sights high on obtaining a goal that no one else has ever achieved.

As quoted from AVP.com:
€"The top-seeded women want to be the first athletes to ever repeat as Olympic champions in beach volleyball."

If you want to accomplish something, don't be afraid to set your goals high. Be sure to give yourself a realistic time schedule to prepare to accomplish each step of your goal but copy what champions do and set goals for yourself.

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Quotes from the season opening AVP Miami Event

here's a collection of quotes from the star player's in this weekend's Miami AVP season opener.

Misty May Treanor

"My offseason was three days in Thailand," May-Treanor said. "Then it was back to the gym because you have to stay one step ahead of the competition." from AVP.com

"It's nice when you can come back against a great team like that. Usually Nicole and EY, when they've got you down, pretty much you're down. So it's nice, and hopefully we'll gain experience from it."

Misty May Treanor from the USA Today

From Sportsfeatures.com
“We got back into a good sideout rhythm and had very good serves. I thought in Game 2 and the first couple points of Game 3, our passing wasn’t as good. We just got back into a nice sideout rhythm.”

(On the final point)
“When Kerri does her job at the net, my job is to get everything behind her. She was able to channel the ball to me, and I was able to control it. You don’t want to keep going back and forth with a team like that.”

Jenny Kropp

"I really like it," said Kropp, a standout blocker at 6-foot-2. "Nancy is one of the best players on the tour. She is a veteran who knows a lot. I get to learn from her. I just hope she is patient because I have a lot to learn. But I think our potential is unlimited." from AVP.com

Kerri Walsh

From Sportsfeatures.com
“We have five of the top teams in the world (on the AVP). Nobody likes playing Americans, and we are fortunate - and it’s kind of a mixed blessing - because we get to play these teams so often. We get to know each other inside and out, which is good and bad. But ultimately, it’s making us better for the gold in Beijing. That’s what we want so bad, and playing these girls every single weekend is going to make us so much better.”

Phil Dalhausser

"I never doubted Nick," Dalhausser said. "He is probably the best athlete on the tour."
From AVP.com

Nick Lucena

"I've been nagging Sean to play with me for three years," Lucena said, "and he finally gave me the opportunity."

"You always want to win when you get to the finals … always," Lucena said. "We are playing well, but obviously they are the No. 1 team in the world and you have to play perfect to beat them. They played great."

From the AVP.com

"I was more excited and more amped. Maybe a little too amped. I have to learn how to mentally stay in it. I was serving the ball too hard and it was going out."
From the Sun-Sentinel.com

Jennifer Boss

"Everybody is really into the Olympics and the fact that beach volleyball is one of the most popular sports at the Olympics makes everyone a little bit more interested in the sport this year," Boss said.

From the Sun-Sentinel.com

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Beach Volleyball Video Videonation interviews Elaine Youngs

Here's a pre season video by Volleyballnation who interviews Elaine Youngs about the dynamics of her playing relationship with beach volleyball partner Nicole Branagh.
Youngs and Branagh won last year's AVP Miami season opener and had hoped to repeat their success in this weekend's opening tournament.
In what could have been a dramatic season opener - Branagh and Youngs came within two points in the third set to almost knockout tournament favorites and Olympians Misty May and Kerri Walsh. Check it out!

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