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BEIJING -- Members of the U.S. men's indoor volleyball team are unhappy with the international volleyball federation (FIVB) mandate that established the inseam length of their shorts at merely four inches. The FIVB won't budge, but at least the American players are showing a sense of humor.
Members of the team appear in a funny Youtube video in which they say they'll pay the $10,000 FIVB fine for breaking the rule and stage stunts to raise cash to pay the bill. Among their ploys: standing on a Southern California beach -- it looks like Laguna Beach -- and at entrances to the 5 freeway holding signs that say "Help me, help my shorts get longer," and "Will trade shorts for food."
One of the players even asks beach volleyball star Misty May-Treanor for sympathy. But all she offers is a suggestion that they try laser hair removal -- adding that it's really not that bad because "you don't have to wear Speedos."
Lloy Ball, who will make his fourth Olympic appearance, said he and his teammates practice in below-the-knee-length shorts, and would feel more comfortable if they were allowed to play in the longer gear.
"The FIVB likes 'em tight and bun-huggerish," he said.
The humor shouldn't obscure the fact that the team is a medal contender and made an impressive showing in winning the World League championship. The U.S. men haven't won an Olympic volleyball medal since winning a bronze in 1992, the last in a run of three straight medals.
"Obviously, we have a rich history in volleyball and we feel we have a team that can accomplish that," Ball said.
 Gabe Gardner of San Clemente, who will make his second Olympic appearance, is something of a history buff, thanks to his father, Frank, who taught history at San Clemente High. Gardner, who plays opposite, said he'd love to visit historical sites and landmarks but probably won't have the time.
"I can't, in between matches, run off to see the [Great] Wall," he said. "It's a huge bummer for me. What I think I'll do after seeing how nice it is, is come back here someday. I'll be the tourist."
Gardner will write his own version of history on his blog. So far, his experience has all been positive, so he doesn't expect to run afoul of the censorship that has prevented journalists here from accessing websites relating to China's positions on Tibet and Darfur.
"I'm absolutely flabbergasted with how nice it is here and I really don't have anything bad to say about it," he said. "The village is beautiful. The food is great. Our gyms are top-notch. The travel, the treatment by people, the friendliness."
"I'm pretty well-traveled and cultured, so I know how great the Chinese culture is and what a great history it is. You drive by and you see one of these little palaces. Stuff like that blows me away. I can't think of anything bad to say, so I can't imagine other bloggers like myself trying to find a story out of nothing. "
Should there be any political protests, he plans to ignore them.
"This isn't the stage to make your political voice known," he said. "We're not blogging for political bias or political reasons. I'm blogging to let people know our volleyball team is a great team and to let them know what China's like for us and our point of view. It's not my place at this time, to say 'This is going on here,' else I'd be a political blogger."
-- Helene Elliott
Top photo: (top) Lloy Ball, left, and Ryan Millar celebrate a victory over Brazil during FIVB play in Rio de Janeiro on July 26. Credit: Vanderlei Almeida / AFP/Getty Images.
Bottom photo: Gabe Gardner. Credit: USOC
Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle will help send off the U.S. men's national volleyball team during a 3 p.m. ceremony on Tuesday in front the the ESPN Zone restaurant in Downtown Disney. The Beijing Games-bound volleyball players will sign autographs and pose for pictures 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team heads to Beijing with the squad's first-ever FIVB World League title in hand. The squad beat Serbia in a 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22) victory in Sunday's gold medal match at Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro.
The U.S. team, ranked third in the world, finished World League play with a 12-4 record. Serbia, tied at No. 8 in the world with Puerto Rico, finished second at 10-6. Russia defeated host (and five-time defending World League champion) Brazil, 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19) for the bronze.
The U.S. will see Serbia, Russia and Brazil at the Beijing Games. Volleyball action begins on Aug. 10.
U.S. setter Lloy Ball was named the tournament’s most valuable player and best setter. Rich Lambourne won the award for best libero for the second year in a row.
Reid Priddy led the team with 21 points on 18 kills and three blocks. Clay Stanley added 16 points on 12 kills, three blocks and one ace. Riley Salmon scored 13 points on 12 kills and one ace.
Ryan Millar scored 10 points on seven kills, two blocks and one ace. David Lee added nine points on seven kills and two blocks. Gabe Gardner scored four points on four kills, and Ball had three points on two kills and one ace.
Serbia’s Ivan Miljkovic led all scorers with 28 points on a match-high 22 kills, a match-high four blocks and a match-high two aces.
Photo: Volleyball player David Lee celebrates after the U.S. men's volleyball team beat Serbia for the FIVB World League championship on Sunday. Credit: Antonio Lacerda / European Pressphoto Agency
Think of it as History 101.
The world’s No. 1 women’s beach volleyball team and reigning gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh went undefeated to win the AVP Long Beach Open on Sunday in their last tournament before the Olympic Games. They now have a record 101 straight matches and 18 straight tournaments.
Photo: Kerri Walsh stuffs the ball past April Ross during the final of the Long Beach Open. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times
The U.S. men's national volleyball team pulled out a five-set victory (25-18, 23-25, 27-25, 18-25, 16-14) over Poland in the FIVB World League Final Round earlier today in Rio de Janeiro.
The U.S. squad has a day off on Friday, while Poland faces Serbia in the final pool play match (9:15 a.m. PDT). If Serbia defeats Poland, Team USA advances to the World League semifinals as the second-place team in Pool F. The third-place team doesn't advance, so if Poland wins, it comes down to the tie-breaker, which is the points ratio between the two teams.
In today's victory, Reid Priddy and Clay Stanley each scored 21 points for the U.S. Stanley added 19 kills, one block and one ace. Priddy finished with 16 kills, a block and a match-high four aces -- including the match-winner.
Poland’s Mariusz Wlazly led all scorers with 31 points on a match-high 27 kills, two blocks and two aces.
During the tie-breaking fifth set, the U.S. held the lead several times, but Poland came back each time to tie the score. Trailing 12-13, Poland scored twice on a kill and an ace by Marcin Wika to take its first lead of the set and match point, 14-13.
Coach Hugh McCutcheon called a time out, and when play resumed the U.S. tied the score on Stanley’s kill. A Poland hitting error put the United States ahead and the ace by Priddy sealed the deal for the U.S.
In other action: Russia defeated Japan 3-0 (25-14, 26-24, 25-18). Japan will face Brazil in the first match on Friday.
-- Greg Johnson
Photo: From left, Riley Salmon, Thomas Hoff and Richard Lambourne celebrate during today's match against Poland in Rio de Janeiro. Credit: Ricardo Moraes / Associated Press
The top-ranked U.S. beach volleyball duo, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, accompanied by Sean Rosenthal of the second-ranked U.S. team, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Friday before the Dodgers' game against the Washington Nationals.
Also due to participate are Misty May-Treanor, who will team with Kerri Walsh to defend their beach volleyball gold medal, and Nicole Branagh, whose playing partner will be Elaine Youngs.
Saturday's ceremonial first pitch participants will be Beijing-bound divers Troy Dumais of Ventura and Laura Wilkinson, as well as 2004 gymnastics Olympian Mohini Bhardwaj.
-- Helene Elliott
There is $1 million on the line for the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball team as it readies for Wednesday's (9:15 a.m. PDT) FIVB World League final-round match against Poland in Rio de Janeiro.
That's how much money the World League champion wins. Also eying that rich final-round pot are Brazil, Japan, Poland, Serbia and Russia -- teams that the U.S. would play in the FIVB tournament. Each national team also has qualified for the Beijing Games, although only Japan is in the same Olympic pool as the U.S.
The U.S. squad heads into the final round on a two-game losing streak, having lost twice to Bulgaria. But the squad had played without four starters -- Lloy Ball (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Ryan Millar (Palmdale), Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) and Clay Stanley (Honolulu) -– because it already had enough victories to win its pool. All four will play in the final round.
“We are very happy to have made the final round,” U.S. head coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “It will be an important part of our preparation to Beijing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just a test. The World League is a really big event. Poland and Serbia will be fantastic opponents for us.”
Brazil, Russia, Poland and the United States all advanced to the final round by winning their pools, though Brazil, as host country, would have advanced automatically.
Serbia advanced as the second-place team behind Brazil in their pool. Japan finished third (behind Poland and China) and won the wild card berth.
More information on the tournament is available on the FIVB website.
-- Greg Johnson
Photo: Venezuela's Ivan Marquez, on the right, spikes the ball against Rodrigo Santana (14) and Gilberto Godoy (7) of Brazil during an FIVB match in Brazil on July 19. Credit: Evaristo Sa / AFP/Getty Images
Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, the reigning Olympic champions in beach volleyball, appear unstoppable going in to the Beijing Games.
The top-seeded pair beat fourth-seeded Jennifer Boss and April Ross 21-14, 21-15 today in the finals of the AVP Brooklyn Open at Coney Island.
Walsh and May-Treanor have now won 17 tournaments in a row and 96 straight matches, both records in the sport. They held the previous records of 15 straight tournament victories and 89 straight match wins.
"The Olympics are 20 days away," Walsh told the Associated Press. "I feel it every second of the day. I’m really energized and really excited to be playing volleyball."
On Monday, they are scheduled to meet President Bush for dinner at the White House with 12 other Olympic athletes, including Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, half of the men's beach volleyball representatives to the Olympics.
Walsh and May-Treanor are not without injuries, however. May-Treanor, of Costa Mesa, has her ribs taped but said it doesn't bother her while playing on sand. Walsh is coming off off-season shoulder surgery.
The AVP Tour returns to the Southland for its next event, the Long Beach Open at Marina Green Park. The event runs Friday through Sunday.
-- Debbie Goffa
Photo: Misty May-Treanor digs a ball during the women's final of the AVP Brooklyn Open. Credit: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images
USA Volleyball has named eight athletes and four coaches who will be heading to Beijing to play in the beach volleyball compeition.
The women’s teams are Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa) and Kerri Walsh (Saratoga) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda) and Elaine Youngs (El Toro).
The men’s teams are Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara) and Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach).
Troy Tanner, a 1988 Olympic gold medalist from California will coach May-Treanor and Walsh. Branagh and Youngs’ coach will be 1988 women’s indoor volleyball Olympian Liz Masakayan of Santa Monica.
Dalhausser and Rogers will be coached by Bob Alejo, UC Santa Barbara's strength and conditioning director since 2005. Gibb and Rosenthal are being coached by 1996 Olympic beach volleyball silver medalist Mike Dodd of Manhattan Beach.
Beijing will be the third Olympic Games for May-Treanor, Walsh and Youngs.
Youngs played with the women’s indoor volleyball team that finished seventh in 1996, and won a bronze medal in beach volleyball with Holly McPeak (Manhattan Beach) at the 2004 Athens Games.
Walsh played on the women’s indoor volleyball team that finished fourth in the 2000 Sydney Games, and won a gold medal with May-Treanor in Athens. May-Treanor and McPeak finished fifth at the 2000 Games. Branagh is a first-time Olympian in Beijing.
None of the U.S. men’s players has prior Olympic experience.
Although the May-Treanor/Walsh and Dalhausser/Rogers teams each finished their seasons with the most Olympic qualifying points, both teams could end up as second seeds in Beijing. Why? An FIVB rule states that host country teams that finish in the top six will be the top Olympics seed.
China has two women’s teams among the top six. Jia Tian and Jie Wang are second overall, behind May-Treanor and Walsh, and could get the top seed. The Chinese men’s team of Linyin Xu and Penggen Wu is sixth among all the men’s teams and also could get a top seed.
-- Greg Johnson
Photo: Misty May-Treanor digs the ball to teammate Kerri Walsh during a July 6 match in Colorado. Credit: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
 Eight players with Olympic experience, including a middle blocker heading for her fourth Olympics, have made the 12-player U.S. women's Olympic volleyball roster announced Wednesday.
At age 35, Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.) ties a USA Volleyball record shared with Tara Cross-Battle, who played in her fourth Olympics in 2004. Scott-Arruda still is looking for her first medal after competing in the 1996 (7th-place finish), 2000 (4th) and 2004 (5th) Olympic Games and has been a part of the U.S. women's national team since May 1994.
Players selected to their third Olympic Games include setter Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (Honolulu), outside hitter Logan Tom (Salt Lake City), middle blocker Heather Bown (Yorba Linda) and libero Stacy Sykora (Burleson, Texas). Opposite Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills), setter Lindsey Berg (Honolulu) and outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani (Bloomington, Ill.) are all repeat selections from the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Newcomers to the Olympic Games are outside hitters Kim Glass (Lancaster, Pa.) and Kim Willoughby (Napoleonville, La.), middle blocker Jennifer Joines (Milpitas, Calif.) and libero Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.).
The 2008 Olympic roster is nearly identical to the one that captured the bronze medal at the 2007 FIVB World Cup, qualifying the U.S. for the Beijing Games. Willoughby is the only roster change.
The U.S. women's team is currently ranked fourth in the world by FIVB, the international governing body of volleyball. Team USA finished fourth at the FIVB World Grand Prix, a 12-team tournament with three consecutive weekend preliminary rounds in different countries followed immediately by a six-team round-robin event over five days. The U.S. finished 7-2 in the preliminary round stops held in Japan, Poland and Chinese Taipei and won two of five matches in the Final Round held at Yokohama, Japan, from July 8-13.
For the Olympic Games, the U.S. is grouped into Pool A with host China, Cuba, Japan, Poland and Venezuela.
The top four teams in both Olympic preliminary round pools advance to the quarterfinals, when knockout play begins.
-- Philip Hersh
Photo: Kim Willoughby goes up for the kill during an exhibition match against Brazil at the U.S. Air Force Academy's Clune Arena in June. Photo: Associated Press / U.S. Air Force, Mike Kaplan
USA Volleyball has named 12 athletes to the U.S. Men’s Olympic Indoor Team. Californians are aplenty on the squad that includes: Lloy Ball (Woodburn, Ind.), Gabe Gardner (San Clemente), Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach), Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.), Rich Lambourne (Tustin), David Lee (Alpine), Ryan Millar (Palmdale), Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.), Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.), Riley Salmon (League City, Texas), Clay Stanley (Honolulu) and Scott Touzinsky (St. Louis).
Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand), the U.S. Men’s National Team coach since 2005, will coach the team at the Beijing Games. This is McCutcheon's first Olympic Games as a head coach, though he served as an assistant under Doug Beal during the 2004 Athens Games, when the U.S. men finished fourth.
"We feel very confident that we have selected the best team to represent this country at the upcoming Olympic Games," McCutcheon said. "We have a good mix of experience and youth, and we have 12 very good volleyball players on this roster. They work well together both on and off the court, and they compete at a very high level."
McCutcheon will be assisted by Ron Larsen (Lafayette), John Speraw (Irvine), Marv Dunphy (Malibu), Jamie Morrison (Dana Point), Carl McGown (Provo, Utah) and Rob Browning (Newport Beach). Aaron Brock (Storm Lake, Iowa) will travel to Beijing as part of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s medical staff.
Ball will become the first U.S. Men’s volleyball player to compete in four Olympic Games. He previously played in the 1996 Atlanta Games, the 2000 Sydney Games and the 2004 Athens Games.
-- Greg Johnson
Photo: Lloy Ball sets a shot for David Lee during a recent NORCECA Olympic Qualifier FIVB game against Puerto Rico. Finland Credit: Jose Jimenez/USA Volleyball
Laguna Hills' Tayyiba Haneef-Park had a match-high 23 kills today as the U.S. women's national volleyball team defeated sixth-ranked China 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 21-25, 17-15 on the final day of the FIVB World Grand Prix final round at in Yokohama, Japan.
The U.S. (2-3 in the final round) could finish with a broze medal if Italy loses to Cuba and Japan loses to Brazil.
Ranked fourth in the world, the Americans broke a 19-all tie in the opening set with a 3-0 run en route to winning 25-23 with only two errors in the set. But it was the fifth and final set in which the Haneef-Park led the way to victory.
Logan Tom of Salt Lake City put up a block after a Haneef-Park kill to tie the set at 2-all. The U.S. scored three more points only to see China take back the lead with five quick points. The U.S. retook the lead. 8-7, before China notched three straight points for a 11-9 advantage.
The U.S. tied it with a kill leading to a Chinese timeout. The U.S. came out of the timeout going full bore, taking the lead with a kill. Haneef-Park provided the U.S. with its second and third match-point attempts at 15-14 and 16-15, then finished the set off herself with a kill at 17-15.
Haneef-Park recorded all her points on 23 kills via 44 attacks.
-- Debbie Goffa
The U.S. men’s national volleyball team, thanks to Finland's victory over Bulgaria, will advance to the FIVB World League final round after a 24-26, 25-22, 25-13, 25-18 victory over Spain on Saturday night during match play in Bloomington, Ill.
Finland defeated second-place Bulgaria, 30-28, 18-25, 25-23, 27-29, 17-15, to drop Bulgaria’s record to 5-4. That put the U.S. (9-1) in a can't-lose position. Even if it were to lose both pool play matches in Bulgaria next weekend, the U.S. still will have the better record in pool play.
The World League final round is July 23-27 in Rio de Janeiro.
Reid Priddy of Richmond, Va., led all scorers with 21 points on a match-high 15 kills, five blocks and one ace. Clay Stanley of Honolulu added 16 points on 11 kills
Among the Southlanders who stood out: Ryan Millar (Palmdale) totaled 11 points on seven kills, three aces and one block; David Lee (Alpine) scored eight points on eight kills, and Rich Lambourne (Tustin) was credited with four digs and four faults in 11 attempts. Lambourbe also was credited with seven “excellent” receptions in 13 attempts.
-- Debbie Goffa
Photo: Ryan Millar, left, and Clay Stanley go up against Antti Siltala of Finland during a World League match last month. Credit: Roni Rekomaa / AFP / Getty Images
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