Bowling Green State University Athletics
Van De Walle Coaching Regional All-Star Team
July 20, 2001 | Volleyball
July 20, 2001
Bowling Green State University volleyball coach Denise Van De Walle is heading to Colorado Springs, Colo., to coach in next week's Colorado Springs Cup. Van De Walle is coaching one of eight all-star teams made up of girls ages 15-17 from across the United States. The tournament begins Wednesday (July 25).
USA Volleyball's High Performance Program will host the Colorado Springs Cup. The eight all-star teams are made up of aspiring talent selected at the local level, through USA Volleyball regionally sanctioned tryouts conducted last month. The tryouts were held in each of the eight USA Volleyball Regional Volleyball Associations - North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Heart of America (Kansas and Missouri), Arizona, Michiana (Michigan and Indiana), and the Inter-Mountain Region (Utah and Idaho). Tryouts were open to girls born in 1984 or after. The eight teams are named according to the region that they represent.
Van De Walle is coaching the Ohio Valley Region squad. All of the team's players hail from Ohio, with several coming from Northwest Ohio. Three of the players are from St. Ursula Academy in Toledo. The team consists of six rising high-school seniors, two juniors and three sophomores.
"I am honored to have been asked to coach this team," said Van De Walle, who has been training with the squad in Bowling Green since Monday (July 16). "I am really impressed with their skill level. Their size, athletic ability, and overall play is very good for such young players.
"It will be a tremendous opportunity for them to compete at a high level against the other regions. I am excited to see how we do. We want to represent the Ohio Valley Region well."
Van De Walle and the team will arrive in Colorado Springs for check-in on Monday (July 23). The 2001 Colorado Springs Cup competition will begin on Wednesday (July 25) with pool play. Each team will have one match on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Bracket play will be on Saturday, July 28, with all teams participating, regardless of pool play record. Each of the eight teams is guaranteed a minimum of four matches during the competition, and the two teams reaching the finals will play six matches.
The 2001 Colorado Springs Cup is an opportunity for these players from across the United States to show off their talents to college coaches attending the event and to the USA National Team coaching personnel based in Colorado Springs.
The 2001 Colorado Springs Cup is free and open to the public. More information is available by calling USA Volleyball at (719) 228-6800 or consulting the organization's website at http://www.usavolleyball.org.
Van De Walle and the Falcons went 21-9 last fall, tying for the Mid-American Conference's East Division title. She welcomes back 11 letterwinners, including five starters, from that squad.
