Archive for the 'Olympics' Category
Posted by devo on November 6, 2008
Women’s Volleyball Olympian Nicole (Sanderson) Hannan traveled all the way from Australia to Pepperdine University to receive her award as a 2008 Hall of Fame inductee.
“Nicole traveled half-way around the world to convince me to pay for her education to play volleyball for the Waves,” said women’s head coach Nina Matthies. While at Pepperdine Hannan became one of the first players in history to earn All-West Coast Conference first team honors four times. She graduated from Pepperdine in 1997 with a degree in sports medicine. She competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics for her native Australia and finished fourth in Beach Volleyball. “I came to Pepperdine from the other side of the world and made new friends, family and teammates,” said Hannan. “Nina always believed in me and taught me to believe in myself.” more@pepperdine
Posted in Aussies Overseas, Australian Beach VB, Australian Volleyball, Olympics, Sports, Volleyball, Volleyball Australia | Tagged: Nicole (Sanderson) Hannan, Pepperdine | No Comments »
Posted by devo on November 1, 2008
… the keenest watchers of women’s beach volleyball (at the Olympics), according to the survey, were men aged 50 and above. In fact, as many as 70 per cent of males in this age group watched the sport during the Olympics, compared with 44 per cent of females in the 16 to 29 group. The proportion of older men tuning in may have been even higher than this, since some who watched may well have been too embarrassed to admit it in the survey. Was this the perv factor at work? Probably. What else could it be? How else can you explain the fact that more men aged 50 and over watched women’s beach volleyball at the Games - a sport few of them would have known much about … full article at SMH
I feel I have to defend myself. As a newly retired 55+ I watched a lot of the Olympics - I had the time to do it. And I watched a lot of the beach volleyball - even though regular readers would be aware that I am not a great fan of the sandy variety of the game. Does that make me a “purve”?
I chose the best - in my opinion - viewing at the time. This was usually the beach volleyball (okay, I was a little interested, and I had to tape it for Mrs Devo). The Sydney Morning Herald article does go on to conceed that … nearly all sports at this year’s Olympics had their biggest TV audiences in Australia in the 50-plus age range. The statistics were high because this was the biggest viewing group. We were the ones at home during the day. But the media have an obsession with combining beach volleyball with sex.
Surely it’s time for the media to get over the purve image of the beach game? It’s becoming monotonous - even for me. And I’m sure insulting for the athletes that play.
Posted in Australian Beach VB, It's not volleyball but ..., Olympics | Tagged: SMH | 1 Comment »
Posted by devo on October 24, 2008
The Standing Volleyball nations of Germany, Slovakia and Cambodia – ranked #1, 2, and 3 in the world respectively - have jointly led the way in the formation of the world’s newest international disability sports federation: The International Standing Volleyball Federation (ISVF)
The ISVF is to be established in direct response to the long – term and ongoing lack of support for Standing Volleyball and its development within the World Organisation of Volleyball for the Disabled (WOVD). The WOVD’s policy of focusing solely on the development of Sitting Volleyball has led the three leading Standing Volleyball nations to formally withdraw from the WOVD, effective as at 31 October 2008. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Disability Volleyball, Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | Tagged: ISVF, Standing Volleyball | 2 Comments »
Posted by devo on September 11, 2008
Stats. You’re either a stats person; or you’re not a stats person. Aussie volleyballer Phill DeSalvo is always telling me that the stats don’t tell the full story. And he’s right. Unless he’s passed at better than 70% perfect; then the stats are spot on! (Sorry Phill)
I’ve found that stats, used selectively, can be a great inspirer of junior players. Here is a target stat - try and reach it. Kids love it. They want to see the stats as soon as the match is over. To some, it is more important than the result. To liberos, it is unfortunately really the only benchmark they have. And yet stats are not a science. Two people doing stats on a game will come up with different figures. Mine were the correct ones!
Here in Oz, Dan Ilott is THE stats man. No one argues with his recording of the match. Another person who is into stats is Ross Sullivan. He has previously been involved in the VTAW and Oregon State University programs. He has compiled the women’s stats from the Olympics. This is really only me accessing information that was on web pages in relation to team makeup and VIS stats. Some of this information is notorious for its inaccuracy.
To see Ross’ stats compilation click on the following link: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in It's not volleyball but ..., Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | Tagged: Ross Sullivan, stats | 12 Comments »
Posted by devo on September 9, 2008
Paralympics Beijing 2008 - Ukraine vs Slovenia
You can see more photos from the Paralympics here
Posted in Disability Volleyball, Olympics, Sports, Volleyball, Volleyball Video | Tagged: Paralympics | No Comments »
Posted by devo on September 8, 2008
Yes there is volleyball at the Beijing Paralympic Games. Sitting volleyball is already underway.
You can check it out:
Posted in Disability Volleyball, Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | Tagged: sitting volleyball | No Comments »
Posted by devo on September 4, 2008
The FIVB have released the latest world rankings which have been updated after the Olympics. more@fivb
The Australian men have dropped one placing from 12th to 13th. full fivb list
The Australian women have improved one position from 37th to 36th. full fivb list
MEN:
1 (1) Brazil
2 (3) USA
3 (2) Russia
4 (4) Bulgaria
5 (5) Serbia
6 (10) Italy
7 (6) Poland
8 (7) Spain
9 (8) Puerto Rico
10 (21) China
11 (11) Japan
12 (9) Argentina
13 (12) Australia |
|
WOMEN:
1 (1) Brazil
2 (2) Italy
3 (4) USA
4 (3) Cuba
5 (7) China
6 (6) Serbia
7 (5) Japan
8 (8) Russia
9 (9) Poland
10 (10) Korea
11 (11) Dom. Rep.
12 (12) Kenya |
Posted in Australian Volleyball, FIVB, Olympics, Sports, Volleyball, Volleyball Australia | Tagged: world ranking | No Comments »
Posted by markleb on August 25, 2008
For the official men’s best players awards click here. For the women’s awards, click here.
I can’t comment on the women’s awards but the men’s ones are, mmm…, how can I can, ridiculous. They are all based on statistics so you can’t argue against them directly but it is interesting to note that a few of the awards (the 3 Polish awards and Corsano) were won by players who were not playing when the competition was at it’s most competitive, when everyone’s statistics went down.
I’ve already given my opinion on the MVP, Ball or Priddy. You can’t argue with Gustavo as best blocker, or Stanley as best server. Winiarski may or may not have been best receiver but see above. Swiderski is only the best spiker in a parallel universe where, among others, Mikhaylov, Priddy, Giba, Cisolla don’t live.
Ball was clearly the best setter, although I could have given the nod to Zagumny if they had made the semi finals. Grankin improved during the course of the tournament, especially in pressure situations, but he has a long way to go before he can be considered amongst the best. Most commentators would rank him about 7th or 8th, although he is by far the youngest of the setters of the top teams.
In my opinion the liberos were fantastic and the level of defence in particular has improved a lot. Verbov, Lambourne, Ignaczak, Sergio made incredible dig after incredible dig to give their teams chances to continue playing. Under gunpoint, I would give a best libero nod to Verbov but you could make a case for any of them.
Posted in Olympics, Volleyball | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 24, 2008
Bronze Medal:
Russia defeated Italy 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-23)
Gold Medal:
USA defeated Brazil 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23)
The USA upset 2004 Athens Olympic champions and world No. 1 Brazil 3-1 to win the gold medal in the Men’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament for the first time in 20 years on Sunday. FIVB President Dr. Rubén Acosta presented the gold-medal winning USA players with special bouquets of flowers at the awarding ceremony. The Americans won 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23 in front of 13,000 spectators at Capital Indoor Stadium in 2 hours, 5 minutes.
Russia, three times Olympic champions, retained the bronze medal they won in Athens four years ago by beating Italy 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 earlier in the day in front of 11,500 spectators.
It’s the third gold for the American Men’s Volleyball players, who also won the gold-medal match at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Games. Together with the silver medal in the Women’s event and two gold medals in Beach Volleyball, the one-time Volleyball empire announced its revival in Beijing in an almost-perfect way. more@fivb ~ more@fivb
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | Tagged: olympic medals | 8 Comments »
Posted by devo on August 23, 2008
Bronze medal:
CUBA lost to CHINA: 1-3 (16-25, 25-21, 13-25, 20-25)
Gold medal:
Brazil def USA 3-1 (25-15, 18-25, 25-13, 25-21)
Brazil Women became Olympic champions for the first time after beating USA 3-1. FIVB President Dr. Rubén Acosta awarded the players at the celebratory awarding ceremony after the seven-time FIVB World Grand Prix winners beat USA 25-15, 18-25, 25-13, 25-21 in 1 hour, 44 minutes in front of 13,000 spectators at Capital Indoor Stadium. USA won the silver medal for the second time after winning it in Los Angeles 1984, when their now Head Coach “Jenny” Ping Lang won gold as a player with China.
more@fivb ~ more@fivb ~ Andrea Zorzi
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | Tagged: Olympic volleyball medals | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 23, 2008
UPDATED:
The bronze-medal momen’s volleyball match between Italy and Russia is on now, but both channel 7 and SBS are showing the football gold medal. (You can watch the scores tick over here) The main program page is still showing that the Gold Medal match will not be shown, but thanks to Dad, I’ve had a look at Latest Program Info on the SBS front page and it shows that there will be a broadcast of the Women’s Gold Medal.
- 12:30 Beijing 2008: W Volleyball Gold USA v BRA
-
The final match of the Womens Volleyball tournament sees the United States take on Brazil - From the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. CC
SBS has both men’s medal matches listed for tomorrow. My grandmother would tell me not to look a gift horse in the mouth. But I’m still disappointed. (Choose your own words to replace “disappointed”) Especially as the coverage has been very good till now.
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | 5 Comments »
Posted by devo on August 23, 2008
Reigning Olympic champions Brazil and two-time Olympic champions USA will meet in the Men’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament gold-medal match after winning their respective semi-finals against Italy and Russia.
Brazil and USA will compete in the gold-medal match on Sunday, August 24, at 12:00 local time at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. The bronze-medal match between Italy and Russia will take before the final at 10:00 local time at the same venue.
The Women’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament gold-medal match between USA and Brazil is set for Saturday, August 23, at 20:00 local time at Capital Indoor Stadium.
The bronze-medal match will be at 12:30 local time the same day at the same venue between Cuba and China
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | 1 Comment »
Posted by devo on August 22, 2008
Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers earned the United States another Beach Volleyball gold medal here Friday at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as the Americans out-lasted Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes of Brazil for the top spot on the men’s podium at the 12,200-seat Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground.
After being seeded second in the competition with the host country team of Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu being awarded the top spot, Dalhausser and Rogers became the third American men’s team to capture an Olympic Beach Volleyball title by defeating the fourth-seeded Marcio Araujo and Fabio 23-21, 17-21 and 15-4 in 67 minutes. more@fivb
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 22, 2008
USA shocked three-time Olympic champions Cuba in straight sets in the Women’s Olympic semi-finals to set up a gold-medal match against Brazil, who swept the defending Olympic champions China in the other last-four match on Thursday.
Seven-time FIVB World Grand Prix winners Brazil rocked the Chinese and their many supporters among the 13,000 who packed the Capital Indoor Stadium with a blistering display that earned them a 27-25, 25-22, 25-14 victory in 1 hour, 19 minutes.
The USA took six minutes less to rock the Cubans to their heels in a devastating display that saw them prevail 25-20, 25-16, 25-17 also in front of 13,000 at Capital Indoor Stadium.
The gold-medal match between USA and Brazil is set for Saturday, August 23, at 20:00 local time at Capital Indoor Stadium.
The bronze-medal match will be at 12:30 local time the same day at the same venue between Cuba and China. more@fivb ~
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 21, 2008
May-Treanor and Walsh won their second gold medal, prevailing, 21-18, 21-18, at Chaoyang Park in a match that was every bit as close as the final score. The victory was their 108th in a row.
The biggest lead by either team was 3 points. The score was tied 12 times in the first set. In the second, China’s last lead was 14-13, and it drew even at 18-18 before falling.
In the bronze-medal match, the No. 2 Chinese team of Xue Chen and Zhang Xi defeated Brazil’s Renata Ribeiro and Talita Antunes in straight sets. In three previous Olympics, the Chinese had not recorded a top-eight finish. more@nytimes ~ more@fivb
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | 1 Comment »
Posted by devo on August 21, 2008
I’ve loved the volleyball at the olympics. Most days I’ve sat back to watch at least one match, and usually two. And even some beach. Imagine what it would be like to do this all the time! Heaven. Latest polling is showing that whenever the Chinese women’s team has played at the Olympics it has been the top rating tv show of the day in China. You don’t have to convince the Chinese execs to put on some volleyball.
So, if you have enjoyed the Olympics volleyball, let SBS know. Show them that there is a market out here. Go on, click the link. It will only take a second.
Email: comments@sbs.com.au
Posted in Australian Volleyball, It's not volleyball but ..., Olympics, Sports, Volleyball, Volleyball Australia | Tagged: sbs | 5 Comments »
Posted by devo on August 21, 2008
WOMEN’S BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINAL
1pm AEST (China v USA)
China in the beach volleyball final? What will they do next? Win at Bells Beach! They will win at least one medal today as Tian Jia and Wang Jie meet American defending champions Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor in the gold medal match, and Xue Chen and Zhang Xi take on the Brazilians for the bronze at 11am. (Love the writer at the SMH!)
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball, Volleyball Video | Tagged: WOMEN'S BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINAL | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 21, 2008
Defending Olympic champions Brazil, three-time FIVB world champions Italy, three-time Olympic champions Russia and 2008 FIVB World League winners USA moved forward to the semi-finals of the Men’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday in Beijing. more@ fivb ~ Andrea Zorzi ~ Markleb
Women’s semi-finals: Thursday, August 21
12:30 Cuba-USA, Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing (add 2 hours for AEST)
20:00 China-Brazil, Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing
Men’s semi-finals: Friday, August 22
12:30 USA-Russia, Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing
20:00 Italy-Brazil, Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | Tagged: Andrea Zorzi, Markleb, men's semi-finals | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 20, 2008
Defending Olympic champions China, three-time Olympic gold medallists Cuba, World No. 1 Brazil and emerging threat USA advanced to the semi-finals of the Women’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing on Tuesday. more@fivb ~ Andrea Zorzi
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | Tagged: Andrea Zorzi, semi-finals | No Comments »
Posted by markleb on August 19, 2008
It seems that Australian TV has shown more volleyball than the four countries feeds I have been watching but here is my two cents.
The men’s quarter finals are set. Because of the ridiculous ‘Bernardinho Rules’, we got to sit through 6 mostly pointless matches to wait for the most important part of the day, the drawing of lots for the quarter finals. USA v Serbia, Bulgaria v Russia, Italy v Poland, China v Brazil.
USA have been the most impressive team until now. They have had the easier group but completely outplayed Italy and won easily against Bulgaria in the two ‘tough’ matches. They will play Serbia who played well in patches but lack a little overall quality, especially with Kovacevic breaking a bone in his hand. In a best of one series, the USA will not relish a match against Grbic and Miljkovic but it is an Olympic quarter final.
Bulgaria will be pleased to be playing Russia. Partly because they know them very well, and partly because they are always a chance to choke. Russia played really in winning their first four matches and just needed to win against Poland to finish first in the group and lost against a team that was just waiting for the drawing of lots. They lost. Bulgaria on the other hand welcomed back their captain and most experienced player (and not doped) Konstantinov.
On form Poland should win easily against Italy. They have played excellent 21st century volleyball (fast, aggressive, precise) throughout the tournament, even matching Brazil for a while at their own game. Italy have had injuries to 3 key players, have alternated liberos and have changed lineups every match. What they have played they looked relatively slow and conservative. Still, Italy is Italy and they have enormous experience in big matches.
Brazil haven’t played at the same level they have shown for the last five years but have improved as the tournament progressed. In the quarter finals I think they would have been vulnerable against a good team. China has done well to reach the quarter finals but I can’t imagine a scenario where they can challenge Brazil. And I have a feeling that other teams will live to regret Brazil having another relatively easy match to continue to improve their rhythm.
So, the semi finals will be (maybe) USA-Russia, Poland-Brazil. Final (possibly) Russia-Brazil. Medals (could be) Brazil, Russia, USA
I don’t know if that’s worth two cents, but if it is Zorzi is worth at least a dollar. And not just because I agree with everything he wrote.
Posted in FIVB, Olympics, Volleyball | Tagged: Add new tag | 11 Comments »
Posted by devo on August 19, 2008
The Olympic women’s beach final match will be a rematch of the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships. Jia Tian and Jie Wang of China will challenge Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States for the women’s gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games after both teams won semi-final matches today. more@fivb
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | Tagged: Jia Tian, Jie Wang, Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanor | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 19, 2008
BEACH volleyball legend Natalie Cook hasn’t ruled out a fifth Olympics appearance in 2012 but admits now is no time to be making career decisions.
“I just need a rest. It’s been 16 years of non-stop, hard physical activity on my body and my mind and it’s time now to just soak it in and enjoy,” the 33-year-old Queenslander said after partnering Tamsin Barnett to their 24-22 21-14 quarter-final loss to Brazil in Beijing.
“The end of 2008 will be a rest and hopefully Santa Claus can bring me a present that tells me what to do and the New Year’s resolution is to talk about it and to see if I can keep going.” more@FoxSports
Posted in Australian Beach VB, Olympics, Sports, Volleyball Australia | Tagged: Natalie Cook, Tamsin Barnett | 1 Comment »
Posted by devo on August 19, 2008
Men’s Quarter Finals
Wednesday, August 20
- 10:00 Bulgaria (A3) – Russia (B2)
- 12:00 Italy (A2) – Poland (B3)
- 20:00 China (A4) – Brazil (B1)
- 22:00 USA (A1) – Serbia (B4)
The winner of USA - Serbia will meet the winner of Bulgaria and Russia in one Semi Final and the winners of Italy - Poland and China - Brazil will meet in the other Semi Final. Venezuela and Germany are classified 9th. Japan and Egypt are classified 11th.
Check out Andrea Zorzi’s evaluation of each team.
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | Tagged: Andrea Zorzi, quarter finals | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 18, 2008
Women’s Quarter Finals
Tuesday, August 19
- 10:00 Cuba (A1) – Serbia (B4)
- 12:00 Japan (A4) – Brazil (B1)
- 20:00 China (A3) – Russia (B3)
- 22:00 USA (A2) – Italy (B2)
The winners of China-Russia and Japan-Brazil will meet in one Semi Final and the winners of Cuba-Serbia and USA-Italy will meet in the other Semi Final.
Kazakhstan and Poland are classified 9th. Algeria and Venezuela are classified 11th. more@fivb
Andrea Zorzi’s evaluation of the teams
Posted in Olympics, Sports, Volleyball | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 16, 2008
AUSTRALIANS Andrew Schacht and Josh Slack have bowed out of the Olympic beach volleyball competition in the round of 16 with a straight-sets loss to the Dutch Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil: 2-0 (21-16, 21-14).
The Aussies fell behind early, trailing 8-2 in the first set in the blink of an eyelid, and were never able to bridge the gap. After conceding the first set, Schacht and Slack opened up a 4-1 lead in the second before the European champions ran away with the set and booked a berth in tomorrow’s quarter-finals. more@FoxSports ~ more@sportal
Posted in Australian Beach VB, Olympics, Sports, Volleyball Australia | Tagged: Andrew Schacht, Josh Slack | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 15, 2008
Natalie Cook
Aussie beach volleyballers at the Olympics, Natalie Cook and Tamsin Barnett, continued on their winning way and into the quarter finals after a surprisingly hard-fought victory over Greece in hot and sunny conditions at Beijing’s Chaoyang Park complex. There was very little to separate the two sides, with attack successes and errors virtually identical on either side of the net. more@SBS ~ more@ABC
15-Aug: Barnett-Cook AUS [10] def Koutroumanidou-Tsiartsiani GRE [16] 2-1 (22-20, 19-21, 15-12) in 56 minutes.
They will meet either Maaseide-Glesnes NOR [12] or Talita-Renata BRA [6] in the quarter finals on Sunday (Photo courtesy AFP: Thomas Coex)
Posted in Australian Beach VB, Olympics, Sports, Volleyball Australia, Volleyball Picture | Tagged: Natalie Cook, Tamsin Barnett | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 15, 2008
As the Olympic beach tournament heads into the round of 16 knock out matches, the draws for the Aussie teams have been released.
15-Aug - 12:00 - Barnett-Cook AUS [10] vs Koutroumanidou-Tsiartsiani GRE [16]
16-Aug - 12:00 - Nummerdor-Schuil NED [5] vs Schacht-Slack AUS [10]
Posted in Australian Beach VB, Olympics, Sports, Volleyball Australia | Tagged: Tamsin Barnett, Natalie Cook, Andrew Schacht, Josh Slack | No Comments »
Posted by devo on August 14, 2008
“We’ve got a Brazilian coach so that helps and we know what annoys him so we’re pretty sure we know what annoys them as well,” Barnett joked on the Seven Network on Thursday.
While sledging isn’t allowed in the sport, Barnett said Cook had a few subtle slurs up her sleeve to psych out opponents.
“Nat’s pretty good at doing sneaky sledges because you’re not allowed to (sledge),” Barnett said.
“Some of them don’t understand English so you can say what you like,” Cook cheekily replied. “But Tamsin’s got some extra height so she just puffs her chest out and they all get intimidated. Just a little bit of sand in the eye,” she added.
Cook said Wednesday’s battle with the Brazilians was tough. “It really did feel like war … high pressure and point for point, and Tamsin at the net was blocking amazing and I’m throwing around sand everywhere and it was hot and steamy, just very very high pressure but we came out on top,” she said. “It’s like eye of the tigers, it’s just feisty.”
Cook said she was in the best shape of her career and was looking forward to getting her hands on another gold medal. “We’re playing great and if we keep playing to our form then that (a gold medal) is a really high possibility.” more@SBS
Posted in Australian Beach VB, Olympics, Sports, Volleyball Australia | Tagged: Natalie Cook, Tamsin Barnett | 3 Comments »
