Smack Sportswear Athlete of the Month – Lindsey Berg

February 21, 2011 Smack Sportswear Athlete of the Month – Lindsey Berg

Home: Honolulu, HI

Volleyball Position: Setter
College: Minnesota
Joined USA Team: January 2003

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL Volleyball COMPETITION (most recent): 2010 – FIVB World Championship (Fourth). 2009 – Final Four Intercontinental Cup (Silver)…NORCECA Continental Championship (Fourth) 2008 – U.S. Olympic Team Exhibition for Volleyball versus Brazil…FIVB World Grand Prix (Fourth Place)…Olympic Games (Silver Medal). 2007 – NORCECA Championship (Silver Medal)…FIVB World Cup (Bronze Medal)

VOLLEYBALL INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2010 – Played in 17 sets during the FIVB World Championship…Started the bronze-medal match versus Japan on Nov. 14, recording 26 assists, nine digs and a kill in a five-set loss…Came off the bench to provided 40 assists, 11 digs and a block in the semifinal match versus Russia on Nov. 13. 2009 – Tallied 115 assists in 39 sets after taking much of the year off to recover from surgery after 2008 Olympic Games…Averaged 2.63 assists per set at Final Four Intercontinental Cup to rank second among all players…Added four kills, six blocks and two aces during the Final Four Cup, her first tournament competition of 2009…Totaled five points (2 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace) and 10 digs versus Brazil on Sept. 9…Provided 3.17 assists per set during NORCECA Continental Championship in starting all six matches and playing in 23 sets…Contributed 34 assists, two blocks, an ace and five digs versus Dominican Republic on Sept. 26. 2008 – Named USA Volleyball Female Indoor Athlete of the Year…Started four of six sets played during three-match exhibition series with Brazil, including three set starts on June 11…Started 43 sets of 51 sets played at World Grand Prix…Ranked seventh in setting based on assists per set (6.58) during the FIVB World Grand Prix preliminary round…Scored three blocks in match versus Italy on July 12…Despite only nine set starts and 25 overall sets entered during the Olympics Games, played a key role at setter in leading USA to a silver medal at the Olympic Games…Started the fourth and fifth sets against Italy in the Olympic Games quarterfinals, which led to scoring runs of 8-0 and 5-0 to begin each set to help USA advance to the medal round…Tallied three aces and a block in the victory over Italy, along with 21 assists…Served as co-captain for the team at the Olympic Games.

VOLLEYBALL PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2008 – Led Asystel Volley Novara to the Italian Serie A semifinals. 2007 – Played for Scavolini Pesaro in Italian Serie A League. 2006 – Played for Scavolini Pesaro in Italian Serie A League. 2005 – Played for Scavolini Pesaro in Italian Serie A League. 2002 – Helped lead the Minnesota Chill to the United States Professional Volleyball league championship…Berg earned Outstanding Server, Outstanding Setter and All-USPV honors for her efforts.

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL HIGHLIGHTS: Berg was a three-time All-Big Ten selection at the University of Minnesota (1999, 2000, and 2001)…She finished her collegiate career in 2001 ranked third in the Big Ten in all-time assists (5,913).

Hawaiian setting
The second of two setters on the U.S. Olympic women’s volleyball team born and raised in Honolulu, Lindsey Berg makes her second Olympic appearance in Beijing. As with the 2004 Games, she will split time with fellow Hawaiian and setter Robyn Ah Mow-Santos. Berg started 17 of 27 sets played at the 2007 World Cup with an average of 5.74 assists per set. In 2006, she was named Best Setter during two of the three legs of the World Grand Prix. Berg saw her first significant action on the national team in 2003, when Ah Mow-Santos sat out much of year after giving birth. Berg played a team-high 156 sets that year and saw action in all 44 matches, leading the team in total assists (1,093) and finishing third in digs (177).

Finding Minnesota
A three-time All-Big Ten selection at the University of Minnesota from 1999-2001, Berg’s decision to head to the Midwest wasn’t Plan A. She says she originally considered only West Coast schools and didn’t even know where Minnesota was. But because U of M coach Mike Hebert played volleyball with her father, Dennis, at the University of California-Santa Barbara, Berg decided to check out the Twin Cities program. She says she was pleasantly surprised to find so much support for volleyball at a Big Ten school. Berg also noticed that it had a top business school, which fit her academic interest. She completed her bachelor’s degree in business/marketing in 2001, one semester early.

Going pro
Though Minnesota never won a NCAA volleyball title while she played there, Berg was proud of her contributions and even remained in the state after graduating in 2001. The next year, she joined the Minnesota Chill of the fledgling USPV, a pro indoor league. Berg was named Outstanding Server, Outstanding Setter, and All-USPV. But when the league suspended operations, Berg took time off before heading to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in January 2003. Since 2005, Berg has played professionally in the Italian Serie A League.

Just hit it over a net
Like her mother, Berg started out a tennis player, but there was always a volleyball in the house because that had been her father’s game. Both Berg and her older sister Erin turned into top-notch volleyball players. Erin went on to play at the University of North Carolina after the sisters played together for one season at Honolulu’s Punahou High School, with Lindsey a freshman hitter and Erin a senior setter. Punahou has many notable alumni, including golfer Michelle Wie and presidential candidate Barack Obama. In May 2008, it was named the No. 1 high school athletics program in the country by Sports Illustrated.

Every day’s a surf day
Dennis, Lindsey’s father, is Lithuanian, and her mother, Tina, Hawaiian-Chinese-Portuguese. Coincidentally, Tina’s maiden name is Berger. Lindsey’s parents now live in Santa Barbara, Calif., and her family travels everywhere Lindsey plays. Even her grandmother, Gertrude “Lala” Berger, flies from Hawaii to Lindsey’s big games. Growing up in Honolulu, Berg used to surf almost every day in high school, sometimes even before volleyball practice.

 

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