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If the first day of the NORCECA Junior Continental Championships is any indication, Stanford women’s volleyball coach John Dunning will have a pleasant decision to make regarding his outside hitters.
Carly Wopat, an incoming Stanford freshman, recorded a team-high 11 points on nine kills, a block and service ace as the United States Junior National women’s volleyball team beat Guadalupe, 25-8, 25-7, 25-6, on Tuesday at Centro de Alto Rendimiento in Tijuana, Mexico.
Wopat had a hitting percentage of .750 in a match that was completed in a svelte 51 minutes, the shortest of the tournament to date.
The U.S. opened the day with a sweep of El Salvador, 25-8, 25-4, 25-7, as Wopat, whose twin sister Samantha also plays for the Americans, recorded eight points on six kills and two service aces.
Team USA and Mexico play Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the final match of pool play. The quarterfinals begin Thursday.
WNBA
San Antonio teammates Jayne Appel, Becky Hammon, Sophia Young and Michelle Snow finished in the top 10 in fan balloting for the WNBA vs. USA game.
Appel has played nine games, averaging less than 10 minutes, 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per contest, but she’s a popular figure with the Silver Stars.
This year’s version of the WNBA All-Star game, to be held Sunday at Uncasville, Connecticut, features the U.S. facing a squad of the league’s remaining All-Stars.
The top 10 vote-getters announced on Tuesday were guaranteed roster spots on either team. Players in the national team pool will play for the U.S., coached by Geno Auriemma. The others will be on the WNBA team led by the league-leading Seattle Storm’s Brian Agler.
The Storm’s Sue Bird, a two-time U.S. Olympian, was tops with 127,490 votes. Hammon, who won a bronze with Russia at the Beijing Olympics, was second with 116,391.
Joining Bird on the U.S. team will be Indiana’s Tamika Catchings, Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi and Storm teammate Swin Cash. Los Angeles’ Candace Parker was sixth, but is out for the season with a shoulder injury.
Hammon will be joined on the WNBA All-Star team by Seattle’s Lauren Jackson, a three-time Olympian for Australia, Stanford grad Appel, Snow and Young.
Atlanta Dream teammates Sancho Lyttle and Iziane Castro Marques were added to the WNBA All-Star roster on Tuesday.
The pair is joined by Washington’s Crystal Langhorne, Phoenix’s Penny Taylor, Indiana’s Katie Douglas and Minnesota’s Rebekkah Brunson.
Men’s water polo
Stanford grads Peter Varellas, Thomas Hopkins and Tony Azevedo were all named to the United States senior national team that will compete at the FINA World League Super Final, which begins next Tuesday in Nis, Serbia.
The 16-player group will also compete at the FINA World Cup in Oradea, Romania that runs July 25-31.
The roster was selected after the Americans finished a three-game exhibition series with Montenegro with a 12-11 setback Sunday at the USA Water Polo Training Center in Los Alamitos.
Azevedo scored three times and Varellas added two goals.
The match will be aired on Versus at 4 p.m. Thursday.