VOLLEYBALL - IV Pan American Deaf Games

With a Silver Finish, U.S. Men's Volleyball Team Qualifies for 2009 Summer Deaflympics

U.S. Women's Team Stays Home and Prepares for Next 2 Years

Compiled by John Knetzger, Vice President of Member Services

Volleyball - Men

Summary

Upon receiving word from International Committee of Sports for the Deaf in March of 2007 that the U.S. must qualify for the men's volleyball program at the 2009 Summer Deaflympics, newly-appointed Head Coach Roger Worsley (Rochester Institute of Technology) and Assistant Coach John Macko (4-time Deaflympian) overcame challenges in organizing a brand-new squad in a short amount of time and barely made the deadlines for final roster and fundraising. The dust on the final roster settled, and there were only 7 players, 2 of which were from the just-cancelled beach volleyball program.

After arriving in town very late the night before, the volleyball team wasted no time waiting for a bus early in the morning on Saturday August 11 by performing warm-ups right on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. The bus finally showed up and took them to the University of Carabobo venue for a full-court practice. With a few more practice sessions later in the day and on Sunday, the U.S. faced Mexico on Monday. Mexico was only 2 points away from winning the match but was unable to stop the U.S. comeback of 4 straight unanswered points to take the set and match 15-13.

Venezuela and U.S. faced off on Tuesday. Unable to put together a consistent offense and defense, the U.S. fizzled in 3 straight losing sets.

In a double round-robin format with no playoffs, USA met Mexico again after a day off. A sluggish slow start prevented USA from scoring at least 20 points in the first two sets, putting itself in a deep hole. Mark Morales' "PDR" rally (Passion, Desire, Respect) substituted the usual "1-2-3 USA" huddle chant and Coach Roger Worsley reminded the team about its desire to play and win. U.S. roared back with a 25-22, 25-18, 15-6 winning finish.

Hoping to continue the momentum the next day, the U.S. was stopped cold in its track by Venezuela in the opening set, 14-25. But, the players gathered themselves together and won the only set against Venezuela, 25-21. Unfortunately, Venezuela was able to capitalize on U.S. inconsistencies by taking the final two sets, 25-12 and 25-23.

Gold medalist Venezuela was 4-0 overall, with U.S. sandwiched at 2-2 between Venezuela and winless bronze medalist Mexico. All three nations filled the three slots allocated to PANAMDES for the 2009 Summer Deaflympics. Argentina and Brazil were no shows in this regional confederation qualifying round.

Roster

BALLARD, Michael (Utah)
DAVIS, Justin (Virgina)
HAYNIE, Steven (Illinois)
KARTHEISER, Geo (Illinois)
KNETZGER, John (Wisconsin)
MORALES, Mark (Ohio)
WEIMER, Todd (Illinois)

MACKO, John (Assistant Coach)
WORSLEY, Roger (Head Coach)

Results

Photo Gallery

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Volleyball - Women

Summary

The tryouts and selections for the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team concluded about a month and a half prior to the 4th Pan American Deaf Games. The total number of committed nations has not exceed the quota of 16 teams for the women's volleyball program at the 2009 Summer Deaflympics . Therefore, a qualifying round is not required. Based on that information along with limited time and resources, the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team opted not to travel to Venezuela but put all of its efforts and resources towards other major events in the upcoming year, such as USA Volleyball National Championships and 2008 World Deaf Volleyball Championships. Click here for a July 17, 2007 announcement on selections to U.S. women's national and development teams.

Results

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Posted: September 15, 2007