1955 Mexico City: The U.S. team beats Brazil 3-2 (13-15, 14-15, 15-14, and 15-9) in order to claim its first silver medal in the inaugural Women’s Volleyball Tournament of the Second Pan American Games. This performance is repeated in 1959 and 1963. This is the United States’ first ever medal in international volleyball.
1956. The United States of America is the birthplace of volleyball.
1959 American women’s volleyball team finished second at the III Pan American Games Chicago in Chicago, IL. This may have been the first international women’s volleyball tournament in America. Brazil lost the finals to the Americans 3-1 (115-7, 15-10 and 9-15).
1960 Participation of the national team in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) at the FIVB World Championships. They came sixth out of 10 nations.
1962 America withdraws from the World Championships held in Moscow, Russia in October.
1963. Each four years, the IV Pan American Games are held in Brazil. They serve as an Olympian qualifying event for women’s soccer volleyball. After losing to Brazil in the finals, the U.S. team wins the third Pan American silver gold medal.
1964 Volleyball becomes an Olympian sport in Japan for the first-time in the 18th Olympiad. The U.S. competes after Brazil announced its decision to withdraw from the Pan American Games, a Pre-Olympic competition for athletes from Latin America.
1964 The first U.S. Olympic women’s volleyball team is formed with twelve athletes. The twelve are Linda Murphy (Jane Ward), Jean Gaertner; Lou Galloway; Verneda Tom, Barbara Harweth and Gail O’ Rourke.
1964: The United States is the first nation from America (from Alaska and Argentina) to participate in the First Olympic Tournament. It finishes in 5th place behind Japan, Poland, the USSR, and Romania.
1967. The U.S. is second in Tokyo after having not competed in 1962.
1967 The underdog United States volleyball team makes international headlines when they win the international tournament at the Winnipeg Pan American Games ( the country’s first Pan American gold medal in women’s volleyball and first major international title) by defeating five opponents– Canada (3-0: 15-6,15-5, 15-2), Peru (3-0:15-12, 15-8, 15-6), Mexico (3-0:15-7,15-4, 15-5), Cuba (3-0:15-8,15-8,15-10) and the defending champion Brazil (3-0:15-8,15-10,15-12). Next year’s Olympics will be held in Mexico City. The winner receives a spot in that city.
1968. The United States sends athletes to the United Mexican States in order to participate in the Games of the 19th Olympiad. A year prior, the North American nation qualified for the Pan American Games Olympiad.
1969. In Mexico’s capital, the U.S. team wins bronze in the inaugural Norceca tournament (North-Central American and Caribbean regional volleyball championship).
1970 The national team competes under Mary Jo Peppler’s leadership, finishing 11th in the FIVB World Championship. Miss Pepper, a former member of the U.S Olympic Women’s Volleyball squad in Tokyo’64 and the 1967 Pan American Games gold medalists for women’s volleyball — makes history on Bulgarian soil. She is considered one of the best players (and the first American) to achieve this feat.
1971 USA refuses participation in Second Norceca Championship held on Cuba.
1971 Surprisingly the USA’s squad failed to qualify for the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. The USA finished sixth in the VI Pan American Games Cali after their win over Haiti, which was 3-0 (15-7-1, 15-1, and 15-7).
1973 America won bronze in the World Cup’s regional championship at Tijuana border.
1973 Young-up-and-coming player Flora “Flo”Jean Hyman will make her big debut at the World University Games held in the USSR/Soviet Union. She will undoubtedly be the most prominent female volleyball player in U.S history.
1973. The United States will be competing in the Inaugural World Cup in Uruguay. This competition is one of the most prestigious tournaments for women’s volleyball, alongside the FIVB World Championship and Grand Prix as well as the Summer Games.
Park Moo was born in 1973, and later became the coach for Canada’s 1976 Olympic team.
1974 The American team -made up of six notable athletes: Paula Ditner, Leslie Knudsen, Debra Landreta, Susan Woodstra, Roxane Elías & Debbie Green– finishes 12th at the FIVB World Championship at Guadalajara (Mexico).
1973-1975 Debbie Green, a 15-year old girl from the United States becomes America’s youngest ever player.
1974 Los Angeles hosts the IV Norceca Tournament. The host nation finishes second in regional championship after defeating Canada (3-0) and Mexico (3-2). This gives them the opportunity to participate at the 1976 Pre-Olympic Tournament, Heidelberg, West Germany.
1975 Although the U.S. women’s team won the opening round, they failed to make it into the medal round of the Seventh Pan American Games.
Arie Selinger, USA Women’s Team Head Coach from 1975 to 1984. Experts and sportswriters have all praised Selinger’s work with huge players. This has made him an international leader in volleyball.
1976 The American Olympic team fails to qualify for 1976 Montreal Olympic Games after they have lost two games against East Germany, East Bulgaria, and Poland. They also win three matches over Switzerland, Poland and the host Germans under Selinger, who was their head coach. Instead, they finish fourth at the Pre-Olympic Tournament Heidelberg (Federal Republic of Germany).
1976 Peruvian team, led by their main athlete Mercedes “Meche”Gonzalez plays in Arizona later and makes the trip to the United States to play friendly matches against Arie Selinger.
1977 After falling to Cuba 3-1 in the V Norceca World Cup Qualifying, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), USA’s side took the silver medal.
1977 Invitation to the United States for participation in Japan’s Second World Cup.
1977 America beats Soviet Union 3-1 in the FIVB Volleyball World Cup held in Tokyo, Japan. The 1976 Montreal Sumer Games saw the USSR win a silver medal.
1978 America took 5th place at the Women’s World Championships held on Soviet soil.
1978 Selinger’s winning team beat Peru 3-0 in Moscow, USSR. America’s Flora Hyman, a female athlete from the USA, becomes the third most successful player in the world. She joins Yuri Yokohama (Japan) and Mercedes Perez (Cuba). Mary Jo Peppler was the American female who received this honour in early 1970s. Miss Hyman participated in more than 300 women’s volleyball matches, since 1973 when she made her debut.
1979. A Peruvian delegation travels to the United States in order to take part in some matches.
1979 The USA is one of the favourites at the Pan American Games, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. However, they are unable to win a medal due to defeat to Brazil by 3-2 (15-8, 7-15.11,15-11.7-15.15.11,15-11.15.11,15.11,15.11,15.11,15.11,15.11,15.11,15.11,15.11,15.11,15.11,15.11,15.11,7-15.
1979 The USA team placed second at the VI Norceca Cup in Cuba. This earned them the right to represent Norceca during the 22nd Olympiad. Since 1964, the Olympians have been held without an American team.
1980 Cuba is defeated 3-0 by the United States for the first-time since 1967.
1980 The American boycott of Summer Games in Soviet Russia (in protest of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan) results in the U.S. Women’s Olympic Team, which is made up of some of America’s best athletes, losing the chance to be an Olympic champion in Moscow. Moscow was the capital of Soviet Russia. This comes after remarkable victories against Cuba, who has been crowned world champion in 1979 and won the Pan American Games.
1981 The national volleyball team beats Cuba 3-1 in Mexico City in a historic match. They had lost the Norceca tournaments for nearly 12 years and this feat is repeated in 1983.
1981: U.S. Women’s World Cup Team makes history. The nation beats Japan (host -country), 3-2 (15-10.11-15.15-13.12-15.15-15.12-15.15-15.15-15.15-15.15-15.15-15.15-15.15-15.15-15.15-15.15-15.12-15.15.15.15.15.15.15.9 ) at FIVB World Cup. It would have been difficult to visualize this victory in the 1960s or 1970s. The Summer Olympics saw America lose 3-0 to Japan on October 11, 1964 (13-15-5, 15, 15-2, and 13-15).
1981 Peru’s national women’s volleyball team makes an important visit to Colorado Springs (the USA’s Olympic capital) and other cities, to take on the American Selinger squad.
1981. The United States beat South Korea by beating them three times: 15-8, 15-12 and 15-6. This was their first win over South Korea.
1981 Japan: The African-American Flo, who is one of most charismatic and popular volleyball players ever to have played, was the star of U.S. women’s team. As a 9-year old member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, Hyman paved the path for future American champions.
1982. USA beat China by 3-1, then lost 3-0 to Peru during the semifinals of the World Championship. Selinger’s squad continues volleyball history by becoming the first North American team to win a bronze medal. This was after a victory over Japan who had dominated women’s volleyball for 10 years.
1982 In Peru for the first time, US Volleyball history records Miss Rita Crockett with fellow American Flo Hyman were named to the All-Tournament Team. They beat out Debbie Green and Mercedes “Mamita”Perez de Cuba and Raquel, Peruvian-born “Chunga”Chumpitaz received the award.
1983 Giant Rose Mary Magers, who stands 1,90m high, makes her debut on the U.S. National Team.
The 1983 South Korean-born American volleyball player Debbie Green (13m tall) has been replaced as official setter by Carolyn Becker (1.84m tall). Miss Green became the first Asian American player in U.S. volleyball’s senior national team by the middle of the 1970s. Despite being a small player, Miss Green was one of America’s top setters.
1983 She and fellow Americans, Flo Hyman, are traveling to Cuba with her captain. They play seven matches (6 wins and 1 loss), and become one of the oldest amateur American teams to visit Castro’s island since late 1950s. It was seventy-years ago that the United States introduced volleyball on Cuba’s island.
1983 Soviet-trained Cuban Olympic athletes led by Josefina Capote and Mireya Luis Hernán, travel to the United States for eight matches. USA won all.
1983. In Indianapolis (IN), the VIII Norceca Championships are held. Cuba was defeated 3-0 by the host country (15-4. 15-9. 15-13) at the finals. The team, including Rose Magers, the new American star, became the first to be awarded back-to-back Norceca title titles.
1983 After beating both the Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China (3-0), America was crowned the Varna Cup’s highest-ranked international event.
1983 Cuba defeats the United States 3-2 in the greatest international volleyball match ever (17-15.15-7.11-15.9-15.15.10) to win the IX Pan American Games Gold Medal in Caracas, Venezuela. This is the first Pan American medal for Cuba in sixteen years. The marathon match in which the international star Flo Hyman loses to the Cuban teenager Mireya Luis Hernandez, who stands 1,76m high but has a jump that is 3,39 meters above the net, and was a major player during the match. It was days ago that the United States defeated Cuba 3-1 (16-14, 16-14.11-15, 16-14), 16-14. This was the first defeat of a Cuban women’s volleyball team at the Pan American Games. Five other nations were also defeated by the North American country: Brazil (3-0), Venezuela (3-1), Argentina (3-1), Peru (3-0) and Argentina (3-0).
1983. Despite losing to Cuba in August’s IX Pan American Games, the USA becomes the number one ranked volleyball nation and is a big favourite for the gold medal at 1984 Summer Games.
1984. The U.S. team is getting ready for the 1984 Los Angeles Games. This team will embark on an international tour that includes several games in South America, Far East and Eastern Europe.
1984 The 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games was hosted by the United States.
Arie Selinger, 1984: The U.S. women’s volleyball team wins a silver at the 1984 L.A. Summer Olympics. Selinger spent 10 years attempting to rebuild the American volleyball side. This was the end of his 10-year-old project (first American women’s volleyball team to ever win an Olympian gold medal). The United States, with both men and women squads reaching the finals in California is the only nation to do so.
After winning a Los Angeles Games silver, 1984 California-born athlete Flo Hyland and nine other teammates, including Debbie Green, Rita Crockett and Susan Woodstra, retired from international competition. Miss Hyman was the best female player in U.S. Volleyball history. Her outstanding career earned her the nickname “Miss Hyman.” “the Black giraffe”Her height (1,96m/6ft 5in) was remarkable in a time where there were not many giants in volleyball. Hyman, along with her American teammates, won bronze at the tournament. They defeated Japan’s longtime champion in an historic match of volleyball. They had previously been selected for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. In 1981, Japan was defeated 3-2 by the Japanese national team. The country had been undefeated in 5 games at Tokyo World Cup. Hyman inspired many top-tier players, including Gabriela and Rose Magers in the second half of 1980s/90s. “Gaby”Perez del Solar Cuculiza from Peru and Cuba, Olympic champions Regla Tores and Magaly Cavajal.
1985 After losing three of its games, Japan, Canada and the Republic of Korea, the United States is last at the South Korea Cup, an unofficial championship in Seoul.
1985 Hungary: The Taurus Cup is won by the national team. This international event features five teams from America, Japan Italy France and France as well as the hosts Hungarians.
1985 Under a new coach, the States failed to qualify for 1985 World Cup in Far East. They finished second at the Continental tournament Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.
1985 Rose Magers was a worldwide star and won the Olympic women’s volleyball gold at L.A. in 1984. In addition to Ute of East Germany and Cecilia Tait, Japan’s Kumi Nagada and Heloisa Roese, Brazil’s top player from the Soviet Union and Cuba, Italy, and Asia, she is the first American woman to be selected for the World All-Star Team.
1986 American squad places 10th in the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia FIVB World Championship.
Flo Hyman was a Japanese-based American player who died in Tokyo. She was one of the few American volleyball players who played outside the United States after the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
1986. The United States Olympic Committee sends its volleyball team to the First Goodwill Games in Russia.
1987-2004 The Women’s Sports Foundation gives the Flo Hyman Memorial Award to the woman who has made a significant contribution to raising Olympic standards and encouraging women’s participation in sport. Martina Navratilova in tennis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee in track & field, Nancy Lopez and Lynette Woodard are among the recipients. Evelyn Ashford is an athlete. Chris Evert is a tennis player. Mary Lou Retton excels at gymnastics.
1987: Despite the absence of key players, the Pan American bronze Medal is won by the national team on its home turf. It follows Peru, Cuba, Brazil, as well as Canada and Brazil (silver at South American Cup).
1987 America is the runner up in the 10th regional competition held on Cuba’s capital. It’s America’s fourth Summer Olympics appearance.
1989 U.S. Women’s Volleyball Team Places Third at Norceca World Cup Qualifying, Puerto Rico. Canada loses a semi-final match.
1989 In the south-brazilian city of Curitiba, the first U.S. under-17 volleyball team participates in an international FIVB Girls’ Youth Volleyball World Champion.
1990 After beating Cuba, the favourite (and its East German-trained coach Antonio Perdomo), the underdog United States volleyball team wins bronze in the FIVB Women’s World Championships. It’s one of the greatest World Championship results ever.
1991 After losing to Cuba, USA finishes second in the 12th Norceca Championship.
1991 Sportwoman Caren Marie Alexandrius Kemner, U.S. women’s World Cup Team Captain, leads to fourth-place finish at the Japan World Tournament. She defeated Peru 3-2 and earned a spot in 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona.
1992 Caren Kemner is a world-class female player at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. This helped the U.S. team win bronze (the country’s first Olympian silver medal in eighteen years), beating Brazil by 3-0 (15-8.15-6.15-13).
1994: North American players travel to Brazil to participate in the Global Championship.
1995, exactly 100 years after it was first invented by W.G. Morgan, Holyoke (MA) – Volleyball is America’s second most popular sport.
1995 America wins the Pan American Games silver medal in Mar del Plata, Argentina. This makes it one of the best teams in the Western Hemisphere.
1995. USA’s international star Tara Cross Battle defeats Brazil to win the Third Volleyball World Grand Prix. This is the first time a U.S. women’s team has won a major international tournament. The biggest ever upset in international volleyball is this.
1996 Olympic Volleyball Tournament Returns to America, Atlanta GA (USA) after 12 years.
1999 America’s Team Places Second in Regional Championship. This qualifies them for 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.
Robyn Mokohana Ah Mow, 2000 Hawaii-born athlete, is leading the U.S. delegation to a fourth-place finish in the Games of the 27th Olympiad Sydney (New South Wales), Australia.
2001 America wins the Volleyball World Grand Prix, beating China. It was played in Macau (a former Portuguese Dependency in Far East).
2001 U.S. women defeat Cuba 3-1 to win the Norceca champion title.
Tayyiba Hansef-Park, a 2002 U.S. female player (6ft 7in) was one of the best athletes at the FIVB Women’s World Championships in Germany. She helped the U.S. team win a silver medal.
2003 North American Country wins Norceca Tournament. They beat 3-0 Cuba to win the final.
Lang of Chinese descent, 2003 “Jenny”Ping is the first woman in American volleyball history to become the head of coaching the women’s national volleyball team.
Toshi Yoshida of America won the 2003 Pan American Cup at Saltillo (Mexico). He was an assistant coach for the national team in the 1980s.
2003. American women won third place in the World Grand Prix after Russia and China.
2004. For the seventh time in a row, the U.S. Summer Games squad is eligible.
2004 The U.S. takes home the bronze medal in the Volleyball World Grand Prix for the second time.
The Norceca Championship in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada), 2007: North America comes second to Cuba’s first-place team.
The 2008 United States Olympic Team, which is made up a large part of professionals and includes Lang Ping, a top-ranked female player in the second half of 20th century, finishes in Beijing Summer Games in 2nd place. This was after the team lost 3-1 to Brazil in the gold medal match. The People’s Republic of China is the only country to see both of their men and women teams advance to the finals.
Hugh McCutcheon, who has replaced Lang Ping as the head coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team (WNT) in 2009, is now Hugh McCutcheon. In 2008, McCutcheon had coached the U.S. men’s national team to the Olympic gold medal at Beijing.
The 2009 McCutcheon team finished fourth at the VIII Pan American Tournament in Miami, FL.
2010 The U.S. National Team Under-20 placed second in the First Young Summer Games, Singapore City. They were ahead of Peru (bronze) and Belgium (gold).
2010 USA team under Foluke, the top-class Japanese player, defeated Brazil 3-2.
2011. Nancy Metcalf (who used to play professionally in the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan) leads the winning team in the Norceca Championships in Caguas, Puerto Rico. They beat the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Canada, and Trinidad Tobago.
2011. The U-20 team of the United States celebrates their bronze medal at the Junior World Championships Lima (Peru).
Hugh McCutcheon, a New Zealander born in 2011, leads the U.S. women’s World Cup team of eleven professional players to a second-place finish at the FIVB Tokyo World Cup. He also earned a berth for the 2012 Summer Games in England.
2011. The United States Olympic Committee sent a unofficial team of female athletes to Guadalajara, Mexico for the Pan American Games. They won a bronze medal.
2011 Destinee hooker, an Italian-based national player, leads the team to victory in defending its World Grand Prix title. She is the first North American team to achieve back-to-back victories. Their team is now fourth to have won a World title.
2012 Based on their 2010 and 2012 international successes, the American women’s volleyball team is one the favorite to take home the gold at the 2012 Summer Games. Their professional careers abroad include Azerbaijan’s oil-rich country.