USA WOMEN'S PLAYER PROFILE

Heather Bown

Position: Middle Blocker
Height: 6-3/188 cm
Weight: 198 lbs/90 kg
Hometown: Yorba Linda, California
Birth Date: Nov. 29, 1978
College: Hawai'i
Joined Team: January 2000

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2008 - U.S. Olympic Team Exhibition for Volleyball versus Brazil…FIVB World Grand Prix (Fourth Place)…Olympic Games (Silver Medal). 2007 – World Grand Prix (Eighth)…NORCECA Championship (Silver Medal)...FIVB World Cup (Bronze Medal). 2006 - Pan American Cup (Fourth Place)...World Grand Prix (Seventh Place)...World Championships (Ninth Place). 2004 – Montreux Volley Masters (Silver Medal)…World Grand Prix (Bronze Medal)…Olympic Games (Fifth Place). 2003 – Montreux Volley Masters…Russia Tournament…World Grand Prix (Bronze Medal)…NORCECA Zone Championships (Gold Medal)…Texas Tour…World Cup (Bronze Medal). 2002 – Montreux Volley Masters…Russia Tour…Utah Tour vs. Italy…World Grand Prix (sixth place)…Italy Tour…World Championships (Silver Medal). 2001 – Montreux Volley Masters…World Championships Qualifying (Gold Medal)…World Grand Prix (Gold Medal)…NORCECA (Gold Medal)…World Grand Champions Cup. 2000 – Australia Tour...BCV Volley Masters...Brazil Trip...Grand Prix...Japan Tour...Olympic Games (Fourth Place)...Russia Trip. 1999 – World University Games.

INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2008 – Started all 10 sets in matches against Brazil on June 11 and June 14…Averaged 2.00 points per set in the two matches, including five blocks in the opening match of the series…Converted 14 of 31 attacks into kills and produced .387 hitting efficiency…Averaged 2.29 points per set at the World Grand Prix, including averages of 1.55 kills, 0.60 blocks and 0.14 aces per set…Held a hitting efficiency of .371 for the tournament, including a .575 mark in the second preliminary round weekend…Ranked 12th in Best Blocker in the World Grand Prix preliminary rounds…Started all 33 sets during the Olympic Games helping the USA to a silver medal, its first medal-stand appearance since 1992…Produced a hitting efficiency of .475, along with per set averages of 2.64 points, 1.97 kills, 0.55 blocks, 0.12 aces and 0.61 digs…Tallied a high of 18 points at the Olympics versus China on Aug. 15, which included 11 kills on 15 errorless attacks and four blocks…Charted 15 points in the Olympic Games opener versus Japan. 2007 - After a late return to the national team due to extended playoff season in the Italian Serie A League, struggled with injuries in FIVB World Grand Prix…Limited to 16 sets during the World Grand Prix, averaging 2.63 points and 0.88 blocks per set…Hit .308 in the World Grand Prix on 52 attacks, including a 15-point performance against Poland in the tournament opener on Aug. 3…Averaged 3.24 points per set and provided a .579 attack percentage (kills minus errors divided by attacks) at the NORCECA Championship. Contributed 0.94 blocks and 2.18 kills per set during the NORCECA Championship…Recorded 22 kills with 14 kills on 19 swings and seven blocks against Cuba in the NORCECA gold medal match on Sept. 22…Started 29 of 41 possible sets at the FIVB World Cup and provided 2.83 points, 2.17 kills and 0.48 blocks per set…Contributed a .455 attack percentage on 112 swings at the World Cup…Recorded a 0.56 kill percent during the World Cup, but failed to meet Best Spiker criteria of minimum 15 percent of team’s attempts. 2006 – Turned in eight points in three sets versus Poland on May 26. ...Played in 26 sets during the Pan American cup netting 75 points...Led in scoring against Cuba (14) and Venezuela (13) in the Pan American Cup...Averaged 0.61 blocks per set in the tournament…Averaged 3.38 points per set and attacked at a .424 clip in nine matches at the World Grand Prix…Reached double-figure scoring in all nine matches…Tallied 21 points in a four-set victory over Dominican Republic on Aug. 27 and 20 points in a sweep of Thailand on Sept. 1…Hit .778 without an error on 18 swings versus Thailand on Sept. 1…Attacked at a .667 percentage on 12 errorless swings against China on Aug. 25, in addition to six blocks…Named Best Blocker and Best Server for Group D of the World Grand Prix with matches against China, Brazil and Dominican Republic…Selected as Best Blocker in the World Grand Prix Group H segment including matches against Thailand, Korea and Russia…Averaged 3.53 points, 2.60 kills, 0.74 blocks and 0.19 aces per set at the World Championships…Attacked at a .519 percentage during the World Championships with only 14 hitting errors on 189 attempts…Ranked 16th in the World Championship in points scored, fifth in blocking and 38th in serving. Despite not qualifying for the Best Spiker category due to lack of attempts (11 attacks short of qualification, or 15 percent of team’s overall attacks), would have ranked first in the category with a 60.8 kill percentage among players with a minimum of 75 attacks according to the FIVB statistics…Tallied a season-high 24 points with a .727 attack percentage against Germany on Nov. 12 …Contributed eight blocks versus Netherlands on Nov. 1 as part of a 19-point match. 2005 – Heather did not compete with the USA National Team in order to go back to school to finish her degree. 2004 – Heather made her second-straight Olympic appearance in Athens, Greece, in August as Team USA finished in a tie for fifth place…Finished fifth on the team in scoring with 48 total points on 36 kills, eight blocks and four service aces. 2003 – Helped the United States earn a bronze medal at the 2003 World Cup and a berth in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece…Finished fourth on the team in scoring (119 points) and second on the team in blocking (28 blocks) during the World Cup…On the season she finished third on the team in total blocks with 67 (0.53 per set) and service aces (19) and fifth in total points (318). 2002 – Won a silver medal at the 2002 Women’s Volleyball World Championships…Started all 11 matches at the World Championships and averaged 12 points per match…Finished third among all players in blocking at the World Championships with 34… Finished World Grand Prix pool play third in kill percentage (.500), sixth in blocks per set (0.72), eighth in scoring (111 points) and 11th in service aces per set (0.22) among all players in the tournament…Played professionally for Starfin Ravenna in Italy’s Serie A1. 2001 – Earned the Best Attacker award at the NORCECA Zone Championships…Played professionally for Mirabilandia Teodora Ravenna in Italy’s Serie A1. 2000 – Finished the year ranked second in hitting percentage (.312), aces (23) and blocks (67) among the starters…Played her first international match against top-ranked Russia, posting two kills in two sets played...Ended the Russia Trip with 10 kills, six digs and a block...Earned a starting spot during the Japan Tour, leading the team with 53 kills, 13 digs, six blocks and a .369 hitting percentage...Recorded 38 kills, 14 digs, five blocks and a .312 hitting percentage...Posted 22 kills and a .326 hitting percentage on the Brazil Trip…Second on the team in blocks (22), aces (6) and hitting percentage (.326) at the Olympic Games. 1999 – Starting middle blocker on the World University Games team that posted a 4-2 record.

RECENT PRO: Helped Monte Schiavo Banca Marche Jesi to the Italian Serie A quarterfinals in 2008 with a total of 300 points during the season…Led Monte Schiavo Banca Marche Jesi to the championship round of the Italian Serie A tournament in 2007… Averaged over 3.5 points per set while contributing a 59 kill percent.

COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 1999 – American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) First-Team All-American…Asics/Volleyball First-Team All-American…AVCA All-District 7…Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Player of the Year…Led the nation with 2.25 block per game…Posted 411 kills, 230 blocks and a .364 hitting percentage. 1998 – AVCA First-Team All-American…Asics/Volleyball Second-Team All-American…WAC Pacific Division Player of the Year…Helped the Wahine claim the WAC Tournament title with a dramatic five-set victory over BYU…Led the conference in hitting percentage (.389) and blocks (1.69)..MVP of the Aston's Imua Wahine Volleyball Challenge and the WAC Championships. 1997 – At UC Santa Barbara…First-Team All-Big West…Ranked ninth in the country in hitting percentage with a .384 mark…Recorded 453 kills and 190 blocks. 1996 – All-Big-West Freshman Team…Played in each match and recorded 2.47 kills and 1.19 blocks per game.

PERSONAL: Born Heather Erin Bown on Nov. 29, 1978 in Orange, Calif. …Now calls Yorba Linda, Calif., home…Parents are Rosemary and Skip Bown…Also has a sister, Alicia...Majored in psychology at the University of Hawaii and then the University of California at Santa Barbra.

"20 Questions with Heather Bown"

What are the top songs in your iPod?
Tim McGraw, Six Pence non the Richer, Evenescence, Rascal Flatts

What kind of car do you drive?
Silver Land Rover LR3

What do you like to do in your spare time?
Listen to music, read, get together with friends and laugh.

What do you envision doing as a career after competing for the national team?
Work as a Sports Psychologist

Who was your club coach prior to going to college?
Roger Goodwin

Where would you like to spend a week’s vacation?
That’s a toss up between NYC and Hawaii

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Where I am happiest

What is your favorite room in your house and why?
Kitchen, not sure why... maybe because that’s where I get to talk to everyone

What is the one luxury item that you could not do without?
Is lotion a luxury item?

What luxury item do you wish you could invent?
Oh easy…something to help you reach the middle of your back when putting lotion on. Drives me crazy

Rank the following types of television programs in order you like best: Reality TV, crime dramas, game shows, sit-coms, music television, cable news, sports.
I’m not a TV person, but I guess it would be Crime Drama, Cable News, Sit Coms, Sports

What is your favorite movie?
Somewhere in Time

What is your favorite book?
Too many to choose from

Are you a morning person, afternoon person or night person?
Morning, unless I am going out with my friends then its all Night

What is your pre-match ritual?
Don’t really have one, I used to have to listen to music, but we are not allowed anymore.

On an airplane, would you rather, sleep, read, work on a computer or talk with the person sitting next to you?
Sleep 100%

What is the best thing about competing on the USA Women’s National Team?
Representing my country

What is your favorite volleyball drill?
Backrow hitting

What sport would you be competing in if not for volleyball?
Swimming

What is your favorite food?
My mom makes some pretty good mommy creations

What is your hometown best known for?
Richard Nixon’s Library

How many different languages can you converse in?
2

What was your favorite subject in school?
Math and Science

What is your fondest child-hood memory?
Mountain Getaways during Thanksgiving time

What fad were you involved in during junior high school that many would be surprised to learn?
Oh Goodness…ummm I have no idea

If you could see any musical act or performer (dead or alive) in concert, who would it be?
Frank Sinatra

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing that you would buy or pay for?
Beach House in Maine

If you would live as one other person (celebrity or not) for one day, who would it be?
No one, everyone has problems

If you could have one super power, what would it be?
Time warping

If a movie was made about your life, which actress would you want to play you?
Sharon Stone

If you could live in another time period for a week, which one would you choose?
Renaissance

If you could be on the cover of one magazine, which one would you choose?
ESPN

What is the most “embarrassing” song on your iPod?
Nothing too embarrassing, I just got a new one so I have not had the chance to get too crazy with the music yet.

What three words would you use to describe yourself?
Genuine, Caring, Loud

What is your favorite holiday?
Halloween

What is your favorite season – winter, spring, summer or fall?
Spring

What is one off-the-court talent that you have?
Good listener

What was the most defining moment in your life?
Death of my Great Grandmother

What are your most prized possessions?
Mother, Father, Sister

What reality show (American Idol, the Apprentice, the Real World, Survivor, Big Brother, etc.) would you be best on?
Maybe the Real World

What is your pet peeve?
People that drive with their blinkers on

What communication tool do you use most often – text messaging, talking on the cell phone or e-mail?
Many of my friends would say Text Messaging.

Posted and updated: Sept. 9, 2008