Oden Duo, Not Trio, Makes Olympic Team

The Odens’ attempt to become the first sister trio to make an Olympic team fell short when Bev Oden was among the last players cut when the U.S. Olympic volleyball was named Thursday.

Kim and Elaina Oden of Irvine and Tammy Liley of Westminster were among the 12 players chosen.

Other players on the team include national team MVP Caren Kemner, setter Lori Endicott and Tara Cross-Battle, who played at Southern California Christian High before transferring to Cerritos Gahr as a junior.

Five players, including Liley, have previous Olympic experience.

The Oden sisters were standouts at Irvine High and for the Orange County Volleyball club in the early and mid-1980s. Each moved on to Division I colleges--Elaina to the University of the Pacific, and Kim and Bev to Stanford.

Kim was a three-time All-American for the Cardinal and was named the NCAA player of the decade after leading Stanford to a 100-30 record in four years.

Elaina led Pacific to national championships in 1985 and ‘86, her first two seasons with the Tigers. She was named the NCAA player of the year as a sophomore.

Kim and Elaina have started several matches for the national team, and are vying for starting positions in the Olympics.

Liley joined the national team in 1987 after careers at Ocean View High and Arizona State. She played a reserve role in the 1988 Olympics, and moved into the starting lineup the next year.

The men’s roster is expected to be announced today or Sunday.

Two-time gold medalist Steve Timmons, a Newport Beach native, and 1988 gold medalist Scott Fortune of Laguna Beach are expected to start in Barcelona.

But four other county players--Fountain Valley’s Carlos Briceno, Newport Beach’s Nick Becker, Dana Point’s Brent Hilliard and Huntington Beach’s Dan Hanan--are competing for the last few spots on the 12-player roster.

Briceno has started in some matches on a recent overseas trip. Hilliard, the 1992 NCAA player of the year at Cal State Long Beach, set a World League record with 46 kills in a match this season but hasn’t played much since.

Becker, a former USC and Mater Dei High player, has had limited playing time in World League matches. Hanan, who has played sparingly since last season, will likely be cut.

The men’s team, trying for an unprecedented third gold medal, will open Olympic pool play July 26 against Japan, a team the Americans swept in two World League matches last month in San Diego and Irvine.

The U.S. women’s team, 8-10 in exhibition matches this year, opens Olympic play July 29, also against Japan.

The women’s roster: Janet Cobbs (St. Paul, Minn.), Tara Cross-Battle (Long Beach), Lori Endicott (Springfield, Mo.), Caren Kemner (Quincy, Ill.), Ruth Lawanson (Fresno), Tammy Liley (Westminster), Elaina Oden (Irvine), Kim Oden (Irvine), Teee Sanders (Long Beach), Liane Sato (Santa Monica), Paula Weishoff (Torrance) and Yoko Zetterlund (San Francisco).