Dunn Tours Europe With USA Volleyball

Aug. 3, 2012

NORMAN, OK. – University of Oklahoma sophomore outside hitter, Tara Dunn (Porth, Texas), spent the past summer in overseas representing Team USA on the volleyball court as a member of the BIP/United States Development Team that participated at the European Global Challenge in both Italy and Croatia.

Dunn had the opportunity to simultaneously represent the Red, White and Blue along with the Crimson and Cream as a member of the BIP/USA Development Team – a select group of college freshmen, sophomores and juniors chosen to represent the USA overseas.

“It was such an amazing opportunity to represent Team BIP/USA and have the chance to play in Europe,” remarked Dunn.

“Of course it was a lot of volleyball, which was great, but it was also a once-in-a-lifetime experience and chance to meet new people.”

Dunn, along with her teammates, kick-started their tour with a four-night stay in Milan, Italy where they practiced at the Italian Volleyball Federation's training facility and had the opportunity to play against Club Italia – a mix of Youth and Junior National Team players coached by Marco Mencarelli, the Italian Junior National Team Coach.

“The first few days gave all of the girls the opportunity to get to know one another,” explained Dunn.

“For coming together so quickly, and getting right into business, I think we all connected extremely well. We were able to do fun things like walk through the different towns we were staying in, visit all the little shops local to the area and most importantly, enjoy some delicious gelato.”

While the trip was filled with several stops, and the chance to see Europe, volleyball was the primary focus.

“Playing for BIP/USA was a little different for me. I was put on the right side, which I haven't played since probably my freshman year of high school – but it was refreshing.”

“It gives you the chance to get a different perspective of your game, and improve in areas that you may not have noticed beforehand,” explained Dunn.

After its stay in Milan, BIP/USA made way to Montefiascone, Italy, where the team faced off against the both the Italian and Chinese Junior National Teams. Despite the efforts of the Red, White and Blue, they dropped back-to-back matches against the Italians with a three-set decision in the first match (0-3: 20-25, 21-25, 15-2) and four-set, 1-3 show in their second contest (21-25, 9-25, 25-23, 17-25), and fumbled in a four-set match against a strong Chinese team (1-3: 21-25, 9-25, 25-23, 17-25). In their third and final match-up against Italy, the U.S. failed to snag a win with a three-set loss (21-25, 19-25, 24-26).

While in Montefiascone, Dunn recorded 14 kills to rank second on the team, one assist and seven digs.

After its stay in Italy, Team BIP/USA made way to Pula, Croatia, to begin the Global Challenge where it opened tournament play in a pool with Falconara (Italy), OK Galeb (Monenegro) and the BIP Southeastern Team.

Although the team struggled in Montefiascone, it captured its first victory of the trip against OK Galeb, and followed suit with a second win against BIP Southeastern, thanks to the help of Dunn who notched seven kills and zero attacking errors in the first set alone.

The Porth, Texas native tallied a team-high 13 kills and .550 hitting percentage against BIP Southeastern and kickoff the Global Challenge for Team BIP/ USA.

Following her stellar performance against BIP Southeastern, Dunn and BIP/USA went on to sweep Falconara in two sets (2-0: 26-24, 25-18) and advance to the Global Challenge semifinals against the Russian Junior National Team.

Team BIP/USA dropped the semi-final match against Russia in four sets (1-3: 18-25, 15-25, 27-25, 20-25) to end its Global Challenge. In her final match with BIP/USA, Dunn recorded a team-high 16 kills and seven digs, and added one ace.

“It was such a wonderful experience to play for BIP/USA in the Global Challenge,” remarked Dunn “However, I'm really excited to get back on the court with the Sooners. I'm hopeful with our team this year.”

Oklahoma will open the season with the Nike Invitational Aug. 24-25 at McCasland Field House.

For all the latest information on Oklahoma volleyball, please log on to www.SoonerSports.com or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow Oklahoma volleyball on Twitter at @SoonersVB (https://twitter.com/SoonersVB).

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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