Former Huskies To Compete With U.S. National Volleyball Team
June 18, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.- Former University of Washington All-Americans Candace Lee and Courtney Thompson will compete with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team at the Sixth Annual Pan American Cup June 21-29 at Colima, Mexico to kick off the 2007 campaign. The competition venue will be the Polideportivo Universitario de Villa de Alvarez.
The United States is grouped into Pool A during the Pan American Cup preliminary round and opens the tournament against Argentina on June 21 at 4 p.m. MDT. Team USA faces Costa Rica on June 22 at noon MDT, followed by Dominican Republic on June 23 at 4 p.m. MDT, Trinidad & Tobago on June 24 at noon MDT and host-country Mexico on June 25 at 8 p.m. MDT to conclude Pool A action.
Pool B consists of defending Pan American Cup champion Brazil, along with Canada, Cuba, Peru, Puerto Rico and Uruguay.
The quarterfinal round is set for June 27 (6 and 8 p.m. MDT), followed by the semifinals on June 28 (6 or 8 p.m. MDT). The second- and third-place teams from each pool advance to the quarterfinals, while the winner of each pool advances directly to the semifinals. The championship is slated for June 29 at 8 p.m. MDT following the third-place match at 4 p.m. MDT.
Representing Team USA on the Pan American Cup roster include setters Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (Honolulu), Lindsey Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) and Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.), middle blockers Jennifer Joines (Milpitas, Calif.), Tracy Stalls (Denver, Colo.) and Laura Tomes (Sioux City, Iowa), outside hitters Katie Wilkins (Lakeside, Calif.), Cynthia Barboza (Long Beach, Calif.) and Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.), opposites Cassie Busse (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Katie Olsovsky (Hermosa Beach, Calif.), and libero Candace Lee (Eugene, Ore.).
Thompson was three-time All-American at Washington and set the Pacific-10 Conference record with 6,552 assists for third best in NCAA Division I history. In addition, she set the NCAA record for career assists per game with 14.56. Thompson also concluded her career with a school-best 450 starts leading to three appearances in the NCAA Division I Tournament national semifinals and one regional final. She added 1,059-career digs for sixth-best in school history. As a junior, she earned the Honda Sports Award for best volleyball player after leading the Huskies to their first national championship. She received an ESPY Top Female College Athlete nomination in 2005. As a senior, she again was a finalist for the Honda Sports Award as she set the Huskies to a .281 team attack percentage on 14.50 assists per game. Thompson is a three-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American.
Lee graduated from Washington after leading the Huskies to the 2005 NCAA Championship. A two-time All-American, Lee was selected as the Asics Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and was an All-Pac 10 honoree as a junior and senior. She also earned Academic All-America honors twice. Lee capped off her career with the second-most digs in Pac-10 history (2,038) and set UW season records with 666 digs and 5.95 digs per game in 2005.
U.S. Women's National Team Roster for VI Pan American Cup
Name - Pos, Ht, Hometown, College
3 - Marcie Hampton (OH, 6-1, Gainesville, Fla., Florida)
6 - Tracy Stalls (MB, 6-4, Denver, Colo., Nebraska)
7 - Laura Tomes (MB, 6-2, Sioux City, Iowa, Oklahoma)
8 - Katie Wilkins (OH, 6-4, Lakeside, Calif., Pepperdine)
9 - Jennifer Joines (MB, 6-3, Milpitas, Calif., Pacific)
10 - Cynthia Barboza (OH, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Stanford)
11 - Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (S, 5-9, Honolulu, Hawai'i, Hawai'i)
13 - Katie Olsovsky (OPP, 6-3, Hermosa Beach, Calif., Southern California)
14 - Candace Lee (L, 5-7, Eugene, Ore., Washington)
15 - Courtney Thompson (S, 5-8, Kent, Wash., Washington)
16 - Lindsey Hunter (S, 5-10, Papillion, Neb., Missouri)
18 - Cassie Busse (OPP, 6-1, Prior Lake, Minn., Minnesota)
Head Coach: "Jenny" Lang Ping
Assistant Coaches: Sue Woodstra, Gen Kawakita
Technical Coordinator: Diane French
Team Manager: Joan Powell
Medical Support: Emery Hill, Jr.
