THE 2 EVENTS1 mens tournament1 womens tournamentTHE FORMATThe 12 teams are split into 2 groups of 6. The top 4 in each group advance to the knockout phase, which consists of quarter-finals, semi-finals, the bronze medal match and the final.MILESTONES1895Volleyball is invented by the American William G. Morgan.1918The number of players is fixed at 6 per team.1922The number of touches of the ball is limited to 3.April 1947The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) is founded in Paris.1949The USSR wins the first mens world championships.1952The USSR also wins the first womens world championships.1964Volleyball makes its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games.2000Changes in the Olympic format: points are scored after each exchange, and the libero position is introduced.STARSAleksandr Savin (USSR)The symbol of Soviet domination in the 1980s. Gold medallist at the 1980 Games in Moscow and silver medallist at Montreal 1976. He was crowned world champion in 1978 and 1982, and also won 6 European titles.Karch Kiraly (United States)The all-rounder. Winner of two volleyball gold medals in 1984 and 1988, he added a third Olympic title by winning the first beach volleyball gold in 1996. World champion in 1986 and European Cup winner in 1992.Regla Torres (Cuba)The greatest. Triple Olympic champion in 1992, 1996 and 2000, and world champion in 1994 and 1998. After a fantastic career, she was named player of the century by the FIVB in 2001. Cheap NHL Jerseys Adidas . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. http://www.nflauthenticchinawholesalejerseys.com/ . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Authentic NFL Jerseys China . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Sundays championship game of the Tires Pro Invitational features two early breakout stars in No. 11 Xaviers J.P. Macura and Northern Iowas Klint Carlson.Macura, a junior sharpshooter, poured in a career-high 28 points in the Musketeers win over Clemson on Friday. It was an impressive performance highlighted by six 3-pointers, some from way beyond the arc.Clemson coach Brad Brownell called Macura unbelievable. He just kept backing up on us, Brownell said.Xavier coach Chris Mack credited Macuras teammates for getting him the ball. The Musketeers (4-0) had 17 assists.His teammates really wanted to find him, Mack told reporters. If youre hot the way he was, its nice to know that people are looking for him in transition. And we ran a few plays for him to get him open.Carlson was equally spectacular in Northern Iowas comeback win over Oklahoma on Friday. He scored 22 points and led the Panthers back from an 18-point deficit in the second half with a barrage of 3-pointers and some slick moves to the basket. Eighteen of Carlsons points came in the last six minutes of regulation and overtime.I guess I was feeling it, Carlson told reporters after the overtime win over the Sooners. I dont even remember how many shots I took, but at that point, I was just glad they were going in.Xavier and Northern Iowa each suffered heartbreaking losses in the NCAA Tournament last season. The Musketeers surrendered two 3-pointers to Wisconsin in the final 12 seconds of a second-round loss to the Badgers.Four of the Muskketeers top six scorers returned from last years NCAA Tournament team, including junior guard Trevon Bluiett, who had 21 points against Clemson.ddddddddddddBluiett, who needs just eight points to reach 1,000 for his career, combines with Macura to give Xavier one of the top backcourts in the nation.Macura was the Big Easts sixth man of the year last season and looks like hell contend for player of the year this season. Hes averaging 19.5 points during the Musketeers 4-0 start. Xavier is expected to contend with defending national champion Villanova in the Big East.Last season for Northern Iowa ended in gut-wrenching fashion. The Panthers squandered a 12-point lead in the final 44 seconds against Texas A&M and ended up losing in overtime to the Aggies in the second round of tournament.Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson has a relatively young roster, featuring seven freshmen, but the Panthers played beyond their years in the comeback win against Oklahoma.We kept playing defense and rebounding when our offense was not very good and I like that, Jacobson said after the win over the Sooners. And the other thing I like was that a relatively new group believed we could get all the way back.The Musketeers and Panthers will tip off at approximately 7:30 p.m. Sunday at HP Field House in Orlando, Fla.Xavier has won three regular-season tournament titles in the last 10 seasons. ' ' '
