For U.S. Volleyball, No Shortage of Stars

Destinee Hooker spiking the ball against South Korea on Thursday.

The United States women’s volleyball team have spiked themselves into the gold medal match against Brazil after defeating South Korea in Thursday night’s match.

Leading the team is Coach Hugh McCutcheon, who successfully vaulted the men’s United States volleyball team to gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. McCutcheon is guiding the women’s team in the same direction, as they prepare for Saturday’s gold medal match.

Here are some of the standout players who have helped the team advance to the finals (and their Twitter handles):

Lindsey Berg (@Napela)

The veteran of the team, Berg is making her third Olympic appearance, having previously gone to the 2004 games in Athens and winning silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The Hawaii native, who played at the University of Minnesota as three-time All-Big Ten selection, is the captain of the team.

It has been a tough week for Berg, however, as she injured her left ankle in the Americans’ match against Turkey on Sunday. She returned to the court Thursday to usher in the win against South Korea.

With 228 sets, the team needs Berg to stay injury free through the gold medal match.

Destinee Hooker (@destineehooker)

The 6-foot-4 breakout volleyball star began her athletic career playing basketball, volleyball and running in track. At the University of Texas, she competed in volleyball and track, focusing all of her efforts on volleyball in 2009. A year later, she was named to the United States national team. With a 43 inch vertical leap, the wing spiker has an impressive score record, 147, in her premiere Olympics — 123 spikes, 21 blocks and 3 serves. After leading her team to the gold medal match, with tears in her eyes, she told reporters, “When I was little, there was a time when I quit; I said don’t want to do this anymore. This is a huge turnaround. I’m glad I never gave up.” Read more…