Volleyball

You've heard of Serena Williams, LeBron James, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Alex Morgan and Jordyn Wieber.

Heck, you probably know about Misty May-Treanor, Kerri Walsh, Logan Tom and even Clay Stanley.

But like every Olympics, there are a slew of athletes sliding under the radar, and that is especially true of the men's and women's volleyball teams. With that in mind, I've identified three United States indoor players you should pay close attention to during the 2012 London Olympics.

They may just become stars, and earn a gold medal in the process.

Matt Anderson

For the U.S. men to repeat as gold-medal winners, they'll need Clay Stanley to dominate like he did in Beijing. But they'll also need first-time Olympian and outside hitter Matt Anderson to shine.

Beverly Oden from Sports Illustrated has the breakdown on this key U.S. player:

The 6-foot-10 outside hitter has made tremendous progress over the last two years to become one of the best attackers in the world and is capable of scoring runs of points with the strength of his jump serve.

The United States aren't favored to win gold in London, coming into the competition ranked fifth in the world. If they want to beat the odds, Anderson is going to need to unveil himself as a star to the world.

He certainly has the talent to make that happen.

Destinee Hooker

If you checked out ESPN the Magazine's Body Issue, you might be somewhat, um, familiar with Destinee Hooker. But what you might not realize is that she is one of the up-and-coming stars in indoor volleyball, and could help lead the U.S. women to gold for the first time ever. 

Teammate Danielle Scott-Arruda certainly feels that way (via Jon Rosen of Fox Sports):

"She's really gifted. She's very athletic, and she can make the play when we need her to," Scott-Arruda said of Hooker. "I just see her continuing to do her thing. I think she's a great player. She's really humble even though she's young. She still has a leadership role in her performance. But she has a good supporting staff, so she doesn't have to feel all the pressure."

Lindsey Berg

Think of Lindsey Berg as the Steve Nash of the women's team. As a setter, she does what her position title suggests—sets up her teammates and compiles assists along the way. As the team's captain and centerpiece of the offense, the U.S. women will only go as far as Berg's sets allow them to.

Berg may not drop any hammer blows on the opponent, but she'll be the reason why her teammates are positioned properly to do so.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets bring it home like Big Easy.

Jen Kessy and April Ross are trying to do what no American (or international) duo has done in beach volleyball in the last two Olympics--take down the seemingly undefeatable Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor.

So what if Kessy/Ross (ranked fourth) pull off the upset over Walsh/May-Treanor (ranked third) and the rest of the Olympic field? Do they take over the throne? Do they become the team to beat? Are they the next Walsh/May-Treanor?

Not so fast.

When any unbeatable force in sports begins their descent to the rest of the mortal sports world, or retires, one of the first questions we as sports fans and writers ask is, "Who will be the next them?" Think Tiger Woods the past few years, or Roger Federer when he had begun to show signs of aging.

Like Tiger and Federer, May-Treanor and Walsh so completely dominated the sand for years and nobody else was within a mile of catching them.

Let's compare the two sand court duos.

Walsh and May-Treanor joined forces in 2001 after both had disappointing debuts in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Walsh was 23 and May-Treanor was 22.

From 2003 to 2004, the pair won 89 consecutive matches in the AVP and FIVB tours, the longest such streak at the time. As expected, they were favored to win in Athens and did not disappoint, going undefeated in their seven matches.

Heading into Beijing they were on a 105-match winning streak (with 18-straight tournament titles). They swept (again) to capture another gold, becoming the first pair to do so.

Individually, May-Treanor leads all women in volleyball history with 111 victories, with Walsh at 108. No other player is within 35 wins of either, and the pair are also the only women to earn more than $2 million in winnings. Combined, they have 103 victories and nearly $4 million in earnings. Second is the Brazilian couple of Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca with 47 victories and $2.6 million in winnings.

Ross and Kessy teamed up in 2007 trying to qualify for the Beijing Games, but Kessy was 29 and Ross was 24.

The duo has never come close to the winning streaks tallied by Walsh and May-Treanor, and their 21 tournament titles together, while sixth overall, is a far cry from their U.S. counterparts.

Ross and Kessy are not entering London as favorites to win gold as May-Treanor and Walsh did in 2004. They haven't dominated the sport in the states and in international tournaments in their five years together the way their rivals have.

While it's possible that Ross and Kessy can upset the two-time defending champs-- May-Treanor and Walsh are aging and have slipped in the rankings after spending time off the sand due to injury (May-Treanor) and pregnancy (Walsh)-- it's next to impossible to imagine them repeating what May-Treanor and Walsh have done.

Nobody has come close to Tiger, and while Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been serious thorns in Federer's side, they still didn't control tennis the way Federer did in the mid-2000s.

And nobody will come close in the foreseeable future to what Walsh and May-Treanor have done for a decade, not even Ross and Kessy.

And the main reason is?

Kessy will not be returning to the Olympics. This is her one and only shot for gold before she retires, according to Fox Sports.

Kessy and Ross are already dark horse contenders, not favorites. And they're past their prime, especially since Kessy's nearing the end of her career, as she claims. They've had a considerable amount of success together in just five years (although in volleyball, that's a long time together), but nothing to the level of their American rivals.

As good as the pair is, it's completely unfair to put them on the same level as Walsh and May-Treanor, who have dominated their sport on a level rarely seen.

So there you have it, there will not be another Walsh/May-Treanor, at least not beginning with London.

Kerri Walsh and beach volleyball partner Misty-May Treanor enter the 2012 Olympic Games in London looking to make it three-straight gold medals.

Bleacher Report was at East London University just a day before the Games to meet up with Walsh to find out what her life is like off the beach.

Watch as Walsh lets us in to see her fun, lighter side. She reveals things like: what her Jersey Shore nickname would be, and what music gets her pumped up to kick butt in the sand.

While Walsh is happily married, she reveals (video above) who her Olympic crush (hint a basketball player) would be, and if she is Team Lochte or Team Phelps.

Who does Walsh predict will be the darling of the Olympics? Tune-in and find out.

Walsh was on hand at East London University as The United States Olympic Committee and 24 Hour Fitness, celebrated the official opening of the High Performance Training Center (HPTC) in London with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.

Like this video? Watch more of Bleacher Report's London coverage:

Michael Jordan's Dream Team vs. Kobe Bryant's Dream Team

Michael Phelps vs. Ryan Lochte? Who is the better swimmer?

Crazy Ping Pong Trick Shots

Real Story Behind LeBron James' Name

Bleacher Report will be covering the 2012 London Olympics from every angle throughout the Olympiad, so stay tuned to BleacherReport.com and Bleacher Report's YouTube Channel for all of your coverage.

You know what they say, girls who pose together in ESPN's Body Issue also win together. 

OK, that might not be the most common of phrases—AKA I just made it up—but the chemistry the USA Women's Volleyball Team is displaying certainly can't hurt, right?

Volleyball is a game that displays an enormous amount of teamwork. 

Spacing is incredibly important, as is knowing what strategy you will employ, and whether you will simply bump it over the net or go for the set and spike. Plenty of different factors go into being a successful volleyball team, and that is even more true at the highest level, which is where these ladies are hoping to compete.

Now, I might not be the person to trust on that considering my experience in volleyball is mastering the one-handed fist shot, but if it's a team sport, you need chemistry. There's no getting around that fact. 

There are a lot of different ways to display team chemistry. Go to the bar together, play pinnacle together, bake cookies together, meet each other's parents. Lots of stuff.

And again, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure you can throw "posing together for a magazine" onto that list. 

Team Chemistry. Up. 

So many times there have been stories of talented teams falling apart because the players don't get along with each other. But the fact that the Team USA volleyball players are willing to pose together in a risque fashion means that they love and trust each other.

Call me a corn-ball, but that's what makes a good team. 

The American women fell in 2008 to Brazil, capturing silver for just the second time in history, but they won't be happy until they can win gold for the USA for the first time ever. 

I may be overly optimistic, but finding this kind of comfort level with the players you must trust on the court or sand is a good way to strive towards that goal. 

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