Men's National Team Honored by the U.S. Olympic Committee

We interrupt this week's gear shopping guide for a juicy tidbit of volleyball news: Thursday, January 22, the U.S. Olympic Committee officially announced that the U.S. Men's National Volleyball team was named the 2008 Team of the Year.

The honor comes after the team's sweeping victory in Beijing, leaving the tournament undefeated. The third ranking team going into the Olympic Games behind Brazil and Russia, they emerged victorious after defeating both top ranking teams as well as Bulgaria and Russia (ranked 3rd and 4th).

Thanks to their efforts, the U.S. is currently the 2nd ranked Men's Volleyball team in the world. As a team, they were first in kills and second in blocks and aces at the games and were nominated for Sports Illustrated's 2008 Sportsmen of the year award.

Their victory came on the heels of Coach Hugh McCutcheon's personal tragedy. McCutcheon's in-laws, Todd and Barbara Bachman, were the victims of an unknown assailant while sight-seeing in Beijing at the opening of the games. Todd was killed and Barbara severely injured, leading to McCutcheon's absence at the first three matches of the games until his mother in law was stable enough to return to the U.S.

U.S. Men's Team member Ryan Millar is quoted as saying, "It's so good to do this with Hugh and to do this for him and the Bachmans. I think being named the 2008 team of the year solidifies all the hard work that our team put into 2008. Winning the Olympic gold medal is something that will bond our team forever."

Millar's teammate, Reid Priddy, adds, "To be honest…trying to stay in the moment helped us. We're just so proud to be a part of this team representing our country."

Give our guys a round of applause!

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