Beijing Olympic Volleyball

Eleonora Dziekiewicz, Poland Volleyball

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Data provided by FIVB website. For photo click Eleonora Dziekiewicz

Last name Dziekiewicz First name Eleonora Last name Dziekiewicz birth date 29  (15.10.1978) Hometown Languages
	Position	Height	Weight	Spike	Block
	Unknown	185 cm	70 kg	307 cm	295 cm
	National Selections	Olympic
		0	0	0	0

	Volleyball career
	International debut
	Club debut
	Actual Club	Winiary
	Personal
	Hobbies
	Favourites	Books: Food: Movie: Music: Other sports:

W.Champ. Other Total

Volleyball Video featuring Brazilian defense by Giba

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Brazilian volleyball superstar GIBA interviewed by the Moscow news

After six years in Italy, Brazil's National Olympic volleyball team captain and MVP "GIBA" decided to move to the city of Iskra in Russia to play professionally there.

Very few athletes today boast a chest as heavily decorated with medals as Brazil's lanky wing-spiker Giba, the man widely recognized as the best volleyball player on the planet. Giba's regalia include an Olympic gold medal, two world championship titles, seven South American titles, six World League victories and many other trophies. Moreover, in recent years he's been regularly scooping up MVP titles in nearly every tournament he has played.

Moscow News sat down to talk with him about his career changing decision. click Brazil's Most Valuable men's Volleyball Player GIBA to read the article.

Be sure to check out Andrea Zorzi's interview with Brazilian volleyball superstar GIBA.
Remember the volleyballs are in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?
April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyballmagazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp". She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the coaching and training secrets of how the pros play like they do.

Get free volleyball team coaching and training by discovering the secret coaching technique, strategies and skills of Olympic volleyball players and their coaches. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can get the inside track on coaching, training and improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

Volleyball Video interview with Shoici Yanagimoto, Japan's Head Coach, Zoran Terzic, Serbian Head Coach and Massimo Barbolini, Italian Head Coach

Andrea Zorzi is one of the world’s most famous and highly accomplished men’s volleyball players.

Andrea has made a total of 325 presences with the Italian men’s national team. A silver medalist in the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996, Zorzi has played for almost all the major volleyball clubs of Italy, including Maxicono Parma and Sisley Treviso, where he won many titles. In 1991 the FIVB named Andrea Zorzi, known internationally as “Zorro”, the World's Best Player”.

Currently, Andrea Zorzi is a freelance journalist and technical commentator, working as a special endorser and web content creator in partnership with the FIVB - reporting, writing, and interviewing the world’s most elite coaches and players, providing an innovative and much broader technical analysis of the FIVB’s top 2007 events specifically the World League, World Grand Prix and World Cup.

This new approach contains one video interview entitled “Ten minutes with ….”, followed by written commentary and match analysis given by Andrea Zorzi after each competition.

Andrea Zorzi’s, years of playing in elite, world class competition, his affable personality, his insider’s knowledge of the game coupled with the respect of the players and coaches he interviews, makes him the perfect volleyball tour guide “to follow” for the volleyball coach, player or fan looking to really get behind the scenes and discover the process world class teams, players and coaches take when developing their strategic and tactical plans for their matches.

By asking the questions that other journalists don’t - Zorzi invites us to “Follow Him” on his unique multimedia journey behind the doors of his exclusive volleyball “spogliatoi” locker room.

Let’s “Follow him” shall we…. as Zorzi interviews…Shoici Yanagimoto (Japan Coach), Zoran Terzic (Serbia Coach) and Massimo Barbolini (Italian Coach)

Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

 

Johnson & Johnson Video of USA Volleyball's Richard Lambourne

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

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• Americans win 1st volleyball gold in 20 years

Katarzyna Skowronska, Poland Volleyball Olympian

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Last name    Skowronska First name Katarzyna Last name Skowronska-Dolata Age (birth date) 24  (30.06.1983) Hometown Warszawa Languages English Data provided by the FIVB website.
	Position	Height	Weight	Spike	Block
	Middle-blocker	187 cm	73 kg	305 cm	288 cm
	National Selections	Olympic	W.Champ.	Other	Total
		0	8	43	51

	Volleyball career
	International debut	Gdañsk, POL
	Club debut	Skra
	Actual Club	Asistel
	Personal
	Hobbies	music, movie
	Favourites	Books: historical, Food: Polish, Italians Movie: action Music: pop, rock, rap Other sports: tenis

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• American volleyball women beat Poland in five sets

USA Indoor Volleyball Women beat China's Volleyball Team

Image by Getty Images via Daylife





From the Salt lake Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10214360





"We play for these kinds of moments," said Tom, a Highland High graduate who's in her third Olympics. "When you don't have them, especially when they come every four years or so, you tend to forget that. It's -Logan Tom, USA Volleyball

African Women's Olympic Qualifiers:Women's Volleyball Team Trip Called Off

Image by o0bsessed via Flickr




From The Herald (Harare)




THE senior women's national volleyball team players broke into tears after being informed that their trip to Algeria for the Olympic Games qualifiers had been called off.




The team was initially set to leave on Saturday but the date was rescheduled to Monday following the Zimbabwe Volleyball Association's failure to secure enough foreign currency.




ZVA had been banking on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to access to the U.S.$96 000 needed but the association hit a brick wall and were forced to cancelled the trip on Monday night.




Click Women's African Olympic qualifiers to read more





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FIVB Board of Administration

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Lausanne, March 7, 2008 – The 38 members of the FIVB Board of Administration and FIVB Commission Presidents shall meet in Lausanne from Wednesday 12 to Friday 14 March for the first time in the new Boardroom at “Château Les Tourelles”. Dr. Rubén Acosta will open and preside over the annual meeting, as the FIVB President has done since 1985. Many important questions will be on the table, particularly the use of a new ball in the Beijing Olympic Games, limitation of players coming from another National Federation, new Development Centres in South Africa, Nigeria, Argentina and other countries, to consider as automatic resignation the act of National Federations who declare to have joined another organization, and, most noteworthy, the change of the Election Congress to the Olympic year.



In accordance with the democratic FIVB decision-making process, all the Presidents of the FIVB Councils and Commissions will present proposals agreed by their members and the Board of Administration must discuss all of them before they are submitted to the World Congress for a final decision. The 31st FIVB World Congress will be held in Dubai on June 16-17, 2008.



Organisers of future competitions will make video presentations about FIVB events they are set to host, with a special focus on the Men’s and Women’s 2010 World Championships to be organised by Italy and Japan, respectively. The five Continental Confederations will also report on the growth of the sport and its new perspectives for 2009-2012.




Remember the ball is in your court. Are you ">too small to play volleyball?
April Chapple is a freelance copywriter for volleyball products and promotions, columnist for USA Volleyball and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine and author of numerous online articles on playing and coaching volleyball. Author of the upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp" April's volleyball sites are volleyballvoices.com, volleyballvoyeur.com, beijingolympicvolleyball.com, and aprilsbeachvolleyballog.com. She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com

I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do. The fastest way for you to do that is to sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter so you can be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving all your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

USA Volleyball Olympian William Reid Priddy interviewed on FIVB volleyball video by Italian Volleyball legend Andrea Zorzi

Andrea Zorzi interviews USA Volleyball and International Pro Indoor Volleyball player William “Reid” Priddy. Reid, who plays professional indoor volleyball in Russia and is sponsored by Mikasa Sports answers Zorzi’s in depth questions about playing overseas, possibly playing beach volleyball and what he expects for USA Volleyball at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Photo Reid Priddy hitting in 2007 World League

FIVB volleyball video get to know more about USA Volleyball Olympian, Reid Priddy, as he answers Andrea Zorzi’s questions:

1) When and where were you born?

2) When did you start playing Volleyball?

3) Did you improve fast?

4) You have played in many countries, could you compare the 5) different experiences?

6) You have played in Novosibirsk (RUS) such a far and different town from your.

7) In which conditions is your national team?

8) Which is the favourite team to win Beijing Games?

9) Which is the most important victory of your career?

10) Could you give a comment about the new ball?

11) Are you married?

12) The US Volleyball environment is changing.

13) Have you ever really tried to play Beach Volley?

14) Have you any idol in Volleyball?

15) US Volleyball players behave very professionally.

16) You are describing the Russian clubs in a new way.

Andrea Zorzi’s, years of playing in elite, world class competition, his affable personality, his insider’s knowledge of the game coupled with the respect of the players and coaches he interviews, makes him the perfect volleyball tour guide “to follow” for the volleyball coach, player or fan looking to really get behind the scenes and discover the process world class teams, players and coaches take when developing their strategic and tactical plans for their matches.

By asking the questions that other journalists don’t - Zorzi invites us to “Follow Him” on his unique multimedia journey behind the doors of his exclusive volleyball “spogliatoi” locker room.

"Your volleyball season is about to start and I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do.

Strengthen and improve your volleyball skills while playing for your high school and club team, now!

Learn early, what indoor and beach volleyball Olympians and professionals know about:

1. The importance of gaining muscle strength for injury prevention, gaining speed and increasing your vertical jump while training for volleyball,

2. Volleyball nutrition and

3. Mental conditioning and gaining confidence in yourself and your game, on and off the court."

Sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter Be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

April Chapple is a columnist for USA Volleyball, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine, a contributor to Active,.com/volleyball, and has authored numerous playing and coaching volleyball articles. Look for her upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp". She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com.

Head Coaches volleyball quotes from Beijing Olympic Volleyball Tournament press conference

Beijing, China, August 8, 2008 – The Head Coaches of the 24 Men’s and Women’s Volleyball teams taking part in the Olympic Games spoke at an official FIVB press conference at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing after the FIVB General Technical Meeting on Friday. Extracts:

WOMEN’S TEAMS

Italy Head Coach Massimo Barbolini

On changing game strategy after Taismary Aguero left Beijing to go back to Cuba where her mother is sick:

"We have no choice but to change our strategy. The alternatives we have are either to use two receivers or one receiver and two opposites. We will decide which one to use match after match."

"Our team is used to changing strategy and switching players as that is what we have done throughout the grand prix this year."

On the mood of the team after Aguero's departure:

"They are in a good mood. We have been waiting for the start of the Games for a long time, not only the match against Russia, but the start of the Olympics in general."

"Unfortunately it (Aguero's departure) has happened. Now we have to react and to think about what to do to make up for it. Coming to the Olympics after many international successes has already been an amazing result for us."

Venezuela Head Coach Tomas Fernandez (Cuba)

On the competition:

"I'm glad to be here today. Our purpose is to see what international competition is like, we can learn from this experience for future training. We hope we can get good development in the future."

Serbia Head Coach Zoran Terzic

On the team's first Olympic experience: "Of course it will be very difficult as we don't have any experience but we have our target set on winning a medal. We hope to do our very best."

China Head Coach Chen Zhonghe

On adjustments the team has made since the 2008 Grand Prix:

"Although we didn't get a good result at the most recent Grand Prix, we've recovered. We've summarised our problems and recovered our physical strength. However, Kun Feng and Ruirui Zhao haven't yet reached their best level (after recent injuries)."

Kazakhstan Head Coach Viktor Zhuravlev

On their first Olympic experience:

"As there are very strong teams it's a good opportunity to gain some experience and I wish all the teams good health."

USA Head Coach “Jenny” Ping Lang (China)

“We’re very excited for the first match. We hope for a great performance for the fans of the world and also we would like to have a great result.”

Brazil Head Coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes

On the Brazil Women's team preparations for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games:

"We have had a different preparation (compared to Athens). I started coaching Brazil in 2003, so the team that went to Athens had been prepared mostly by Brazil's former coach."

"With this group I started a new cycle of work and during these last four years we have played about 140 matches at official and unofficial tournaments, after which we have defined this squad."

On their expectations after a good performance at the Grand Prix:

"I think there is balance among the girls. We have a strong group and this is positive on one side because you can keep the rhythm beating strong teams from the beginning of the Games. On the other hand, qualifying for the quarterfinals is what counts, but to win at the quarterfinals is the most important thing."

"We aim for a medal, for reaching the podium. Having performed well at the Grand Prix doesn't say too much (about our level) though, because many teams were not at full strength. Italy played without Simona Gioli and then also without Antonella Del Core, Cuba played without Nancy Carrillo and Rosir Calderon. USA were also not competing with the whole team."

On what they focused on since 2004:

"I think this team is more versatile than the one that played in Athens. These girls can play in different roles, they are technically more complete. This is what we have been focusing on."

On whether replacing Athens main setter Fernanda Venturini with setter Helia Souza will change Brazil's game:

"She and Fernanda have the same level. They are both high level players. It doesn't change too much for our game."

MEN'S TEAMS

Venezuela Head Coach Ricardo Navajas (Brazilian)

On the Olympic experience: "It is an honour to be here. We are a new team so we take it as a good chance to learn from this experience."

Serbia Head Coach Igor Kolakovic (Montenegro)

On Serbia's goals:

"I'm glad to be here. I feel satisfied to have qualified for the Olympic Games. Our dream is to win a medal but our first goal is to reach the quarterfinals, after that we will talk about a medal. We hope to do our best."

China Head Coach Jianan Zhou

On the condition of the team:

"We are cherishing this opportunity. We've made all possible preparations and the team is ready to achieve its best result."

Brazil Head Coach Bernardo Rezende

On their expectations:

"You cannot predict the final, a lot of teams here (represent) very tough competition. Our aim is to get the gold medal."

USA Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon

“We’re very happy to be here. We think that the men’s field is very strong and our pool is very challenging. We hope that our team can play its best volleyball of the summer over these next two weeks.”

"Your volleyball season is about to start and I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do.

Strengthen and improve your volleyball skills while playing for your high school and club team, now!

Learn early, what indoor and beach volleyball Olympians and professionals know about:

1. The importance of gaining muscle strength for injury prevention, gaining speed and increasing your vertical jump while training for volleyball,

2. Volleyball nutrition and

3. Mental conditioning and gaining confidence in yourself and your game, on and off the court."

Sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter Be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

April Chapple is a columnist for USA Volleyball, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine, a contributor to Active,.com/volleyball, and has authored numerous playing and coaching volleyball articles. Look for her upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp". She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com.

Cuban-Italian Olympian Taismary Aguero interviewed on this volleyball video by Italian volleyball legend Andrea Zorzi

Taismary Aguero is a former Cuban Women’s Volleyball Olympian who “left Cuba” to become a naturalized Italian citizen, now playing for the Italian Women’s National Olympic Volleyball team.

Telling Andrea Zorzi the details of her decision to leave her birth country, after a volleyball tournament in Europe, and how she prepared her bags and never returned home. With a made for television life story, Taismary Aguero has experienced a lot that life has to offer and has done it with a lot of class and determination.

Andrea Zorzi is one of the world’s most famous and highly accomplished men’s volleyball players.

Andrea has made a total of 325 presences with the Italian men’s national team. A silver medalist in the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996, Zorzi has played for almost all the major volleyball clubs of Italy, including Maxicono Parma and Sisley Treviso, where he won many titles. In 1991 the FIVB named Andrea Zorzi, known internationally as “Zorro”, the World's Best Player”.

Currently, Andrea Zorzi is a freelance journalist and technical commentator, working as a special endorser and web content creator in partnership with the FIVB - reporting, writing, and interviewing the world’s most elite coaches and players, providing an innovative and much broader technical analysis of the FIVB’s top 2007 events specifically the World League, World Grand Prix and World Cup.

One of the top players in the world, who before turning 30, has played for two different countries’ national teams, Andrea Zorzi sits down to ask the following questions of this world class volleyball player.

1) When and where were you born?

2) Did you practice any other sport?

3) Are any other members of your family sportsmen?

4) Did you improve fast?

5) In Cuba in which position did you play?

6) Nowadays the athletes are less “universal”. Do you agree?

7) What is your best Volleyball memory in Cuba?

8) …and the worst defeat?

9) …and then you left Cuba.

10) Did your parents know about your decision?

11) Could you recall how you left the national team?

12) Could you tell us the name of the friend who helped you?

13) Would you make the same choice again?

14) What is the best Italian memory you have?

15) …and when a baby?

16) The most painful memory?

17) Who will win the next Olympic Games?

18) Could you describe Massimo Barbolini, your coach?

Andrea Zorzi’s, years of playing in elite, world class competition, his affable personality, his insider’s knowledge of the game coupled with the respect of the players and coaches he interviews, makes him the perfect volleyball tour guide “to follow” for the volleyball coach, player or fan looking to really get behind the scenes and discover the process world class teams, players and coaches take when developing their strategic and tactical plans for their matches.

By asking the questions that other journalists don’t - Zorzi invites us to “Follow Him” on his unique multimedia journey behind the doors of his exclusive volleyball “spogliatoi” locker room.

"Your volleyball season is about to start and I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do.

Strengthen and improve your volleyball skills while playing for your high school and club team, now!

Learn early, what indoor and beach volleyball Olympians and professionals know about:

1. The importance of gaining muscle strength for injury prevention, gaining speed and increasing your vertical jump while training for volleyball,

2. Volleyball nutrition and

3. Mental conditioning and gaining confidence in yourself and your game, on and off the court."

Sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter Be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

April Chapple is a columnist for USA Volleyball, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine, a contributor to Active,.com/volleyball, and has authored numerous playing and coaching volleyball articles. Look for her upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp". She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com.

Indoor Volleyball Olympian Taismary Aguero returns for Italy in win over Kazakhstan

Italy's Taismary Aguero receives against Kazakhstan on Monday Beijing, China, August 11 - With the return of point-scoring machine Taismary Aguero, world No. 2 Italy moved towards a potential first-ever Olympic gold confidently after a comfortable 3-0 win over Kazakhstan in Women's Volleyball on Monday.

Cuban-born Aguero, whose mother passed away after illness, appeared at the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium after missing the team's first match against Russia on Saturday. The former Cuba veteran had planned to travel to her birthplace to see her mother but returned on learning of her death.

Aguero appeared on court in the second set and contributed 10 points for Italy.

Italy's Head Coach Massimo Barbolini praised Aguero at the post-match press conference.

"Aguero is an excellent player and she is also very strong. She is now in the great pain of losing her mother and she is also striving to recover from the sadness," said Barbolini.

According to the coach, Aguero returned to the team on Sunday and participated in training.

"I want to stress that she has been going through a hard time, both mentally and physically. During the past three days, she had spent more time in the plane than on the ground. But I believe she can recover gradually," he said.

Aguero's return also cheered up her team-mates, who upset the mighty Russia with solid defense and coherent attacks on Saturday.

"Aguero now is back, which make us even more confident in the rest of the matches. She has always been an important player of the team and we will also give her support to help get over the hard time," said Italy's captain Eleonora Lo Bianco.

The Italians showed their determination to win from the first minute against Kazakhstan. The tall, lean Kazakhs posed a threat to their rivals at the net, but their attacks could hardly be effective in front of the rivals' tenacious defense system. In addition, their weak defense was exposed to the quick attacks from Italy's wing spikers Francesca Piccinini and Serena Ortolani.

Italy took the match 25-19, 25-15 and 25-21 in 66 minutes. Piccinini and Yelena Pavlova from Kazakhstan were top scorers with 12 points apiece.

Earlier in the day, the 2006 World Championship bronze medalist Serbia also harvested a second victory by breezing past Olympic newcomer Algeria in straight sets, laying a solid foundation to enter the quarter-finals, while the North Africans suffered another blow after the 3-0 loss to Brazil on the opening day.

Twelve teams are competing in two groups in the Preliminary Round with the top four finishers from each group qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Italy is grouped with Algeria, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Russia and Serbia in Pool B while defending champion China is with Cuba, Japan, Poland, United States and Venezuela in Pool A. The knockout stage runs from Aug. 19 to 23. (Xinhua)

"Your volleyball season is about to start and I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do.

Strengthen and improve your volleyball skills while playing for your high school and club team, now!

Learn early, what indoor and beach volleyball Olympians and professionals know about:

1. The importance of gaining muscle strength for injury prevention, gaining speed and increasing your vertical jump while training for volleyball,

2. Volleyball nutrition and

3. Mental conditioning and gaining confidence in yourself and your game, on and off the court."

Sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter Be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

April Chapple is a columnist for USA Volleyball, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine, a contributor to Active,.com/volleyball, and has authored numerous playing and coaching volleyball articles. Look for her upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp". She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com.

Russia Head Women's Olympic Volleyball Coach Caprara calls for Russian response after second Olympic defeat

...A little perspective on playing volleyball. I mean it’s one thing to get up, psych up and prepare to play at the Olympics when you’ve just spent two or three days on a plane trying to get to your dying Mother, and despite your best efforts she dies before you get to see her.

Or, doggone it, God forbid you have to mentally prepare to play at the Olympics knowing that a former teammate, colleague, roommate and friend’s father has just been murdered, at the Olympics. No, it’s really going too far when all you have to do is get up a bit earlier in the morning to play volleyball on the world’s stage, I mean now really…that’s just uncalled for.(April)

Beijing, China, August 11, 2008

- Russian Women’s Head Coach Giovanni Caprara has admitted he faces a tough task to motivate his players after the Athens Games silver medallists lost their second straight game in the Olympic Volleyball preliminaries on Monday.

The Italian watched Brazil give Russia “a Volleyball lesson” in the first match of the day as the South Americans won 25-14, 25-14, 25-16, following his team’s 3-1 opening-day loss to Italy. Caprara refused to blame the early start time and said the European powerhouses have to change their mindset if they are to progress in the tournament.

Russia plays Kazakhstan on Wednesday in their third Pool B match.

"The start time is not only early for us but for Italy too, but there is a different mentality with Russian teams regarding early matches as they tend to have an issue with fatigue,” said Caprara. “I have to persuade them and work hard to overcome this mentality and be prepared for tough matches, but it seems that I fought here alone.

"It's an issue of attitude," said Caprara of the 2006 FIVB World Championship winners.

"Our team and the Brazilian team had very different experience. They played a lot of high level international matches in the FIVB World Cup last year and FIVB World Grand Prix this year, while we did not qualify for either tournament.

"Brazil gave us a lesson of Volleyball today. They played with double speed compared to Russia, they concentrated on their play, and technically they were much better than Russia," said Caprara.

Russia captain and setter Marina Sheshenina said she saw improvement in her side’s performance from the match against Italy.

"It's a pity to lose again, but I think we played better than we did in the last match," said Sheshenina. "I just want to say that Brazil is a very strong team and we had better concentration than the last match," she added.

Brazil’s Sheilla Castro was baffled by the ease of Brazil’s victory.

"

I think they didn't want to play,” said Castro. “It seems they have a problem inside, but I don't know."

"Your volleyball season is about to start and I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do.

Strengthen and improve your volleyball skills while playing for your high school and club team, now!

Learn early, what indoor and beach volleyball Olympians and professionals know about:

1. The importance of gaining muscle strength for injury prevention, gaining speed and increasing your vertical jump while training for volleyball,

2. Volleyball nutrition and

3. Mental conditioning and gaining confidence in yourself and your game, on and off the court."

Sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter Be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

April Chapple is a columnist for USA Volleyball, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine, a contributor to Active,.com/volleyball, and has authored numerous playing and coaching volleyball articles. Look for her upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp". She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com.

Brazil, Cuba, Serbia, Italy, China, Japan earn victories on second day of Women’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing

Beijing, China, August 11, 2008

- Brazil downed Russia in the day’s big clash, Cuba blanked USA and Serbia, Italy, China and Japan also claimed victories on the second day of the Women’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing.

Three-time Olympic champions and 2004 bronze medalists Cuba beat USA 25-15, 26-24, 25-17 in Pool A in front of 12,000 Volleyball fans for their second straight win, while China beat Poland 3-1 (22-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-22) in front of the same size crowd and Japan dealt with Venezuela 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-12) in the other group matches.

In Pool B, Brazil brushed aside Athens silver medalists Russia in straight sets (25-14, 25-14, 25-16) in front of 12,000 spectators to improve to 2-0 and drop the Europeans to 0-2, Italy swept Kazakhstan 25-19, 25-15, 25-21 and Serbia beat Algeria 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-13).

POOL A

USA 0 - Cuba 3

Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney Olympic champions Cuba claimed their second straight win with a commanding sweep. The world No. 3 successfully limited the American offense with strong serving at the Capital Indoor Stadium. Cuba finished with six aces through the match that lasted 69 minutes, compared with only one for the United States.

In the first set, Cuba fought back with an amazing 14-2 run to go up at 15-7 and never looked back. The two teams played more consistently in the second set where the United States maintained a narrow advantage most of the way before Cuba overtook the lead at 21-20 with a 4-1 burst.

The United States fought hard early in the third set, but Cuba steadily pulled it back at 10-all before staging a 8-2 run on the back of stormy services from Daimi Ramirez and Rosir Calderon to take the lead at 18-12, a gap the Americans could never close. Yumilka Ruiz had 15 points to lead three Cuban players in double scoring digits. The American women were led by Tayyiba Haneef-Park with 13 points.

Cuba captain Ruiz said: "I think we played a good game and we did what we needed to do. We started playing superb when we find the right rhythm."

Said USA Head Coach “Jenny” Ping Lang: "We struggled with our receiving, so we could not play our normal offense. Cuba did really well in serving today."

China 3 - Poland 1

China clinched its second victory by smashing the challenge of rising European side Poland. The 1.96-meter middle blocker Ruirui Zhao was the top scorer of the team by contributing 17 points.

Polish wing spiker Katarzyna Skowronska impressed the spectators by scoring the game-highest 26 points. The Chinese, who saw an easy opening victory over Venezuela on Saturday, started slowly in the first set. After missing two match points, the Europeans took the opener 25-22 with an out-of-the-court spike from China's Hao Yang. China rebuilt its defense system and fought back strong in the second set to lead 8-2 with a stunning performance from libero Na Zhang. The team gave full showing to its famous fast attack with tricky drops from wing spiker Yang and spikes of middle blocker Zhao. A combined block from Suhong Zhou and Yunwen Ma helped China level things.

In the third set, the defending champions showed real quality to beat the Polish bounce with even stronger defense and fast attacks from different positions. The two sides fought even harder in the fourth and the gap never exceeded two points before the more experienced China took the match point through Zhao.

China Head Coach Zhonghe Chen said:

"The beginning of today's match was not very good. We were not consistent and lost many points by errors. I asked the players to calm down and they soon recovered from the hesitance and pressure at the opener."

Japan 3 - Venezuela 0

The numbers 12, 17, 12 in 19, 22, 19 were the perfect description for such a one-way match. That’s the number of points scored in the minutes played by Venezuela in losing their second match of the Olympic Games against Japan. When a game ends up with such a big difference any tactical or technical analysis is totally useless. For instance, in the first set the Venezuela players scored only seven points; the other five were Japanese errors. The Venezuelans, the youngest Women’s Volleyball team in Beijing 2008, were completely wrapped up because of the efficient service of Japan, which made complex any attacking solution.

In the second and third set Tomas Fernandez’s girls failed to perform better against their opponents’ steadiness and better skills.

Japan Head Coach Shoichi Yanagimoto said:

“We have learnt a lot ffom our first match. Actually we will be competing with very strong opponents; we are pleased of our first victory. We based our game on teamwork and the players should play always as a team. In the first set we didn’t, in future matches we should play as in the last sets.”

POOL B

Algeria 0 - Serbia 3

Serbia maintained their perfect record with an easy straight-sets win at the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium. Serbia raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set, powering through Algeria's defense with a series of incisive attacks from both sides of the court. Serbia then controlled the match, focusing attacks into the mid-court space left by Algeria. They clinched the set after a miscommunication on the Algerian side.

The taller Serbians also dominated the second set, helped by strong spiking and blocking from Jelena Nikolic, Natasa Krsmanovic and Maja Ognjenovic. Algeria tried to mount a third-set comeback with solid attacking play from Faiza Tsabet and Lydia Oulmou, tying the set at 8-8, but the Algerians failed to seize the opportunity and quickly lost more points - and their fighting spirit. Serbia wrapped up the victory with a quick spike from Jovana Brakocevic from the right side of the court.

The top match scorer was Ivana Djerisilo with 13 points. Serbia's captain Vesna Citakovic said: "The hardest thing is to play a game when you are the clear favourite. This is our first game playing against Algeria. They know how to play Volleyball because most of the players are playing in France, so we knew we had to concentrate, especially when we are playing at such as early hour."

Kazakhstan 0 - Italy 3

The Italians maintained their winning record with a straight-sets win over Kazakhstan at the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium. The victory came after Italy's 3-1 defeat of Russia on Saturday. The result was Kazakhstan's second loss in the pool. The game started with Italy’s Nadia Centoni and Kazakhstan’s Yelena Pavlova exchanging heavy spikes. Italy moved ahead by powering sharp attacks to the back of Kazakhstan's undefended court to clinch the first set.

Kazakhstan raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set with Pavlova's powerful spikes cutting through the Italian blockers. After a timeout, Italy regained their rhythm and levelled the scores, using double blockers on the net combined with fast back-slide attacks from Simona Gioli. Late in the second set, Italy’s Taismary Aguero replaced Serena Ortolani.

In the third set, Italy played with their main squad for the first time this Olympic Games. Aguero's return after the death of her mother boosted the team's morale and enhanced the Italian defence and attack. Top scorers for the match were Italy’s Francesca Piccinini and Pavlova with 12 points each. Said Italy

Head Coach Massimo Barbolini:

"We have continued to play good Volleyball and have won again. Like our match with Russia, we played with attention, good defence and few mistakes, and we did so for nearly the entire match."

On Aguero's return, Barbolini said:

"Aguero came back and she has participated in training sessions. Of course, she is facing difficulties, psychological and physical, because she has spent so much time on planes and is very tired. But she is recovering her rhythm and balance quickly."

Brazil 3 - Russia 0

Reigning world champions and Athens Games silver winner Russia were soundly beaten by world No. 1 Brazil in their second straight loss. Two days after Italian Head Coach Giovanni Caprara questioned the negative attitude of the Russian players, they put up little resistance in the defeat against the seven-time World Grand Prix champion. As Russia struggled with its form and mentality, the Brazilian women looked good in pursuit of their first ever Olympic gold medal.

Fabiana Claudino scored 14 points to lead four Brazilian attackers in double scoring digits. Brazil's Sheilla Castro scored 11 in Brazil's second straight win.

Brazil Head Coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes said:

"Of course I am happy to win, we did very well, we played with concentration and consistency, but it's just the second round of play. We have to keep working and do it step by step, it's very important."

Brazil captain Fofao said:

"We played well from the beginning till the end. We concentrated very well throughout the match."

More information

The Men’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament continues on Tuesday. In Pool A, USA face Italy, Venezuela take on China and Japan play Bulgaria. In Pool B, Russia face Germany, Egypt takes on Poland and Serbia clashes with Brazil. The Women’s tournament continues Wednesday. Venezuela plays USA, Cuba faces China and Poland plays Japan in Pool A, while Italy takes on Algeria, Russia facse Kazakhstan and Serbia takes on Brazil.

"Your volleyball season is about to start and I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do.

Strengthen and improve your volleyball skills while playing for your high school and club team, now!

Learn early, what indoor and beach volleyball Olympians and professionals know about:

1. The importance of gaining muscle strength for injury prevention, gaining speed and increasing your vertical jump while training for volleyball,

2. Volleyball nutrition and

3. Mental conditioning and gaining confidence in yourself and your game, on and off the court."

Sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter Be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

April Chapple is a columnist for USA Volleyball, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine, a contributor to Active,.com/volleyball, and has authored numerous playing and coaching volleyball articles. Look for her upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp". She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com.

USA Volleyball, HughMcCutcheon, Elizabeth Bachman Beijing Olympic family tragedy

Our condolences go out to the Bachman -McCutcheon family. Rest in Peace from Volleyball Voices.

From the International Herald Tribune

Chinese man kills relative of U.S. Olympic coach

The dead American was Todd Bachman of Farmington, Minnesota, the 62-year-old father-in-law of Hugh McCutcheon, the head indoor men's volleyball coach, American Olympic officials said. Bachman's wife, Barbara, 62, was in critical but stable condition after eight hours of surgery.

click Sad news for USA Volleyball family to read more

From Cantonrep.com

"It's hard to put it in words," a tearful U.S. player Logan Tom said after the match. "That's not something that's supposed to happen."

"It was a reaction that I don't even have to describe. You have to understand what Liz Bachman is to USA Volleyball. She's probably the nicest person in the entire world, her and her family," Sykora said. "Her family is like our family because they traveled with us, she fought in the 2004 Olympics with us, she was my roommate in 2004."

Click Volleyball quotes from Logan Tom, Stacy Sykora to read more.

From USA Today

U.S. Olympic family saddened by attack on American

"It's a very sad moment for everyone wearing red, white and blue," guard Diana Taurasi said. "Just sad. They kind of informed us that it was an isolated event but whenever something that tragic happens, your initial feeling is to want to be a little bit more secure wherever you go."

(Diana Taurasi USA Women's Basketball, USA Today)

Officials tighten security after Beijing stabbing attack

Wang Wei, secretary general of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, said there was no evidence to indicate that the Chinese attacker had targeted Todd and Barbara Bachman because of their nationality or affiliation with the U.S. team. The attacker, identified as Tang Yongming, jumped to his death from the Drum Tower's second floor after the assaults.

The Bachmans' daughter, Elisabeth "Wiz" McCutcheon, is a former U.S. Olympic volleyball player and her husband is the coach of the men's indoor volleyball team competing in Beijing.

(USA Today)

From the Tucson Citizen

"Nobody can understand or explain it," said Heather Bown, a former University of Hawaii player. "Once we got it out of our minds for a little bit, we were able to focus and play volleyball."

"We had a difficult situation, and we tried to tell our players to concentrate on the game," said U.S. coach Jenny Lang Ping after the 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 25-21 victory. "It doesn't matter what happened, the game goes on."

Click quotes from Heather Bown and US Head women's volleyball coach Jenny Lang Ping to read more)

From ESPN.com

"The tragedy that happened with the Bachman family is something that could happen to anybody in the world. Unfortunately, it happened to one of our teammates, someone we hold close," Sykora said. "This game was completely dedicated to Wiz Bachman and her family. It was a great win for USA Volleyball."

"

You'll have to understand what Wiz Bachman means to USA Volleyball," Sykora said, choking back tears. "She is probably the nicest person in the entire world. And her family is like our family. … He was just a great man. There's not just one or two good memories I have of him, there are a million. I could stand here and go on for days. Just an unbelievable family."

Click Stacy Sykora Volleyball quotes to read more of Jim Caples article on ESPN.com

From LATimes.com

U.S. women's volleyball team knew of killing before match

“You know, there are a lot of things we cannot control," U.S. women's coach Jenny Lang Ping told AP. "The thing we can control is ourselves. Try to deal with it. Try to be strong."

“Of course, it’s a very, very difficult time and it’s the first time in my life to deal with that situation before a game," Lang Ping said. "I have to be patient and let players get over it and cheer for them and help them.”

Click Lang Ping US Women's Head Volleyball quotes on incident to read more

From the Associated Press

USA volleyball beats Japan, but tragedy casts pall

A U.S. women's volleyball team struck by tragedy just hours earlier beat Japan in an emotional Olympic opener marred by murder of an ex-player's father.

"Your volleyball season is about to start and I know you want to learn the secrets of how the pros play like they do.

Strengthen and improve your volleyball skills while playing for your high school and club team, now!

Learn early, what indoor and beach volleyball Olympians and professionals know about:

1. The importance of gaining muscle strength for injury prevention, gaining speed and increasing your vertical jump while training for volleyball,

2. Volleyball nutrition and

3. Mental conditioning and gaining confidence in yourself and your game, on and off the court."

Sign up for the FREE Volleyball Voices Newsletter Be the first person on your team to get the inside track on how to stay off the bench and gain more playing time by improving your volleyball skills, fast! Just fill out that box in the upper right hand corner to receive today's volleyball news you can use.

April Chapple is a columnist for USA Volleyball, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaching Volleyball magazine, a contributor to Active,.com/volleyball, and has authored numerous playing and coaching volleyball articles. Look for her upcoming ebook "How to Stop Serving Like a Wimp". She can be reached at april@volleyballvoices.com.