COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. --- In its final preparations for the Olympic Games, the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team and the City of Anaheim will host Bulgaria in a three-match Challenge Series between July 14 and July 18. The U.S. Women's and Men's National Volleyball Teams train in Anaheim at the American Sports Centers.
The first USA-Bulgaria Challenge Series match will be held July 14 at Canyon High School in Anaheim, Calif. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door. Seating is limited, and it advised to arrive early.
The second and third matches of the series will be played July 16 and July 18 at University of Southern California's Galen Center. Admission is $10 adults, $5 for children 12-and-under or groups of 10 or more. Tickets can be purchased online at usctrojans.com/usa.
All three matches will be played at 7 p.m. PT.
U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon, assisted by UC Irvine head coach, Paula Weishoff and UCI assistant coach, Jamie Morrison, will use his Olympic Games roster for the three Challenge Series matches with Bulgaria. For the Olympics, he has selected setters Lindsey Berg (Honolulu) and Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.), middle blockers Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.), Christa Harmotto (Hopewell Township, Pa.) and Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.), outside hitters Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.), Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) and Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah), opposites Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.) and Destinee Hooker (San Antonio, Texas) and liberos Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.) and Tamari Miyashiro (Kaneohe, Hawaii).
The U.S. Women's National Volleyball has been ranked No. 1 in the world by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) since November of 2011 after ending Brazil's four-year tenure in the spot. After claiming the silver medal at the FIVB World Cup in November 2011 to qualify for the Olympics, Team USA continued its momentum by capturing its third consecutive FIVB World Grand Prix title following a14-0 record in the premier annual women's international volleyball tournament.
Bulgaria will make its debut in the FIVB World Grand Prix in 2013 after advancing to the final of the Women's European League on July 5 following its four-set win over 2012 Olympic Games qualified Serbia. Bulgaria finished in second place after losing to Czech Republic in the gold-medal match.
The 12-team women's volleyball Olympic Games competition will take place on alternating days at Earls Court starting July 28. The preliminary round consists of two pools of six teams playing a round-robin format with the top four teams in each pool advancing to the quarterfinal round. The U.S. is part of Pool B with No. 2 Brazil, No. 5 China, No. 6 Serbia, No. 11 Turkey and No. 15 Korea. The top pool finisher crosses over to play the fourth place team in the quarterfinals, while a drawing of lot decides the crossover matches for second- and third-place finishers. Semifinals are on Aug. 9 with the medal-round matches on Aug. 11.
