Charlie Sullivan Returns to U.S. National Team Staff
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., October 11, 2007 – Springfield College head men’s volleyball coach Charlie Sullivan will rejoin the U.S. National Team as an assistant coach as the squad travels to Japan in November for the 2007 FIVB World Cup.
Sullivan was recently appointed by the team’s head coach, Hugh McCutcheon. The appointment will not affect Sullivan's duties at Springfield College.
The 12 men’s teams at the World Cup will play a round-robin competition over two weeks. Each team will face every other team over four rounds, with two venues operating each day. The top three teams will qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Sullivan’s charges will include traveling to various cities in Japan to scout the opponents that the USA team will be competing against. Sullivan will also aid in team training and preparation for matches.
"The coaching staff and players of USA Volleyball are extremely focused on qualifying for the Olympics through the World Cup," said Sullivan. "I am excited to give 100% in supporting them to achieve their goal."This marks Sullivan's third stint with the National Team in the past year. Sullivan previously worked in the same capacity for the 2006 World Championships which was also held in Japan. He also helped the U.S. record a third-place finish in the 2007 World League tournament, their best finish since 1992, when they also finished third.
The U.S. Men, who qualified for the World Cup by winning the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Sept. 16-21 in Anaheim, will play their first round on Nov. 18-20 in Matsumoto. After Brazil on Nov. 18, they will face their NORCECA rival Puerto Rico on the 19th and Spain, which won the European zone championship, on the 20th.
The United States will move on to Toyama, where it will spend Thanksgiving playing Bulgaria (Nov. 22), which is ranked sixth in the world and received a wild card into the tournament. It will follow that with a match against Egypt (Nov. 23), which won the African zone championship. On Nov. 25, the U.S. Men will play African zone runner-up Tunisia, followed by Korea, which received a wild card into the tournament, on Nov. 26 and Australia, the Asian zone winner, on Nov. 27.
The tournament will conclude at two venues in Tokyo where Team USA will play host Japan on Nov. 30, South American zone runner-up Argentina on Dec. 1 and European zone runner-up Russia on Dec. 2.
Teams that don’t qualify at the World Cup can attempt to qualify again at zone Olympic qualification tournaments. The NORCECA tournament will be Jan. 5-13 in Puerto Rico.
Team Links
- 2010 Schedule
- 2010 Roster
- 2009 Statistics
- 2008 Recruiting Brochure (.pdf)
- EIVA Website
- Bison/AVCA Division III Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll
- Live Stats
- Team Archive
Head Coach Charlie Sullivan
With four national championships to his credit, Charlie Sullivan will enter his 12th season as head coach of the men's volleyball team in 2010. In 11 previous years at the helm, Sullivan owns an overall record of 153-124 for a .552 winning percentage. Read more.