COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. One Womens World Championship silver medallist and six collegiate All-Americans headline the 2003 USA Women's Volleyball training team roster selected by head coach Toshi Yoshida, included on this list is former Nevada outside hitter Suzanne Stonebarger.
The team begins training on Thursday, Jan. 30. The players will be vying for roster positions on the U.S. womens national team that will be competing at the Montreux Volley Masters, the Pan American Cup, the World Grand Prix, the Pan American Games and the NORCECA Continental Championships later in the year. The NORCECA championship serves as a qualifier for the World Cup in Japan in November. The World Cup is the first Olympic qualifier, with the top three teams earning a trip to Athens, Greece, in 2004.
The 13 athletes invited to train as part of the national team are: Erin Aldrich (Texas); Wiz Bachman (UCLA); Paige Benjamin (Washington); Lindsey Berg (Minnesota); Dana Burkholder (Arizona); Erin Byrd (Wisconsin); Sarah Drury (Louisville); Addie Hauschild (Pacific); Brittany Hochevar (Long Beach State); Kim Kester (Northern Iowa); Tracy Stalls (Front Range VBC); Suzanne Stonebarger (Nevada); and Elisha Thomas (Long Beach State).
Stonebarger (Linden, Calif.), a 5-9 libero, earned all-conference honors in three of her four seasons as an outside hitter at the University of Nevada (all-Big West as a freshman in 1998; all-WAC as a junior and senior in 2000 and 2001).