Chicago Area to Host World League Matches

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, March 11, 2014 – The Chicago area will give fans of men’s volleyball four opportunities to see the U.S. National Team in action this summer as it hosts two weekends of FIVB World League action.

 The U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team will play two matches against Serbia on June 13-14 at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Pavilion followed by two more against Bulgaria on June 20-21 at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

The U.S. Men will open the 2014 FIVB World League in Bulgaria on May 24-25. The team, which trains at the American Sports Centers in Anaheim, California, will host Russia on June 6-7 at a still to be confirmed venue in Southern California. The U.S. Men will play their final two weeks of World League on the road in Russia and Serbia.

The U.S. Men played World League matches at the Sears Centre Arena in 2008-2011. This will be their first year at the UIC Pavilion, which is in downtown Chicago.

The FIVB World League is an elite annual men’s volleyball competition in which the best teams in the world compete in pool play over seven weeks trying to qualify for the Final Round and a first-place prize of $1 million.

This year the U.S. Men will compete in World League Pool B along with Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia. The top two teams in the pool will advance to the Final Round on July 16-20 in Florence, Italy.

The U.S. Men, ranked No. 4 in the world, won World League in 2008 and finished second in 2012. They finished third in 2007 and 1992.

Russia is ranked No. 2 in the world. Bulgaria is ranked No. 6 and Serbia is No. 9.