Tomes Ready for Pan Am Games

July 11, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - Former Oklahoma volleyball player Laura Tomes continues her summer journey with the U.S. Women's National Team this week. Tomes and the USA will begin the XV Pan American Games on July 14 at Maracanãzinho Gymnasium in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

The United States is part of Pool B and opens group play on July 14 against Costa Rica followed by a July 15 match against Puerto Rico. The U.S. concludes pool play on July 16 against Cuba. Semifinals and classification matches are on July 18 after an off day, followed by the championship on July 19.

ESPN Deportes is scheduled to televise the USA preliminary matches against Puerto Rico and Cuba as part of 160 hours of Pan American Games-related programming over seven different ESPN platforms. For more information on the ESPN's role with the Pan American Games, go to http://www.usavolleyball.org/VolleyballNews/news.asp?id=1675.

Joining Tomes on the Team USA roster for the Pan American Games are middle blockers Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.) and Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.), outside hitters Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.), Cynthia Barboza (Long Beach, Calif.), Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.) and Kimberly Noble (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), opposites Cassie Busse (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Charnette Fair (Atlanta, Ga.), setters Lindsey Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) and Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.), and libero Kristen Fenton Michaelis (Marysville, Mich.).

Tomes is one of six players on the roster who just finished competing in the recent Pan American Cup, where America finished fourth.

Since 1951, the Pan American Games are held every four years in the year preceding the summer Olympics and volleyball has been part of the event since 1955. The Pan American Games are a continental version of the Olympic Games, which includes both Olympic sports and other disciplines suggested by the competition organization and approved by PASO.

The U.S. Women's National Team has secured the gold only once at the Pan American Games, that being in 1967 at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Team USA also has six silver medals and three bronze medals to its credit.

Tomes is only the fourth Oklahoma volleyball player in school history to represent the Sooners on a USA National Team. Patrice Arrington, who played on the USA National Team in 2005, was the last Sooner to be named to a USA squad.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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