The conversation ranged over everything from Volleyball and seeking victory, to what young athletes can do to change their mindsets and better use fear. There’s a wealth of information for parents interested in being better sports parents and advice on how to re-imagine your own relationship with the sport – and your child.

The conversation is broken up below into no less than 8 parts, but you’ll enjoy every one of them.

Coach Moss on the Courage Cocktail Show Part 1

Coach Moss on the Courage Cocktail Show Part 2

Coach Moss on the Courage Cocktail Show Part 3

Coach Moss on the Courage Cocktail Show Part 4

Coach Moss on the Courage Cocktail Show Part 5

Coach Moss on the Courage Cocktail Show Part 6

Coach Moss on the Courage Cocktail Show Part 7

Coach Moss on the Courage Cocktail Show Part 8

Coach Moss Talks to Mike Huffman about Playing and Winning!

From the United website:

United teaches volleyball techniques and general sport movements (running, jumping, throwing, catching) based on sound biomechanical principles. We utilize the laws of learning as our basis for the learning process.

Athlete Development

The whole athlete and their long-term development is the central focus at United. We use the following components to ensure the process is as efficient as possible.

Nutrition

How we fuel and maintain the well-being of our bodies is necessary to reap all of the benefits of our training.

Physical Training

Beginning with and maintaining a solid physical foundation is key to an efficient learning process. Attempting to learn technique mechanics, general body control, and fundamentals without a solid physical base, chances are likely the athlete will develop bad habits and major flaws which will require much more effort in the future to correct. Physical training also offers the opportunity to prepare for higher levels by improving key volleyball skills such as: speed, strength, core stability, agility and jumping ability.

Mental Training

Often an overlooked aspect of training, mental training affords the stability and proper state of mind to get the most of the learning process. At United it is important athletes know the why as much as they know the how. This allows for a greater understanding of each skill and proper execution in the right situations.

Volleyball Training

As the best-selling author and sociologist, Malcolm Gladwell, explains in his book, ‘Outliers’, approximately 10,000 hours of deliberate and focused training are necessary to become an “expert” in any given field. This is evident in some of today’s top sports figures such as the Williams sisters and Tiger Woods, who each started training with their sports at a very young age. An indication this “rule” is also true in the sport of volleyball is seen in the many top collegiate athletes who started their training between the ages of 8-12.

After university where she majored in Political Science and International Relations, Rachael went off to Spain to join a professional women’s volleyball league, before returning to the States to start law school just this fall.

In the interview below, Rachael advises younger players to put in the extra work, and if you love the sport, it’ll be worth it in the end.

She’s also got advice on dealing with parents and coaches and what it’s really like playing professional women’s volleyball. Turns out, there’s something totally different when the pressure of school is off.

But to find the real balance between School and Sports – you’ve got to like to learn, and tell yourself that you like learning. Even if you’re tired, you’ve got to tell yourself and remember, a positive attitude will carry anyone to success.

Coach Moss talks with Rachael Moss about Volleyball and Being a Champion

Being a good sports parent does not mean replacing the coach. On the contrary, giving your support does NOT mean continually nagging your kid to be better, or to do better nor to change this or that. Leave that to the coaches.

In Ahada’s own words, these athletes are working on believing in themselves and this ended up being one of the best parent interviews we’ve done so far.

Volley Ball Parent, Ahada Jones, Talks with Coach Moss

Do Coach Moss a favor and leave your response below.

Practice

Practice

We’ve already said, this is not the end of the road.

This is just the beginning, and it’s a moment for reflection, but not for conclusions and closing the book.

To borrow from the metaphor in the illustration, it’s a time to ride free, without the training wheels and to see what we come up with.

I hope that in this series you’ve learned something about making your awareness of yourself, your ability to visualize and your power for positive thinking into a practice.

Leave us a comment and tell us what you thought of in the whole series. What could have made it better?

What specific things would you like to see more of? We’ll be updating this page and maybe the whole series based on what you tell us.

 Where does love fit into your system of beliefs?

Love allows you to charge everything you think, and want, and want to visualize with an emotional depth, a meaningful justification, and an energy.

You’ll need that. Because you’re going to see, this journey does not end.

Tell us, in the comments section, how you’re charging up you’re visions. And if you want, tell us now, a little more about yourself. Tell us where you came from and where you’re going.

Keep going. You're almost there!

Your’e almost home. Right?  A champion can rest on his or her laurels and that’s the end of it.

Hardly.

Being a Champion, Working with Champions, Raising Champions, it takes a continual commitment to challenge your beliefs, refine your beliefs and a willingness to know when to change your beliefs.

Negative attitudes, fear, resentment; all of these things need to be dropped.

Part of your Journey is to examine and re-examine what you really believe, and how your commitment will help you to realize your beliefs. They should be closer to you than hopes. You’re in the process of converting hopes into beliefs.

Tell us in the comments section what your beliefs are and what you’re becoming.

Leave a long comment, leave a short one. I’ll be reading every one.

It's funny how fear works. Even some things that aren't necessarily scary can ramp it up.

Fear is one of the biggest factors that keep all of us from fully participating, fully engaging and fully stepping into the persona that God intended for us.

Please use the discussion area below to let us know how you are doing.

Even doing step one or two from this series is incredibly difficult for nearly every one of us. We’re used to glancing at an email, considering the message and then deciding if we’re going to pursue the value contained therein.

That usually takes less than 30 seconds.

An email that asks us to take a full 5 minutes is practically unthinkable.

Tell us what happened in your five minutes.

It’s not meant to be life changing – but you never know. For some of us, it will be.

But being the perfect coach for your kids, means being the perfect coach for yourself. That can mean a big attitude adjustment.

What do you think this Journey Step is about?

Let us know in the comments what you think a coach’s attitude is and should be.

Remember, this is also a Journey Step about finding winners and making winners – every where you go.

Tell us what a win-win situation looks like for you, or where you’ve found one.

Don't Fumble This One. Journey Step 5 is ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT

Emotions

Journey Step 5 is one of the most important.

It may very well take you the longest to understand, the longest to master and the longest to really put into use.

Work at it.

We’re here to help you out and to make your Champion-Journey the best it can be.

Please take a moment to let us know, not how you feel right now, (though you can say that too), but how you think you’ve come to understand and use emotions, since this course, or since you grew up and learned how to channel them.

“Do it with feeling”

That instruction always seems a little ridiculous – especially if you’re still young.

“Do it WHILE feeling,” might be a better way to say it, because we don’t really mind what you’re feeling. If you’re feeling bad we want you to be happy, but, hey, you’ve got a perfect right to feel everything that moves inside of you.

Please leave a comment and let us know everything that crossed your mind in doing this exercise.

Believing is Not Just Saying You Believe

BELIEVE IT.

Easier said than done.

Making your reality look like you want it to look requires that you live in that reality.

That means a few different things, but one important thing it means, is that you use your physical body to enhance your understanding.

You use your physical body to get access to more and different and better parts … of your brain.

Please use the space below to let us know how your Fourth Journey Step proceeded.

Did you have obstacles?

Did you even try?

Did you want to give up?

Whatever happened, let us know. For all of the Journey Steps, communicating and talking is a great way to change what happened and to reinforce your learning.

No, it doesn’t test your endurance or your stamina or even your balance.

But it does ask you to put some things together in an experiential way.

Over 3 days, I believe  it will actually make you smarter.

How?

Well, using a different part of your body – for thinking – for visualization – that’s a new part of your brain lighting up too.

Did you have a problem? A startling revelation? A little bit of insight?

Tell us about it below. There’s probably someone else just waiting to read what happened to you, and this one is one of the basics for moving forward.

Is glory your obstacle? Or are obstacles part of the glory?

Journey Step Two is the next step to finding out who and what you can be.

You’ve put a lot of stuff behind you, but now what?

Parents, and Coaches, need to visualize victory, visualize positivity, and attitude adjustment.

That’s right. This is the first step of many intended to help you to use your body to physically enable you to put your creativity and imagination to work.

Use the comments section below to tell us how your vision is shaping up.

And how your obstacles are looking.

Life will present lots of obstacles. Some need to be shaken off. Some need to be savored.

Shake that past life sports baggage out of your experience with your kids.

That’s it.

Lots of negative parents are still carrying their own dreams, their own misfortunes and their own histories into the game.

You know what?  They’re ruining it for the rest of us.

They’re even ruining it for their own kids.

Journey Step One is where you own up to it, and put the worst behind you.

If you were a great winner in your own day, well, good for you.

Today, we’re talking about sports kids, and what you can do today to make their experience better.

This is a good place to let loose, so please let us know how things have gone for you so far.

I have seen fist hand what Coach Moss mental training CD can do. As a parent and coach myself, anything that can help my kids improve on the playing field is worth the investment. The Foosteps of a champion Cd program is worth every penny. Coach Moss is one of the best trainers out their today, he gets results as I have witness many times.

Randy Andrews
Basketball Trainer/Parent
Los Alamitos , Calif 90630

“I am playing professional volleyball in Puerto Rico, and I have been listening to your FootSteps to a Champion CD everyday for the past two weeks. I am so excited because this is exactly what I was looking for!”

THANKS COACH MOSS
MILAN STOKES
Mizuno longbeach Volleyball Club
Age 11

Quincy Leech

All Conference Volleyball Player

Sonji Haley
Age 35 – Volleyball Mother

Message

I highly recommend Coach Moss’s audio training program – his ideal that successful athletes are powerful, positive thinkers who have an inner belief in themselves is the message I want my daughter to have every time she steps on the volleyball court, and more importantly, as she goes forth in the world. The training has been invaluable throughout her development as an athlete and a young adult. Thanks Coach, for creating this unique and highly effective training tool.

Dr. Derouin is an adolescent specialist in Durham, NC

Dr. Anne Derouin
Raleigh, North Carolina

Paula Ayers (payers7@cs.com)
Playa del Rey, CA

Thank you Coach Moss!”

PROFILE

Class: Junior
Hometown: Huntington Beach, Calif.
High School: Cornelia Connelly HS
Height: 5’10″
Position: Outside Hitter
Experience: 2V

CAREER: Through two seasons, is averaging 2.56 kills and 2.65 digs … Has appeared in 55 matches and 197 sets.

PEPPERDINE 2009: Averaged 2.74 kills and 2.49 digs as a sophomore, both of which were third on the team … Started all 27 matches and appeared in 97 sets … Had 10 or more kills 15 times and 10 or more digs seven times … Had four kill-dig double-doubles … Posted season highs of 17 kills vs. San Francisco (10/22), 22 digs at Loyola Marymount (11/13), five blocks vs. San Francisco (10/22) and three service aces (twice) … Made the all-tournament teams at the Colorado State Asics Classic and the Pepperdine-USC Tournament … During spring 2010, took third place in the “gold” bracket at the USA Volleyball Collegiate Challenge, a sand event, with Kim Hill.

PEPPERDINE 2008: Selected to the WCC All-Freshman team … Started all 28 matches and played in 100 sets … Was second on the team and ninth in the WCC with 2.80 digs per set … Third on the squad with 2.39 kills … Had 12 double-figure kill matches and 15 double-figure dig matches … Posted seven kill-dig double-doubles … Had season highs of 14 kills at Saint Mary’s (10/2), 18 digs at UCLA (11/25), four blocks (10/23 at San Diego) and two service aces (four times) … Had eight kills and eight digs vs. Long Beach State in the NCAA Tournament (12/5) … Part of a recruiting class ranked #8 by Volleyball Magazine … During spring 2009, won the USA Volleyball Collegiate Challenge, a sand event, with Kiah Fiers.

USA VOLLEYBALL: Played with the USA Junior National Team during summer 2008 and 2009 … Won a gold medal at the 2008 Norceca Continental Championships in Mexico … Also played with the U.S. at the 2009 FIVB World Championships in Mexico, starting two matches … Played with the youth national team as well.

CLUB: Competed with the TCA Volleyball Club for six years … Won a gold medal and was the MVP of the 18-Open Division at the 2008 Junior Olympics … Made the all-tournament team at the 2005 and 2006 events.

HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Cornelia Connelly High School, located in Anaheim, Calif., in 2008 … Played three years on the varsity … A Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection and the nation’s #41 recruit according to prepvolleyball.com … Named MVP of the CIF Southern Section Division V as a senior and was co-MVP as a junior … School won CIF section championships her junior and senior years … Was MVP of the San Joaquin League as a junior … Named to the 2007 Orange County Register all-area second team.

PERSONAL: Born in Orange County … Daughter of Duncan and Lynda Frederick … Had four siblings: Brittney, Kyle, Macsun and Robi.

FAVORITES: Enjoys swimming and movies … Favorite pro volleyball player is Misty May … Favorite pro sports team is the San Francisco 49ers … Favorite book is My Sister’s Keeper … Favorite movies are Step Brothers and The Polar Express … Favorite TV show is How I Met Your Mother … Favorite type of food is Chinese … Favorite thing about volleyball is “I am always learning something new.”

PROFILE

Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Lakewood, Calif.
High School: St. Joseph H.S.
Height: 5’10″
Position: OH

2008: Named MEAC Rookie of the Year and First Team All-MEAC … Earned MEAC Rookie of the Week honors three times … Part of the all-tournament team at the UMBC Tournament (Sept. 6) … Led the MEAC in kills with 397 … Seventh in the MEAC and second on the team in hitting percentage (.238) … Fourth in the conference and second on the team in kills (3.36) … Fourth in the conference in average points per set (3.93) … Had a season-high 21 kills against Coastal Carolina (Aug. 30) … Tallied double-digit kills 21 times … Had four blocks against Delaware State (Oct. 5) … Had a season-high 15 digs on two occasions … Served five aces in three matches … totaled five double-doubles.

High School/Club: Selected to the All-CIF Second Team (Southern California Section Division II) and named Mayfair High School Tournament MVP her senior season … Member of the All-Del Rey League First Team and awarded Saint Joseph High School Co-MVP as a junior and senior … Chosen to the Long Beach Press Telegram Dream Team First Team in 2007 and Second Team in 2006 … Voted Bishop Montgomery High School Most Inspirational Player her sophomore season … Led Saint Joseph High School to the 2006 All-Del Rey League Championship and consecutive appearances in the CIF Division II Championship playoffs where the 2007 team reached the quarterfinals against Laguna Beach … Totaled more than 600 kills on the season and 30 in the quarterfinal match … Played and started for the Nova 12 Elite, Amazon 14 Elite, Cal Juniors 15 Elite, TCA 16 Third Degree (2006 Junior Olympics fifth place – Open, Far West Qualifier first place – Open, SCVA High Performance third place – Italy), Long Beach Mizuno 17 Elite (2007 Junior Olympics Participant – Nationals), and Long Beach Mizuno 18 Mizuno (2008 Junior Olympics Qualifier – Open) club teams as part of the Southern California Volleyball Association in Long Beach, Calif. from 2002-08.

Personal: Born Nov. 11, 1990 in Los Angeles, Calif. … Daughter of Oscar and Anita Edwards … Has two brothers, Oscar and Ivan … Major is Computer Science … Member of the Honor Roll as a freshman and sophomore years of high school … Pregame routine is listening to music … Person who has had the most influence is her dad … Personal best non-athletic accomplishment is holding first summer job at Knotts Berry Farm … Future plans include attending graduate school and working in the computer science or graphics field … Best advice received/favorite saying is “Practice does not make perfect, a perfect practice makes perfect” … Hobbies outside of sports include photography, music, shopping, and movies … Favorite book is Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain … Favorite movie is “The Pursuit of Happyness” … First sport ever played was flag football … Her father was a star defensive back for UCLA, affectionately referred to as “Dr. Death.”

THADDEUS LEWIS- Duke All American Quarterback/NFL  Player

I grew up in a Christian home, and my mother always made an effort to show us the importance of God and church, as well as reading the bible. I went through the motions, Sunday school, bible study, youth events, but I never really grasped the concept of God and what it really meant to be a Christian.

Growing up I had a on going battle with being insecure, feeling alone, unwanted, and unloved.  My family was never really emotional; we rarely hung out together and did fun things.  My two older sisters always found something to do so that they didn’t have to deal with the strict rules of my parents, and my dad was always with my brother who was known to be something like a child baseball prodigy at the age of 4. In elementary,  I remember yearning to hang out with the popular girls and guys because I just wanted to be accepted by them.

In middle school I fought a constant battle of insecurity the most. Things continued to get got worse with my  I started playing a lot of sports. In my younger years, I would spend the night at my best friend Rachael Moss  house, where Coach Moss, her father,  would have us compete against each other, seeing who could ride a stationary bike longer, or jump up to the ceiling higher.   I saw the talent that I had in athletics through this and continued to pursuer it. The whole time we thought that we were just having fun, little did we know that these simple games we played were paving the way to creating Division 1 All American Athletes, me in track and Rachael in volleyball.

In high school the drive to become successful at sports grew more intense. My freshman year I was on the volleyball team, cheer team, track team, and even the softball team. Sports were what I did, it was who I was and it continued to define  me.  Later that year I went on a retreat with one of my philosophy teachers/ coaches who during an exercise told me that the reason why I played sports and tried so hard to be the best.  It helped me escape  the pain that I felt every time I went home.

I started gaining so much recognition from people because of the talents that I had, often times I  just did things to make sure that those people were happy so that they would care about me. My family moved to Las Vegas NV. I honestly didn’t want to move and leave behind the friends that I had called my “family”. So I stayed and started straying away from God even more.  A lot of that brought heartache and emptiness.

Everything began to spiral down hill and the only thing that I still had control over was my ability to run track and field. I remember telling myself that I was going to go to college and get it paid for so that I would never have to struggle for anything like any one in my family, or have to depend on any one else but myself.  With the help of a close friend Nicolas Winder I began to feel the love of family.  Every time I would break down in tears from harvesting all the problems around me, I knew that I could call him or his family to come get me or to talk to me. I never could understand how his family seem so perfect, you know, like the type of families you see on T.V. with white picket fences. I constantly searched for the answer day in and day out. The perfect mother, a loving father who cared for all of them equally, two older brothers who were athletes all stars, a little sister that was musically talented, and Nick, who everyone loved and wanted to know in high school.  His mother invited me to church one day, and I just sat and observed how they acted and how involved they were in it. Church was a family event for them and before I knew it I found the answer to the question that I ask myself all the time when I was with the Winder family. God what was the thing that made them the perfect family. Everyday they thanked the Lord for what they had, and always made church and God the center of their life, together.

I took this idea and packed my things after graduating from high school with a full ride scholarship for track and field and became a Lobo at the University of New Mexico.  In short, that school and atmosphere just was not for me, to slow pace, boring, and I was worse at track my freshman year than I was in high school. Because Track was my life I knew that I had to go somewhere else. God called me to Azusa Pacific a private Christian school in Los Angeles; I spent 3 years there and became one of the assets and key links to the track program. As I got better I got more inclined to do everything by myself.  I didn’t care about the team , if they were not close friends. I thought that I could take on every situation on my own with out any help from God, which caused me to stress about everything in my life.  I felt that I had everything under control and that God was going to do great things for me athletically. This past nationals I was said to be the one to take first in the heptathlon. I ended up with one of the worst performances of life. I felt like my whole world was crushed, once again I was nothing. What made it even worse we won a team title, something that I had worked so hard to get before but felt that my team would never be good enough to give it to me. So here I sat, crying my eyes out asking God why this had to happen to me, the most important day of my life, and why the identity of myself was nothing more than a blur. I saw one of the coaches that were in my conference, J.T. Theisen out of the corner of my eye and he simply came up to me and just hugged me as I just sat and cried tears of disappointment, worthlessness, and sorrow into his shoulder. He told me that I needed to go on his Athletes in Action Fiji sports ministry trip. I couldn’t wrap my finger around why I felt like I needed to go on this trip. So I agreed, I mean my life was already over so what else did I have to lose.

I ended up going on the trip and it  changed my life. I found out that it wasn’t about how I competed it was more about who I was doing it for (God). I grew so close to the team that I had over he span of 3 weeks and even did unheard of things like praying out loud for them, fellowshipping with then and genuinely caring about heir feelings, which is something that I never experienced. I learned that I should not be ashamed of all the trials that I have faced in my life. They have made me stronger as a person and that God has created me the way he did, the same way that a painted makes a masterpiece. I changed so much on this trip spiritually and mentally into this bubbly cheerful soul that everyone loved to be around not because I gained their approval but because I was their friend in Christ. I know longer cared about being the best ALL the time, and that it was ok to have off days because God gave me another chance to come back the next day to try again. I thank God for the relationships that I built with those people in Fiji and finally finding peace in my life along with also learning that he is in control and how to depend on him for understanding and help not myself. So I encourage everyone to keep God first in your heart, make sure that you compete with everything you have to glorify him not for your own pleasure and believe that he will help you no matter what the circumstance because he has a everlasting love that will never be taken away.

Tiffeny S. Parker
Azusa Pacific University

                                                          Rachael Moss- Duke All American/ Professional Volleyball Player

PROFILE

Position: Outside Hitter
Height: 5’10″
Year: Senior
City / State: Cypress, Calif.
High School: Los Alamitos
Experience: 1 Letter

Rachael Moss Story (Part 1)

Rachael Moss Story (Part 2)

Rachael Moss Story (Part 3)

Rachael Moss ESPN Duke vs Maryland Volleyball 2007

2008: A Second Team Academic All-America selection…Earned Academic All-District III and All-ACC Academic Volleyball honors…Named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention …Earned All-East Region and All-ACC First Team honors…Played in all 131 sets and started every match as a junior…Led the team and ranked third in the ACC with 3.50 kills per set…Had the second most kills in the ACC with 458…Led the conference with 56 service aces and 0.43 aces per set…Led the ACC with 19 double-doubles…One of two in the ACC to average over 3.00 kills per set and 3.00 digs per set…Took a team-high 1,279 attacks…Had 10 or more kills in 27 matches and 20 or more kills in three matches…Had at least 10 digs in 23 matches and 20 or more in four matches…Ended her season with a run of five straight double-doubles, including one in each of Duke’s two NCAA Tournament matches…Put down two or more kills in 18 matches, including two consecutive five-ace outings…Had 16 kills and 17 digs in a 3-2 win over No. 25 San Francisco in the first round of the NCAA Tournament ……Was the first ACC Player Of The Week of the season on September 8…Led Duke to a three-match sweep at the Duke Invitational where she was named the tournament’s MVP…Had double-doubles in every match at the Duke Invitational and put down 20 kills in a 3-2 win over Georgia (9/6)…Also named to the Purdue Mortar Board Premier’s All-Tournament Team.

2007: Earned a spot on the All-ACC Academic team…Named to the AVCA All-America Honorable Mention squad and All-East Region First Team…Picked up All-ACC Second Team honors for the second straight year…Appeared in 120 sets and all 32 matches as a sophomore…Led the team in service aces and finished second in kills, digs, attacks and points…Had at least one ace in eight straight matches…Put together 21 double-doubles for the second most on the team…Ranked fourth in the ACC with a 4.09 kills per game average, fourth with 559.0 total points and fifth with 45 aces… Had 10 or more kills in 28 of Duke’s 32 matches, including seven outings with 20 or more and one outing with a career-high 30… Picked up 10 or more digs in 24 matches, including a career-high 28 against Virginia (10/20)…Had 29 kills in that match against the Cavaliers… Had 20 kills and 20 digs in a match twice…Named to the All-Tournament team at the USC Classic…Contributed 19 kills, a .415 clip and 16 digs against No. 4 USC (8/31)…Hit .462 with 20 kills and 15 digs in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against American (11/30)…Followed with 19 more kills on a .324 clip along with nine digs in Duke’s second round match against No. 7 Cal (12/1).

2006: Became the sixth Duke player in school history to receive ACC Freshman of the Year honors…Also became the third player in school history to be named East Region Freshman of the Year…Second team All-ACC selection…Named to the ACC All-Freshman Team…Named to the All-ACC Academic Volleyball Team…Named ACC Player of the Week on Oct. 9 and Oct. 23…Played in 101 sets and 30 matches as a freshman…Ranked eighth in the ACC in digs and digs per game …Finished ninth in the ACC in kills kills per game…Led the Blue Devils with 17 double-doubles…Posted 10 or more kills 22 times, 15 or more kills 11 times and 20 or more kills twice…Had 10 or more digs 21 times and 20 or more digs six times.

High School: Led Los Alamitos High School to four Sunset League Championships, the CIF Championship in 2002, 2004 and 2005 and state division 1-AA titles in 2003 and 2005…Garnered Volleyball Magazine First Team All-America honors and Prep Volleyball All-America honors as a senior and USA Volleyball Junior Olympics All-America honors as a sophomore and senior…Named the Sunset League Female Athlete of the Year, CIF Female Student-Athlete of the Year, Press Telegram Player of the Year and Los Alamitos Female Athlete of the Year during her senior season…Named a Prep Volleyball National Player of the Year finalist, the MVP of the California Division I-AA Tournament and a first team all-state selection as a senior…Named the 32nd-best Senior Ace by PrepVolleyball.com…As a junior, she was named the Sunset League MVP, CIF First Team, the Orange County Register all-county team and to the Los Angeles Times All-Star Second Team…Captained the USA Volleyball A2 Youth National team…MVP of the High Performance Championships after leading squad to first-place finish as a junior…Won the Junior Olympics 17 Open Gold Medal with her Team Complete Athlete club squad and finished fifth in the Junior Olympics 18 Open in 2005…Led her TCA club team to the 18 Open Junior Olympic National Championship…Named to the All-Tournament Team at the Global Challenge in Slovenia…Received the Pursuing Victory with Honor Award from her high school.

Personal: Rachael Vera Moss was born on November 28, 1988, in Long Beach, Calif….She is the daughter of Greg and Phyllis Moss…Majoring in Political Science with a minor in Theater.

DURHAM, N.C. – Continuing Duke’s tradition of athletic and academic excellence, Max Quinzani and Rachael Moss have been selected as the university’s ACC Male and Female Senior Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

Moss, an outside hitter on Duke’s volleyball team, led the Blue Devils to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, two ACC Championships and an overall record of 106-26 during her four years. She finished her career ranked third all-time among Duke players in kills and fourth in digs and service aces, while earning All-ACC honors each year and AVCA All-East Region honors for three years.

The Cypress, Calif., native has been equally successful in the classroom, where she holds a 3.950 GPA. A political science major and theater minor, Moss is the recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Award and recently was selected as a First Team Academic All-America, the first in Duke volleyball history to earn the honor.

Quinzani is a key member of the attack for the men’s lacrosse team. A team captain for the 2010 season, Quinzani ranks second on Duke’s career charts in goals (180) and fifth in points (212). He also is the ACC’s current leader in goals (49) and points (58). During his four years, Quinzani has earned two USILA All-America awards, and has led the Blue Devils to three ACC Tournament Championships and three NCAA Semifinal appearances. Last weekend, Quinzani was named to the ACC All-Tournament Team for the third time in his career.

The senior from Duxbury, Mass., has also collected numerous academic accolades. Quinzani is a history major and is pursuing a certificate in Markets and Management. He has a GPA of 3.633 and has been named to the Dean’s List for three semesters. In 2009, he became the first Duke lacrosse player to garner ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors twice in his career. This season, Quinzani is a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

-d-u-k-e-

Thanks,
Antoine Cason

Cason was born on July 9, 1986 in Long Beach, California to Deborah and Wendell Cason. His father Wendell played football for the Oregon Ducks and the Atlanta Falcons. His brother Dione competed in track at Washington State University. He is also a cousin of Ken-Yon Rambo of the Calgary Stampeders and Aveion Cason, formerly of the Detroit Lions.

He got his start playing in a local football league for the Carson-Gardena Colts, where he stood out as one of the team’s top players. Cason started his high school career at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, then transferred to Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, California after his freshman year. At Los Al, he played defensive back for the school’s football team and ran track. During his high school years, Antoine earned several honors for his performance on the football field.

Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Cason was listed as the #37 cornerback prospect in the nation in 2004. He chose Arizona over offers from Oregon State and Boise State.

Antoine Cason Highlights

College career

Cason is an alumnus of the University of Arizona, where he majored in Political Science. He was a starting player for the University’s football team since his freshman year in 2004, and is recognized as one of the best cornerbacks in Arizona’s history. After his first collegiate game, Antoine was named the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the week. During his freshmen year, he was also honored as the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. In 2005, he earned Second Team All Pac-10 honors. Following the Wildcats’ upset win against number 25-ranked Washington State University on November 4, 2006, he earned his second Pac-10 Defensive Player of the week award. The following week, he was recognized again as Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week after breaking a 17-17 tie between the Wildcats and the number 8-ranked Cal Bears by scoring a touchdown on a 39-yard interception return. In 2006, Cason was a semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. After the 2006 season, Cason was eligible for the 2007 NFL Draft. He decided to postpone his pro career to complete his degree.

Cason continued his stellar play into his 2007 senior season. His performance on November 15, 2007 in a 34-24 win against the then number two ranked Oregon Ducks included both an interception return and punt return for touchdowns. He finished the season with 5 interceptions, 2 of which were returned for touchdowns. He also returned 2 punts for touchdowns. On December 6, 2007 he was awarded the Jim Thorpe Award for best defensive back in the country and was a consensus First-team All-America choice.

In spring of 2007, Cason earned All American honors in Track and Field for his contribution to the Men’s 4 x 100 meters relay team, which finished in the top eight at the NCAA Championship.

Statistics

Awards and honors

• Honorable mention Sporting News All-Pac-10 (2004)
• Sporting News Pac-10 Freshman of the Year (2004)
• Sporting News Freshman All-American (2004)
• FWAA Freshman All-American (2004)
• Rivals.com Freshman All-America Club (2004)
• Second Team All Pac-10 (2005)
• 2x First-team All-Pac-10 (2006-2007)
• Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist (2006)
• NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field All American in 4×100 (2006)
• Jim Thorpe Award (2007)
• Walter Camp First Team All American (2007)
• Associated Press First Team All American (2007)
• The Sporting News First Team All American (2007)
• CBSSports.com First Team All American (2007)
• SI.com First Team All American (2007)
• Rivals.com First Team All American (2007)

Professional career

2008 NFL Draft

Cason was regarded as one of the best cornerbacks available in the 2008 NFL Draft, and was projected a mid-to-late first round pick by Sports Illustrated. He was eventually selected in the late first round (27th overall) by the San Diego Chargers.

San Diego Chargers

2008 season

Cason played in all 16 regular season games and both playoff games at cornerback and on special teams as a rookie for the 2008 AFC Western Division champion San Diego Chargers. His first NFL interception came on September 14, 2008, against the Denver Broncos, picking off Jay Cutler in the end zone and returning for 10 yards. His second NFL interception was a 59 yard pick of Tampa Bay’s Jeff Garcia for his first career NFL touchdown. He ended his rookie season with 74 tackles (59 solo) and 2 INTs.

2009 season

The Chargers first game of the season came on a Monday Night Football match up against rival Oakland Raiders. In that game, Cason intercepted JaMarcus Russell’s hail mary attempt on the last play of the game to seal the victory for the Chargers. In the next game, he intercepted Baltimore Ravens’ Joe Flacco and returned it 22 yards. Cason ended the season with 41 total tackles (38 solo) and 2 INTs. He played in all 16 regular season games and their only playoff game for the 2009 AFC Western Division champion San Diego Chargers.

Kara Uhl attended Los Alamitos High School – As a sophomore, she led the Griffins to the Sunset League finals and the CIF semifinals and earned All-Sunset League First Team and Offensive Player of the Year honors. Kara earned team MVP and Sunset League MVP honors as a junior, while leading her team to league and CIF titles and the second round of the CIF state championships. She earned All-CIF Second Team and All-State third team accolades her junior campaign. Uhl capped off her high school career by leading Los Alamitos HS to the state championship and earning state championship MVP distinction her senior campaign. She also earned All-Sunset League First Team, All-CIF First Team, All-Orange County First Team and All-State third team honors as a senior and was named the Los Alamitos HS and Sunset League Female Athlete of the Year. At the club level, Uhl was a member of the Mizuno Club Long Beach program. She led her 17 Open team to a silver medal finish at the 2003 Junior Olympics and was a Junior Olympic All-American in 2002. Kara participated at the U.S. A-2 Youth Camp, where she was honored with the Top Performer Award, and was the 18 & Under captain for the Bring It USA European Volleyball Tour in 2002 and Australian Volleyball Tour in 2003. Academically, she was a member of the Los Alamitos HS Principal’s Honor Roll.

Kara Uhl VB Highlights

Kara Uhl attended University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Kara earned All-Big West Conference First Team in 2005 and All-Tournament Team at the Nike Invitational. In 2006, Kara displayed stellar performances in 4 out of 5 matches prior to a season-ending surgery. She recorded 4 double-doubles earning her a spot on the Nevada/AT&T Invitational All-Tournament Team. Kara returned in 2007, earning MVP at the Banker’s Classic as she hammered down an amazing 51 kills in two matches to lead the Tigers to their third tournament championship of the season. She career-high 38 kills earning a second highest kill record in Pacific history. Uhl also set a new Pacific record with 93 swings, breaking the record set by Elsa Stegemann in 1999. In addition to the tournament MVP, Uhl also earned Big West Player of the Week honors for her effort at the 29th Annual Community Bankers Classic. In 2008, Kara transitioned to Libero, leading the team in digs and earning a spot on the Big West All-Academic Team as one of the top student-athletes in her class.

Kara graduated with a self-designed degree in Business, Art, and Communications, yet continued her volleyball career while heading overseas. In 2009, Kara got picked up by a team in Ponce, Puerto Rico becoming her first professional experience. Soon her career expanded into Europe, and she landed a first division team in Izmir, Turkey. In 2010, Kara flew to St. Raphael, France to play for a Pro A division, although an unfortunate career-ending injury left her flying home for surgery.

PROFILE

Class: Senior
Hometown: Los Alamitos, California
High School: Los Alamitos
Height: 5-10
Position: Defensive Specialist/Outside Hitter
Experience: 2V

2009
As a junior, Urango made seven starts in 30 matches…recorded 69 kills (0.74 kps), seven assists (0.08 aps), 20 service aces (0.22 saps), 107 digs (1.15 dps) and 93.5 points (1.01 pps)…earned 2009 Pac-10 Conference All-Academic second team honors, posting a 3.69 grade-point-average in communications…posted five kills and 10 digs in a 3-0 sweep of Fresno State on Sept. 19…tied a season high with three service aces on Sept. 12 at Utah Valley…on Sept. 11 vs. Idaho State, she led the Trojans with a season-high 17 kills while hitting .469 on Sept. 11 against Idaho State at the Wolverine Invitational in Orem, Utah…had nine kills and three service aces on Sept. 5 against Northern Arizona…recorded a season-high 12 digs to go with eight kills on Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina in East Lansing, Mich.

2008
As a sophomore who played in every match, Urango recorded 36 kills (0.35 kps), 11 assists (0.11 aps), 13 aces (0.12 saps), 158 digs (1.52 dps), five blocks (0.05 bps) and 52.0 points (0.50 pps)…recorded a season-high nine kills and added two aces and two digs against Hartford on Sept. 18…posted eight kills and 14 digs on Oct. 3 at Oregon State…tied her season high with 14 digs on Nov. 1 against Oregon State…had a kill and 11 digs in a four-set loss at No. 2 Stanford on Nov. 21.

2007
Urango played in every match during her 2007 freshman season and made nine starts…received Pac-10 Conference All-Freshman Team honorable mention recognition…finished the season with 112 kills (0.90 kpg), 29 assists (0.23 apg) and 347 digs (2.80 dpg)…had 40 service aces on the season (along with her teammate Asia Kaczor) and her 0.32 sapg average placed her in a tie for sixth place among all Pac-10 Conference players…recorded four aces in a match twice this season (Sept. 1 vs. Mercer and Sept. 15 vs. Purdue)…recorded 21 digs on Sept. 7 at Utah in a four-game victory and posted a season-high 31 digs in a five-game win on Sept. 14 at No. 20 Ohio State…had three aces and 10 digs on Sept. 28 at No. 10 Cal…on Oct. 11 against Oregon State, she tallied a season-high 10 kills, hitting .304 in the match and adding nine digs…posted nine kills in back-to-back matches on Oct. 18 at Washington State and Oct. 19 at No. 5 Washington, recording 19 digs against the Cougars and 10 digs against the Huskies…had a season-high 21 kills and 23.0 points, taking 47 swings against No. 9 Cal in a 3-2 win on Oct. 26 at the Galen Center…posted her first collegiate double-double on Nov. 2 against No. 9 UCLA with 17 kills and 12 digs in the 3-1 victory…had 16 kills and seven digs on Nov. 8 at Oregon…had 19 digs in a five-game win over No. 25 Long Beach State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament…had two kills and 13 digs against No. 13 St. John’s on Dec. 7 in the Gainesville (Fla.) Regional semifinal…had five digs along with one assist and a service aces on Dec. 13 in the national semifinal against No. 1 Stanford.

National Team
She played two years for the U.S. Youth National Team (2005-06) and also played on the Junior National Team…member of the gold-medal team that won the 2006 NORCECA championship in Monterrey, Mexico…her team placed fourth at the 2005 World Games in Macau, China.  

High School/Club
Urango was a 2007 Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection…helped her Los Alamitos (Calif.) High team to the 2006 CIF Division I state championship and was named tournament most valuable player under coach Jimmy Munoz…named 2006 Long Beach Press-Telegram Player of the Year…earned 2006 All-CIF first team honors…named Sunset League and Los Alamitos High most valuable players…earned scholar-athlete award with a 4.33 grade-point-average…her Los Al team also won the state championship in 2003 and 2005, as well as the CIF championship in 2004 and 2005…earned the scholar-athlete award and member of the principal’s honor roll all four years…member of the National Honor Society…played five seasons of club volleyball for TCA…named to the 2006 and 2007 Junior Olympics 18 Open all-tournament team…member of the 2006 JO 18 Open championship squad…her 2007 team finished third in the JO 18 Open division.

Personal
Geena St. Clair Urango was born on Aug. 2, 1989…parents are Tino and Kathi…earned her AAA beach rating in the summer of 2008 along with USC teammate Zoe Garrett…favorite television shows are Family Guy and Entourage…favorite movies are Zoolander and Garden State…enjoys listening to all music except country…enjoys going to the beach, listening to music and sleeping in her spare time…lists Michael Jordan as her biggest sports hero…majoring in communications.

Career Statistics

Match Highs

Alex Ayers (payers7@cs.com)
Volleyball Player D1 College Player

PROFILE

Class: Junior
Hometown: Playa Del Rey, California
High School: Marymount
Height: 6-1
Position: OH

2009:
Played in all 32 matches for Northwestern with 23 starts … Tied for third on the team with 226 digs, finished fourth on the team with 132 kills and was second in service aces with 19 … Put together arguably her best match as a Wildcat at Wisconsin (10/24), setting new career-bests in kills (16) and attempts (47) and adding 14 digs while recording the first double-double of her NU career … Came up big in her season debut, recording 14 kills on 43 attempts at Kentucky (8/28) … Set a new personal-best with three blocks against Florida International (8/29) … Played a key role for the Wildcats at the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational, finishing with 15 kills, four blocks and 16 digs … Had nine kills on 17 attempts with just one error, setting a new personal-best in hitting percentage at .471 against Presbyterian (9/11) … Had 14 digs in the tournament finale at Charlotte (9/12) … Had a pair of service aces and 11 digs at Michigan State (10/3) … Recorded nine kills, two blocks, two service aces and 6 digs vs. Minnesota (10/17) … Had her second career double-double at Purdue (10/30) after posting 13 kills and a career-best 18 digs … Led the Wildcats in both kills (11) and digs (13) at Ohio State (11/13) for the third double-double of her career … Notched double-digit kill totals in four matches and double-digit dig totals in eight matches … Academic All-Big Ten.

2008:
Hit the court running as a freshman, appearing in all 31 matches for Northwestern while starting 17, including her collegiate debut against Illinois Chicago (8/29) … Finished fifth in the team in kills with 133 and was one of just two `Cats to tally triple digits in both kills and digs (185) … Had an impressive collegiate debut, starting both matches of the Chicagoland Challenge … Registered eight kills on 34 attempts at Loyola Chicago (8/30) to go along with five digs and a pair of blocks … Registered seven kills, three digs and three service aces in her collegiate debut vs. Illinois-Chicago (8/29) … Had a eight digs against Cleveland State (9/6) while adding a pair of blocks … Came up big against Montana State (9/12), setting personal-bests in kills (nine) and digs (13) … Played a key role for NU at the Wildcat Classic, setting new personal bests in kills (15) and hitting percentage (.375) against Virginia … Had a pair of assists and blocks against UCLA (9/20) … Recorded her 100th career kill against Wisconsin (10/8).

High School:
Four-year letterwinner for Marymount High School … Helped lead the Sailors to the division 4 state championship as a junior … Captured CIF championship all four years … Was named to the CIF first-team in 2004, 2006 and 2007 … As a freshman was named one of PrepVolleyball.com’s top-50 freshman and was evaluated by USA Volleyball as “one of the top 10 outside hitters in the country in her age group” … Began playing club volleyball at eight years old, most recently for TCA 18-1 … Played a major role in helping club team capture the 2008 Las Vegas Fiesta Classic championship … Member of 2006 national championship while finishing third nationally in 2007 … Named to the honor roll and California Scholarship Federation in 2004, 2005 and 2006 … Participated in student council as a senior.

Personal:
Born Alexandra Ayers … Daughter of Jim and Paula Ayers … Sister Kelly played volleyball for William and Mary … Received first volleyball recruiting letter from Southern California when she was 12 years old … Competed against fellow Wildcat freshman Natalie Taylor in high school … Majoring in radio/film/television.

Ayers’ Career Statistics

Ayers’ Career Highs