Tokyo, March 8, 2006: A potent cocktail of Asian technique and American power is turning the United States women's volleyball team into an "unstoppable" force in time for the World Championships.
That's the view -- and the specific word -- of one of the team's leading players, Tayyiba Haneef, who has just completed her second season in Japan's V.League with Takefuji Bamboo.
In a recent interview for the 2006 FIVB World Championships official website, the towering Californian explained how much she had learned personally from playing in Japan, and how much the USA national team had improved under Chinese head coach Jenny Lang Ping.
"The Japanese are very skillful at volleyball," she said. "They have probably some of the best technique for volleyball, and so I am learning that every day. To focus on individual training and individual skills is very good for me because that's something we don't normally get in the USA.
"America is known more for our power and our strength, so the Japanese players are able to learn a little bit of that from me."
Haneef and her USA teammates made a big impression in Japan last November by finishing second behind Brazil in the six-nation FIVB World Grand Champions Cup under first-year head coach Lang.
And Haneef is confident the team can continue to improve throughout the year with more thorough training ahead of the World Championships.
When asked what the Chinese coach had brought to the team, Haneef replied: "She obviously does that Chinese/Asian-style volleyball, and also focuses on a lot of technique and serve receive. China is probably the best in the world at that, and that is something that the USA has always struggled with, but little by little we are improving with that.
"We have a great offense, so if we can get that serve receive to combine with that I think we will be unstoppable."
Unstoppable?
There's that word again, and it will certainly be noted by Pool C rivals Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Cameroon, Brazil and Puerto Rico.
The group will be based in Kobe, and the Americans will begin their challenge for a first women's world crown against Kazakhstan on October 31.
Naturally the Americans, runners-up to Italy four years ago, will be firm favourites to make a winning start, but Haneef said they would be taking nothing for granted.
"We just have to focus on each match as it comes," she said. "I don't think we can go into the tournament and overlook the first teams that we play because we are worried about Brazil or Netherlands later on, you know.
"If you look too far ahead you can get caught up and can't focus on what you need to do to get to that final round."
