Two standouts from the UCLA women’s soccer team, sophomore Lauren Cheney and junior Christina DiMartino, have been invited to the next U.S. Women’s National Team training camp. The Bruins are two of 37 players that have been asked by U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage to attend the training camp held at the Home Depot Center in Carson beginning on Feb. 1.
Earlier this month, Cheney and DiMartino helped the U.S. to a championship at the 2008 Four Nations Tournament in China. The U.S. defeated host China 1-0 in the championship game to win the tournament.
The training camp will help the team prepare for two tournaments, the 2008 Algarve Cup and the CONCACAF Olympic Women’s Qualifying Tournament.
Sundhage will select a team of 20 players to take to Portugal for the Algarve Cup, held from March 5-12. In that tournament, the U.S. will play in Group B, which also includes China, Norway, and Italy. Group A is comprised of Germany, Sweden, and Finland.
The main focus of the camp is to put together a roster that will help the U.S. succeed in the CONCACAF Olympic Women’s Qualifying Tournament in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, April 2-13.
“With such a short amount of time until qualifying, we are going to continue to look at players with a focus on who can help us in Mexico,” Sundhage told U.S. Soccer. “Of course, we will also need to choose a roster for the Algarve Cup, which is a big competition, so this camp will be important for that selection as well.”
SPICER JOINS U.S. NATIONAL TRAINING TEAM ROSTER: The volleyball team’s junior setter Nellie Spicer accepted an offer to join the U.S. National Women’s Volleyball Training Team on Monday. She will travel to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Feb. 18.
Spicer participated in an invitation-only tryout Jan. 7-12, and on Monday she became the 11th player from that tryout to garner a spot on the roster. Spicer will join former Bruin outside hitter/middle blocker Rachell Johnson on the team.
The junior had a very successful collegiate season, earning AVCA All-American, first-team All-Pacific region and first-team All-Pac-10 honors. Spicer finished the season third in the Pac-10 in assists with 12.92 assists per game, and was fourth on the team with 3.07 digs per game.
Spicer’s play in the postseason earned her a spot on the regional All-Tournament team, averaging 13.79 assists and 4.00 digs per game in four matches.
LOVE EARNS PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS: For the third time this season, freshman center Kevin Love was named Pac-10 Player of the Week.
Love returned to his home state of Oregon this past weekend and led the Bruins to two crucial conference wins.
On Thursday against the Oregon Ducks, Love overcame derisive chants from the Oregon fans, scoring 26 points and pulling down a UCLA-freshman-record 18 rebounds in the Bruins’ 80-75 win.
Two days later against Oregon State, Love broke the record he set on Thursday, grabbing 21 rebounds, while scoring 16 points in the Bruins’ 85-62 win over the Beavers.
Compiled by Andrew Howard, Bruin Sports senior staff.