USA Women Open 2005 Season vs. Brazil in Colorado

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Volleyball, in partnership with The Sports
Corp (Colorado Springs Sports Corporation), presents the Front Range Tour, a
series of three matches between the USA Women’s National Volleyball Team and
Brazil from June 2-6, it was announced April 28.

The matches, pitting the world’s second-ranked team (Brazil) against No. 3
Team USA, will be the American women’s first international competition of
the 2005 season and the first under new head coach “Jenny” Lang Ping
(Beijing, China). Lang Ping was named head coach on Feb. 7.

“The matches with Brazil will be a great test and prepare us for our
upcoming tournaments since we will not have had enough time to get the team
together for training,” said Lang Ping. “It will also give us a good chance
to get to know our players better in game situations.”

The series starts on Thursday, June 2 at the Auraria Events Center on the
campus of Metro State College in Denver at 7:30 p.m. (Mountain Daylight
Time).

The second match is scheduled for Saturday, June 4, at Fossil Ridge High
School in Fort Collins at 4 p.m. (MDT).

The series then concludes on Monday, June 6 with a 6:30 p.m. (MDT) match at
the United States Olympic Training Center (Sports Center I) in Colorado
Springs.

Tickets for all matches go on sale on Tuesday, May 3, and are priced at $8.
Please visit TicketsWest.com (http://ticketswest.com) or call 800-325-7328
to order tickets. For groups of 10 or more, please call The Sports Corp at
719-634-7333, extension 1012.

Before the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece last summer, the United States
captured the silver medal at the Montreux Volley Masters and a bronze medal
at the World Grand Prix. In Athens, Team USA finished the 2004 Olympics tied
for fifth place after losing to Brazil in the quarterfinals, 3-2.

The Americans finished the 2004 season with a 20-16 record overall.

Brazil, along with the United States, was one of the favorites to earn an
Olympic medal in Athens but fell short in finishing fourth.

Along with the Montreux VolleyMasters, the Pan American Cup and the
month-long World Grand Prix, Team USA's 2005 schedule features the NORCECA
World Championship Qualifying Tournament from Aug. 13-19 in Puerto Rico and
the NORCECA Championships from Sept. 2-9 in Trinidad and Tobago.

The USA women will be the defending champions at the NORCECA Championships,
which also serves as the qualifier for the Grand Champions Cup tournament in
Japan from Nov. 15-20. The 2006 FIVB World Championships will take place in
Japan from Nov. 16-Dec. 3.

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