Galen Center Hosts USA-Brazil in USA Volleyball Cup July 6
USC greats Nicole Davis and Natalie Hagglund will suit up with No. 2 Team USA to take on No. 1 Brazil
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LOS ANGELES - The Galen Center will play host to the world’s top-ranked women’s volleyball teams at 5 p.m. PT on July 6 (Sunday) in the 2014 USA Volleyball Cup. Two of the Women of Troy’s all-time greats—Nicole Davis and Natalie Hagglund—will take the court with No. 2 USA when the Americans host top-ranked Brazil for the second match of an incredible four-match challenge series.
The head-to-head is a rematch of the gold-medal match from the 2012 London Olympic Games. Prior to the July 6 meeting, the two teams will play at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif., at 7 p.m. PT on July 5. The two squads will then play twice at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu on July 11-12.
“There are three things you need to know about the 2014 USA Volleyball Cup,” U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly said. “One, Brazil has beaten our U.S. women’s team in the last two Olympic gold-medal matches. Two, Brazil is hosting the next Olympic Games in Rio, so whoever seeks gold will inevitably need to go through this Brazilian team. And three, they’re ranked world No. 1, and we’re ranked No. 2.”
Davis is a two-time Olympic silver-medalist with Team USA. As the program’s first-ever libero, she led the team in digs and helped USC to its back-to-back NCAA titles in 2002 and 2003. Hagglund was a three-time first-team AVCA All-American during her career at USC and claimed the Pac-12’s Libero of the Year honor three times. She is the Trojans’ all-time leader for digs (2,362), which ranks third in conference history and was also a CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-America first-team selection.
Tickets for all of the USA Volleyball Cup events will go on sale this month on USA Volleyball’s website (www.usavolleyball.org). Adult general admission tickets are $20, seniors (65+), active duty military, and student (18+) tickets are $15 with proper ID at gate, youth (4-17) tickets are $10, and children under the age of three (3) receive free admission with parent. Special $35 preferred seating is available as well as a special VIP experience for $150.
Since the conclusion of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the U.S. and Brazil have occupied the top two spots in the world rankings. Team USA overtook Brazil following the 2011 FIVB World Cup. However, Brazil regained the top spot in September of 2013 on the heels of its second straight Olympic gold-medal victory over the Americans in 2012 and ending Team USA’s three-year run on the FIVB Grand Prix titles late last summer.
The USA Volleyball Cup, which began in 2013, is an initiative to draw elite international teams to the United States to compete in an annual tour series with the U.S. women’s and men’s national teams. Such events will help foster local community ties to the two national team programs and the City of Anaheim (Calif.) where the teams train, as well as other communities around the United States to promote the teams. The U.S. women hosted Japan in the inaugural USAV Cup in the summer of 2013. The Americans won four-set matches over their long-time Japanese rivals in La Jolla, and Long Beach, Calif.
Since it opened in 2006, the Galen Center has hosted many high-profile sporting events including the 2012 NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship and the 2007 NCAA Women’s Basketball First and Second Rounds. The 10,258-seat arena has also hosted the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament, the MPSF Men’s Volleyball Championship, the first and second rounds of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championships and the 2013 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Regional Championship. Outside of sports, the venue is also the site of entertainment events such as the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards, Microsoft’s E3, the League of Legends Championships, boxing matches, and the popular reality talent show The X-Factor.