Posted: 01 Mar 2011 11:18 AM PST

TOKYO —

Japan national team wing spiker Megumi Kurihara has undergone surgery for cartilage damage in her troubled left knee and will be out of action for around three months, her Pioneer Red Wings team said Tuesday.

Kurihara, who last fall helped Japan win the bronze medal in Tokyo for its first women's world championship medal in 32 years, had been complaining of discomfort in the knee since early January, according to team officials. The popular 26-year-old underwent a meniscus operation on the same knee last March.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Collateral Damage - WikiLeaks In The Crosshairs.

Sports editor asks UD to applaud volleyball program

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 08:43 PM PST

This is the column I never thought I would have to write - not like this certainly, and not this soon.

University of Dayton volleyball has a rich tradition, and over the past decade, that has included nearly annual trips to the NCAA Tournament. This season, the story was no different as a cast of six seniors led the Flyers to a 23-match winning streak and a program-record tying No. 12 national ranking, but were unable to capitalize on the opportunity.

For the third time in four seasons, the team again fell in the tournament's second round on Saturday, Dec. 4. The Ohio State University Buckeyes team brought its pep band, a half dozen cheerleaders and even mascot Brutus, and managed to conquer UD in an epic five-set match, at the Frericks Center.

At the post-match press conference, third-year head coach Kelly Sheffield gave credit to both teams for sticking to their game plan, and said he would have felt awful for whichever team had to lose at the end. Meanwhile, redshirt seniors Lindsay Fletemier and Amanda Cowdrey were in near tears, scraping for the right words to describe their emotions.

Despite the sorrow, now is the time to commend this Dayton volleyball team more than ever. Now is the time to stand beside Coach Sheffield's program and congratulate these players on their continued success.

During his tenure that began in March 2008, Sheffield advanced the production of the team even further from the days of Tim Horsmon, the team's former head coach. Since arriving from the University of Vermont, "Shef" has reached for new goals to measure the program's success in comparing UD to the top teams from across the nation.

In the 41 years of Dayton volleyball, the program has totaled 930 victories with a .637 winning percentage. Additionally, there has been an average of 11.8 conference wins just within the past 16 years of A-10 affiliation.

And then finally, let's take a look at the success of the seniors, middle blocker Fletemier, outside hitter Cowdrey, setter Jessica Yanz, middle blocker Becky Novacek, defensive specialist Rachael Broerman, outside hitter Tiffany Gaerke and even former setter Kacie Hausfeld.

Combined, the players finished with a 112-22 record, three A-10 tournament titles and three trips to the tournament's second round. But it is the individual stories that make up the meaningfulness of this team.

Fletemier was the two-time A-10 Player of the Year, and is likely to appear on the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American team for the third straight season. Yanz and Cowdrey transferred from Nebraska University and Vermont, respectively, and contributed immensely over their time at UD.

Novacek provided consistent efforts at the net alongside Fletemier, while Broerman and Gaerke were two of the most reliable players on the team that never received the credit or attention they deserved.

Furthermore, all of their success this year was dedicated to their former setter Hausfeld, who tragically passed away along with her father Tom in an April plane crash in Kettering, Ohio. The team members wore a "KC14" insignia on their uniforms all season, and constantly attributed their high level of play to honoring her life.

It was another historic year for Dayton volleyball, and another one in which the program made continuous strides.

Now's not the time to be frustrated about the loss, but to be reflective about this incredible team and its record-breaking success.

Valley's Blair Brown Helps Penn State To Fourth National Title; Named Volleyball Honda Sports Award Finalist

Posted: 01 Mar 2011 06:35 AM PST

Saturday night Purcellville resident Blair Brown managed to surpass even her most spectacular previous athletic accomplishments, helping her Penn State Nittany Lions teammates win an unprecedented four straight National Women's Volleyball Championship.

The championship round is a best of five contest, but the Lions won three straight over California to gain the championship in Kansas City, MO. Playing for a team that is one of the most dominant women's volleyball forces ever, Brown herself is proving herself a dominant player nationwide.

Brown has been named one of four finalists for the 2010-1011 Honda Sports Award, which determines the top woman collegiate athlete in volleyball. Her competitors include Texas' Juliann Faucette; USC's Alex Jupiter; and Cal's Carli Lloyd, all three of whom she knows well and against whom she has played often. The winner will be a candidate for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award. A member of the 2010 National Championship All-Tournament Team, Brown is the 10th Nittany Lion to be named a finalist for the Honda Award for volleyball.

The 6'5" tall Brown, who was a standout performer on the Loudoun Valley High School girls' volleyball team, helped the school win the Group AA State Volleyball Championship in 2004. In 2004 and 2005, she was named the Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year. She graduated from Valley in 2006. After being red-shirted her first year at Penn State because of an ankle injury, she returned to the court in 2007 and was named to the Big Ten on the all-freshmen team.

Over the past three years, Brown increased her importance to the Penn State team. Her stats and honors are impressive. Earlier this season, she became the sixth straight Nittany Lion to be named the Big Ten Player of the Year. She is a three-time AVCA All American. A three-time All-Big Ten selection, she earned Second Team laurels in 2008 and First Team honors in 2009 and 2010. Brown has started all 37 matches this season and leads the Nittany Lions with 521 kills, averaging 4.24 kills per set on .320 hitting. She is second on the team with 281 digs and 113 total blocks. Her 4.24 kills per set ranks second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally, while her .323 attack percentage ranks ninth in the league. Her 4.72 points per set ranks 18th in the country. Brown earned conference player of the week laurels three times. She surpassed the 1,000 career kills milestone this season and closed out her career with 1,295 kills.

Brown is the 22-year-old daughter of Sgt. Jeff Brown, supervisor of the Robbery/Homicide unit of Criminal Investigations in the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, and Jaima Brown.

Her volleyball coach at Valley remembered his former player with affection. "She was a wonderful young lady, who never lost sight of her family and whom she came from," Laird Johnson said, calling her "gracious" in her approach to teammates and opponents alike.

A popular member of the Valley volleyball team, nevertheless she was also "extremely competitive," he recalled. But it was a competitiveness that never got out of hand. "She kept everything in perspective," Johnson said-no easy feat considering her success.

Much of the credit for Brown being so balanced Johnson attributed to her parents, who "have done everything physically and financially" to support her career as a player. "Early on they realized she was a very special player and athlete, and they supported her 100 percent. They traveled with her everywhere, gave all the support she needed," he said. So did her brother Tyler, a county deputy who played golf at Valley.

And her family was in Kansas City, Jeff, Jaima and Tyler, to see the culmination of Brown's college career.

"It's been a fun, fun ride," her father said Monday, hardly believing that Saturday night's championship win was not the only glittering honor facing his daughter. "It's a tremendous award (the Honda Sports Award) to be considered for," he said.

Fierce competitors all year, the four finalists for the Honda Sports Award nevertheless are friends and hold each other in the highest regard, Jeff Brown said.

One of the highlights the Brown family will take away from the championship occurred on the academic front. Having been injured her first year and red-shirted, Blair Brown is a fifth year senior. Her graduation was set to occur Dec. 18, the night of the finals. Penn State President Graham Spanier is "quite a volleyball fan," Jeff Brown said. When Spanier called Coach Russ Rose to say he would not be able to make the Nittany Lions' final games because of graduation ceremonies, he learned that Brown would not be able to make his graduation event either, as she had her other "graduation" to attend to.

Providing a personal note that touched Brown, her family and her teammates, Spanier came to the team's final practice before boarding the plane to Kansas City wearing his full academic regalia and handing Brown a cap and gown for her graduation, which he performed on the spot at the end of the practice.

"She put the cap and gown over her uniform. You could see her knee pads under the gown," her father said. "We were all totally shocked; she cried, and so did her teammates," he recalled.

"I'm very proud of her, she's a great kid," he said. Right now Brown is being flooded with offers to play professionally, either in the U.S. or abroad, including Brazil and Puerto Rico. But, she's taking a break from it all, although she will make up her mind as to future career choices in a couple of months.

"She's off on vacation, visiting her boyfriend in Switzerland," he said.

Reader Comments

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of Leesburg Today.

Total Comments: No comments posted.

You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your member ID will be posted with the comments.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Collateral Damage - WikiLeaks In The Crosshairs.

Volleyball Sports

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

“Sports › Volleyball ace Kurihara out for 3 months after knee surgery” plus 2 more

“Sports › Volleyball ace Kurihara out for 3 months after knee surgery” plus 2 more

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed