Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0
Games on!
The 2012 Olympics kick off today, with the #1-ranked U.S. Women’s Indoor Volleyball team opening at 3:00 p.m. EST against #13-ranked Republic of Korea. We don’t know much about the Korean team, other than that, according to their official bios on the 2012 Olympic website, among the hobbies of 5-11 WS/RS Yoo-Mi Han and 6-1 WS/RS Song-Yi Han is “eating Korean food.” We’re assuming that among Koreans, that hobby is pretty widespread. ( To be fair, we also assume that “eating Korean food” may be a loose translation of something like an American athlete saying their favorite food is “pizza.”)
Food aside, even without any “inside” scoop on this match, you have to like the odds of #1 versus #13. We’ll be watching Megan Hodge and Christa Harmotto (shown below) and the entire U.S. Team, and will have a post-match writeup later today or early tomorrow.
Photo courtesy of GoPSUsports.com
In the meantime, below are the rosters for both the U.S. and Korean teams, the full schedule for the U.S. team, and the rankings, as of January 4, 2012, for all of the teams competing for the 2012 Olympic Women’s Indoor Volleyball gold medal.
2012 U.S. Women's Olympic Volleyball Team
| # | Name | Position | Height | Hometown | State | Birth Year | College | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Scott-Arruda, Danielle | MB | 6-2 | Baton Rouge | LA | 1972 | LBSU | Big West |
| 3 | Haneef-Park, Tayyiba | Opp | 6-7 | Laguna Hills | CA | 1979 | LBSU | Big West |
| 4 | Berg, Lindsey | S | 5-8 | Honolulu | HI | 1980 | Minnesota | B1G |
| 5 | Miyashiro, Tamari | L | 5-7 | Kaneohe | HI | 1987 | Washington | Pac 12 |
| 6 | Davis, Nicole | L | 5-4 | Stockton | CA | 1982 | USC | Pac 12 |
| 10 | Larson, Jordan | OH | 6-2 | Hooper | NE | 1986 | Nebraska | B1G |
| 11 | Hodge, Megan | OH | 6-3 | Durham | NC | 1988 | Penn State | B1G |
| 13 | Harmotto, Christa | MB | 6-2 | Hopewell | PA | 1986 | Penn State | B1G |
| 15 | Tom, Logan | OH | 6-1 | Salt Lake City | UT | 1981 | Stanford | Pac 12 |
| 16 | Akinradewo, Foluke | MB | 6-3 | Plantation | FL | 1987 | Stanford | Pac 12 |
| 17 | Thompson, Courtney | S | 5-8 | Kent | WA | 1984 | Washington | Pac 12 |
| 19 | Hooker, Destinee | Opp | 6-4 | San Antonio | TX | 1987 | Texas | Big 12 |
2012 Olympics Women's Volleyball - Korea
| # | Name | Position | Height | Age | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | HA Joon-Eem | MB | 6-2 | 22 | Korea Highway Corp. |
| 4 | KIM Sa-Nee | S | 5-11 | 31 | Heungkuk Life Insurance |
| 5 | KIM Hae-Ran | L | 5-6 | 28 | Korea Highway Corp. |
| 7 | LIM Hyo-Sook | WS/RS | 5-10 | 30 | Korea Highway Corp. |
| 10 | KIM Yeon-Koung | WS/RS | 6-4 | 24 | Heungkuk Life Insurance |
| 11 | HAN Yoo-Mi | WS/RS | 5-11 | 30 | Korea Ginseng Corp. |
| 12 | HAN Song-Yi | WS/RS | 6-1 | 27 | GS Caltex |
| 13 | JUNG Dae-Young | MB | 6-0 | 30 | GS Caltex |
| 14 | HWANG Youn-Joo | OS/OH | 5-10 | 25 | Hyundai |
| 17 | YANG Hyo-Jin | MB | 6-3 | 22 | Hyundai |
| 19 | KIM Hee-Jin | U | 6-1 | 21 | IBK |
| 20 | LEE Sook-Ja | S | 5-9 | 32 | GS Caltex |
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday July 28th | 3:00 p.m. EST | Korea | 13 |
| Monday July 30th | 11:45 a.m. EST | Brazil | 2 |
| Wednesday August 1st | 3:00 p.m. EST | China | 5 |
| Friday August 3rd | 3:00 p.m. EST | Serbia | 6 |
| Sunday August 5th | 3:00 p.m. EST | Turkey | 11 |
| Tuesday August 7th | tbd | Quarterfinals | |
| Thursday August 9th | tbd | Semifinals | |
| Saturday August 11th | 1:30 p.m. EST | Finals |
FIVB Women's Ranking - (as of January 4, 2012)
| Rank | Team | Points | 2008 Olympic Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USA | 245.00 | 2 |
| 2 | Brazil | 217.50 | 1 |
| 3 | Japan | 197.25 | 5 |
| 4 | Italy | 190.75 | 5 |
| 5 | China | 169.00 | 3 |
| 6 | Serbia | 145.00 | 5 |
| 7 | Russia | 131.25 | 5 |
| 9 | Dominican Rep. | 72.75 | na |
| 11 | Turkey | 64.25 | na |
| 13 | Republic of Korea | 56.25 | na |
| 16 | Algeria | 47.25 | 11 |
| 69 | Great Britain | 5.50 | na |