Olympics: Volleyball

U.S. Men's Volleyball Team

The U.S. men's volleyball team has been dominating preliminary games in the 2004 Games. They beat the Netherlands on Tuesday in three games. The U.S. couldn't afford another loss in its ultracompetitive men's volleyball pool, and Clay Stanley made sure it didn't happen. Stanley scored 21 points and fellow Olympic rookie Reid Priddy added nine kills Tuesday to lead the Americans to a crucial sweep of the Netherlands, 26-24, 25-20, 25-18.

Richmond native and outside hitter Reid Priddy was online Friday, Aug. 20, at 11 a.m. ET to answer your questions about the team's quest for a medal in volleyball. The team qualified for the Athens games by winning the NORCECA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Caguas, Puerto Rico on Jan. 10. They posted a perfect record of 6-0 en route to the gold medal, which included a come-from-behind, 3-2 win over Cuba in the championship match. Priddy scored a match-high 16 points on 13 kills and three blocks in this game. In 2003, he served as the team captain at the Pan American Games. Priddy earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association first-team All-America honors as a senior at Loyola Marymount University. He graduated from LMU with a degree in communication studies in 2000.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

_____________

Fairfax, Va.: Reid,
What are the different types of volleyball teams? How many volleyball events are left?

Reid Priddy: Hi everyone. There are 2 different types, beach and indoor. I play on the indoor team, 6 on 6. There are 2 pools, six teams in each pool. Right now we have 2 matches left in our pool. And then we enter into a single elimination semin finals, finals scenario. Our last pool play match is on Monday. And then we go Wed, Friday, Sunday, I think that's the configuration.

_______________________

Harrisburg, Pa.: How many years have you been playing volleyball, and how much practice do you put in for training for the Olympics?

Reid Priddy: I've been playing volleyball since I was about 15... so about 11 years. It's a pretty full time deal. I've been on the national team for 4 years and we go 6 days a week, twice a day and lifting also. There is team stuff, individual drills. During the summer it was a lot of team strategy. When we have the team together and that's rare. September through April we go over to Europe and play in the different professional leagues. We don't have those leagues in the States to Italy and Greece. So we get a lot of experience playing matches and teams.

_______________________

Lyme, Conn.: I see you were a communications major. Might you be broadcasting the Olympics someday? What are your plans after the Olympics?

Reid Priddy: Laughter. That's funny. You ask that b/c right now around my neck is my brand new camera w/a mic boom. I'm definitely interested in the communications field. I'm going to edit some of the film I've put together. Maybe make some volleyball DVDs and I'd like to show what the world of volleyball looks like. I'd like to get that into accessible form for people who are interested.

_______________________

Virginia: Reid,
What happened in the match against Russia? Have they always been strong contenders?
And does this mean that U.S. volleyball is out from all the medal events?

Reid Priddy: First to answer that last question, we are definitely NOT out by any means. There is a lot of things that could go in our next 2 matches for all the teams in our pool. The match against Russia, they played the best we've seen them play. We played them a month ago in Texas and beat them. We played them a total of 5 times. The first match was merely acclimation and then after that we split 2 matches. The last time we saw them at the finals at a tournament in Houston we beat 3-2. Last night, they served almost flawlessly, they missed only 3 serves. For them to have no errors is different. We fought hard, but came up short in the end, but there is still definitely a lot of volleyball to be played.

_______________________

Columbia, Md.: Reid, you said you had two matches left in pool play. What does the team need to do in those remaining matches to qualify for the medal round?

Reid Priddy: We need to win one of the two is my understanding and to win both would put us in an even better spot. We are just trying to rest. The schedule is tough. Today we took a therapy type rest day. We are playing tomorrow at 9 am against Australia. So that's really all we are thinking about... coming out and firing on all cylinders. Getting a good jump on Australia. We are taking it one match at a time. They are the next step of our goal of getting out of our pool. Once we do that we are confident we can make things happen in the medal round. We just watched of the video of the Australians. I haven't personally played them before. We have to keep the ball in play. Our block defense has a good opportunity to do well tomorrow. I think we just pick up the intensity and worry about our intensity and our level on our side and we can do the things we want to do against them.

_______________________

Ex-volleyball player, Virginia: I preferred playing and watching volleyball with the scoring system where sideouts were used. I simply do not like the present one with straight points to 25. In the good old days, a team down by many points had a good chance to win a set; now, it seems nearly impossible. It just seems to take the suspense out of the game. Will the scoring system ever go back the way it was?

By any chance, is there any alumni from Long Beach City College in the male or female US Olympic team?

Prediction for the goal medal: USA 3, Brazil 2.

Go for the gold, USA!;

Reid Priddy: Re: the scoring system. No. I don't see that happening. It's too hard to control for media coverage. It's too hard to predict the length of a match. I think that's why the FIVB made the change. We has some Olympians from Long Beach State, but not City College.

_______________________

Herndon, Va.: Obviously, height isn't everything in volleyball, but it's important. Who are your tallest/shortest players?

Reid Priddy: I think we have 3 playsers that are 6/9. One player that is not is her 6 ft 11. He was an alternate. So, I think our shortest is 6 ft 2 or 6 ft 3. With size, you lose speed typically: the smaller you are the faster you typically. I think that's the advantage that small guys bring to the game. Of course when you have a tall guy that's athletic, you have a world-class volleyball player.

_______________________

Anonymous: Do the female and male volleyball players get along or intermingle at all? Are you both at each other's events supporting each other?

Reid Priddy: Our teams are close. In the Athletes Village, they are just one floor below us so we interact a lot with them. We are very interested in their progress for sure. We definitely keep up with them and we watch all their games and vice-versa.

_______________________

Columbia, Md.: Naturally, we're all rooting for you guys to win gold. But in your mind, who do you think are the favorites to win gold? Brazil? Italy?

Reid Priddy: Brazil and Italy, yeah. Brazil has won everything the last 4 years. Italy has the strongest pro-league. So, they are favorites. Russia is right there and so is the former Yugoslavia. And we've beaten all of those teams before. And so we are thinking as soon as we are out of our pool, we can go for it. Our pool is such a dog-fight. It's a tough pool. Very tough. So we are just looking to get out of that and re-focus on one game at a time and we are definitely confident and optimistic about our chances.

_______________________

Bethesda, Md.: Do you think the team has a good chance in getting a gold? Is everybody in good health? How does it feel being on the team?

Reid Priddy: I think we are definitely not favored in terms of medal. The world of volleyball would not say we are a medal favorite, but that's not what we think. Even in good health, I think we lost a little bit of steam last night. I think some guys just got exhausted so we are trying to remain healthy and fresh and just do all we can and leave all we've got on the court one game at a time. As for the team... it's great. I am honored not only to represent our country, but to be on a team that is such a close unit. It's a lot of fun playing with these guys and scrappin' it out.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: What's it like in the Olympic village?

Reid Priddy: The Village is like a small community with lots of apartment buildings. The USA has a block of apartments that we stay in and a common athlete lounge that we all hang out in and watch the other events. A big dining hall too that we all hang out at that is open 24 hrs a day. It's a cool environment. You definitely get on board with other athletes. You cheer for them. They cheer for you. It's really cool.

_______________________

Maryland: Reid, how old are you? When did you decide that you want to be part of the Olympic team? How did you train for it? Also, what has it been like in playing with the older players who have been to the Olympics before?

Reid Priddy: I'm 26. In high school, I wanted to go to the Olympics. It's for sure thing been a God thing for me with doors opening each step of the way. There's never really been a set plan. It's great playing with experienced players. I used to think that I would prefer athleticism over experience, but now for sure I would take experience. There is nothing that beats a smart player...someone who knows what to expect in a lot of situations.

_______________________

Vienna, Va.: Have you made friends with the other U.S. athletes? Also, have you made friends with athletes from other countries? Is there a lot of anti-American sentiment? Also, what do you do to relax and hangout?

Reid Priddy: Anytime we play around the world, nobody likes us. When we play, they are always cheer for the other team. We are used to it. In terms of the other US athletes, we've gotten to know a lot of them and cheers alongside of them with other athletes and each other. It's a lot of fun. To relax, we have TV in the village that have live feeds to every venues. So that's one thing we do is watch the other events and lay low. I'll also listen to music and do some reading or pray...anything away from the court.

_______________________

Fairfax, Va.: Who are the opponents that you are most anxious to play or do you take each opposing team in stride?

Reid Priddy: I would say the biggest rivalry we have is Italy. Things got pretty heated in the first match and we would love to face them again. When we face any team, we are ready to win. We are ready to battle. I think the team we are closest to is the Greek team. A lot of us have played professionally here in Greece. We have a good relationship with them and we've done a lot of scrimmages with them so we have gotten to know them pretty well.

_______________________

Riverdale Park, Md.: Hi Reid,

Just after Sunday's game with Italy, one of your teammates said "F--- you!" to the Italians. The remark was loud enough to be heard clearly on TV.

What did the Italians do to provoke such an ill-tempered and unsporting outburst?

Reid Priddy: Their behavior throughout the whole match was unsportman-like if you want to call it that. It just reached a head... their flaunting. Some guys, especially they guy they heard that from was backing up his teammates. There are a couple of guys on the Italian team that have a tendency to act in a way that's difficult to play against. There's a lot of tension between the two teams. They probably only saw the outburst, but not what lead up to it.

_______________________

Columbia, Md.: I think our country's interest in volleyball suffered greatly in the late 80's after established stars like Kiraly and Timmons left the national team. Who from this team might be around at the next Olympics to preserve some type of continuity?

Reid Priddy: Good question. You know I know Clay Stanley is in the for the long haul. Or that's what he's voiced and there are a few others who have as well. It's not as easy as it was back then to do that. People don't understand the difference in lifestyle from the 80's to now. That team was successful and at the time had the money to suppor their players year-round. And they also trained in San Diego where is most of us, even if our hometowns is not there, are from California. We reside in CA ... it's our 2nd home. Now that the training facility is in Colorado Springs. There are 2 issues at stake: we are out away from our family and friends and secondly, the altitude issue. It's major for us. It REALLY hinders us to be a 6,000 ft b/c the ball travels differently. A lot of us are just going to watch and see what USA Volleyball decides b/c there has been a proposal to bring the team to Anaheim, CA. If that was to happen, I think you a huge difference in the team continuity and players sticking around.

_______________________

Columbia, Md.: Reid, saw the match against Russia last night. Are the Russians really that good of a blocking team or were you guys having an off night? Also, it seemed like you weren't able to rattle their serve receive on a consistent basis. Any thoughts on how to improve on these two areas before your next match?

Reid Priddy: First of all Russia is one of the strongest teams in the world. They blocked 18 balls last night and they do have a very tall team. We are taking 7 footers. We've never seen Russia serve as well as they did last night. No, we don't expect to see anybody play like that again. It puts us in a difficult spot b/c they are serving so well and we are passing off the net. We are basically out of rythmn sets against a gigantic block. The thing that we didn't do that we could do better would be to put them in the same situation from the service line and that's the thing we woudl like to improve on.

_______________________

Reid Priddy: Thanks everyone for your questions. Your support is incredibly encouraging. We definitely feel the support from the US. It has been and continues to be an honor to represent the US and hopefully we'll continue to do well.

_______________________