Foluke Gunderson

Last updated

Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson
Foluke Akinradewo (cropped).jpg
Akinradewo in 2012 with Rabita Baku
Personal information
Full nameFoluke Atinuke Gunderson
NationalityCanadian/American/Nigerian
BornFoluke Atinuke Akinradewo
(1987-10-05) October 5, 1987 (age 36)
London, Ontario, Canada
Hometown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Spike130 in (330 cm)
Block118 in (300 cm)
College / University Stanford University
Volleyball information
PositionMiddle blocker
Number16
Career
YearsTeams
2010–2011
2011–2012
2012–2015
2015–2017
2017–2019
Flag of Japan.svg TAB Queenseis
Flag of Russia.svg Dinamo Krasnodar
Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Rabita Baku
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Volero Zurich
Flag of Japan.svg Hisamitsu Springs
National team
2005–2021 Flag of the United States.svg United States

Foluke Atinuke Gunderson (née Akinradewo; born October 5, 1987) is an indoor volleyball player who plays as a middle blocker for Japanese club Hisamitsu Springs. Born in Canada, she represents the United States internationally. Gunderson won gold with the national team at the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix, 2014 World Championship, the Rimini Volleyball Nations League, and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, [1] [2] silver at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Her 2020 Olympics win allowed her to complete the trifecta of winning an Olympic bronze, silver, and gold medal. [3]

Contents

High school and personal life

Gunderson was born in London, Ontario, to Ayoola and Comfort Akinradewo. Her siblings are Folu and Foluso Akinradewo. She holds a tri-citizenship with Canada, Nigeria, and the United States, and used to audition for commercials when she was little. [4]

Gunderson attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she was a three-year letter winner in volleyball and was also on the basketball and track & field teams. She was an All-American selection in 2003 and 2004 and an all-state selection in 2002, 2003 and 2004. She was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Volleyball Player of the Year in 2005. In addition to volleyball, she was an all-state selection in basketball and was a four-time Florida State Champion in track. She made her US international debut before the start of her freshman year at Stanford. [5] She helped the US win the 2004 NORCECA Continental Women's Junior Championship, and then was the starting middle blocker on the U.S. Women's Junior National Team at the 2005 FIVB World Championships. [5]

Stanford

Gunderson majored in human biology at Stanford University. [6]

As a freshman in 2005, she was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Pacific Region Freshman of the Year. [7] She was named an AVCA Second Team All-American and led the squad in hitting percentage (.397), a mark which ranked third in the Pac-10, 13th in the nation and third for a single-season in school history. In 2006, she was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team as she led Stanford to an NCAA Division I runner-up finish to Nebraska. For the year, she was named a First Team All-American by the AVCA. [8] [9]

In 2007, Gunderson was named the AVCA National Player of the Year [10] and was the Honda Sports Award winner for volleyball. [11] [12] [13] She broke the Pac-10 and Stanford single season hitting percentage record by more than 50 points, as she averaged .499 percentage, a mark that was first in the nation and second since rally-scoring was introduced in 2001. She was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team as she led Stanford to their second consecutive Division I national runner-up finish to Penn State. As a senior in 2008, Gunderson repeated as the Pac-10 Player of the Year and got her third consecutive Honda Award nomination. She repeated as a First Team All-American and led Stanford to their third consecutive NCAA title match. She finished her collegiate career with the best career hitting efficiency (.446) of any NCAA Division I player. [5]

Club volleyball

Gunderson joined Toyota Auto Body Queenseis in October 2010. [14] [15] In the 2010–11 V.Premier League, Gunderson was named the winner of the Spike award. [16] Gunderson won the silver medal in the 2012 FIVB Club World Championship, playing with the Azerbaijani club Rabita Baku. [17]

In 2013 Gunderson's club, Rabita Baku, won the Azerbaijan Super League Championship [18] winning their sixth title in a row. [19] [20] She won the league's Best Spiker award. [21]

International career

2012

Gunderson competed for Team USA in the 2012 Summer Olympics. [22] She earned a silver medal for her efforts. [23]

2014

Gunderson was part of the USA national team that won the 2014 World Championship gold medal when the team defeated China 3–1 in the final match. [24] [25] It was the USA's first-ever gold in any of the three major volleyball tournaments. [5]

2016

Gunderson was part of the US bronze medal-winning team at the 2016 Olympics. [5] She started all eight games. She was named in the 2016 Olympic Games Dream Team at middle blocker. [5]

2021

In May 2021, she was named to the 18-player roster for the FIVB Volleyball Nations League tournament. [26] that will be played May 25-June 24 in Rimini, Italy. It is the only major international competition before the Tokyo Olympics in July.

On June 7, 2021, US National Team head coach Karch Kiraly announced she would be part of the 12-player Olympic roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. [27]

Awards

Individual

College

National team

Clubs

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logan Tom</span> American volleyball player

Logan Maile Lei Tom is an American former indoor volleyball and beach volleyball player, and is the current head coach of the Israel women's national volleyball team. She is a four-time Olympian at the outside hitter position. At age 19, Logan became the youngest woman ever to be selected for an American Olympic volleyball team when she competed at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. She was a skilled all-around player who brought stability to the American serve receive and defense, while also providing the team with a solid attack and block at the net. She was a huge part of the national team from 2000 to 2012. At the 2008 Olympics, Tom helped Team USA win a silver medal and was named Best Scorer, she won another silver medal at the 2012 Olympics with the national team. She was also awarded the Most Valuable Player of the 2004 FIVB World Grand Prix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Glass</span> American volleyball player

Kimberly Marie Glass is an American indoor volleyball player and model. She is 6 ft 2.5 in (189.2 cm) and plays as an outside hitter. She joined the U.S. national team on May 23, 2007. Glass made her first Olympic appearance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, helping Team USA to a silver medal.

Tara Cross-Battle is a retired volleyball player from the United States who competed in four Summer Olympics overall, starting in 1992. Cross-Battle won the bronze medal with the United States women's national team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Her last Olympic appearance was at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Metcalf</span> American indoor volleyball player (born 1978)

Nancy Jean Metcalf is an American indoor volleyball player. She represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, where she finished in fifth place with the USA National Team. She missed the 2008 Olympics with a torn labrum, and was not named to the national team in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynthia Barboza</span> American volleyball player (born 1987)

Cynthia Jane Barboza is an American retired volleyball player. She is an outside hitter who played at Stanford University for four years.

Robyn Mokihana Ah Mow is an American indoor volleyball coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball team. She was a setter on the USA national team and played at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2004 Athens Olympics, and at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, helping Team USA to a silver medal. She worked as an assistant coach at the University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball team from 2011-2015 and was named Head Coach in 2017 after Dave Shoji's retirement. She has also served as a club coach at Na Keiki Mau Loa Volleyball Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Áurea Cruz</span> Puerto Rican volleyball player

Áurea Esther "Aury" Cruz Dalmau is an indoor and beach volleyball player from Puerto Rico who currently plays for the Orlando Valkyries of the Pro Volleyball Federation. She is best known for competing for the Puerto Rico national team at the 2008 Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan, where she was named Best Server at the event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Castillo</span> Dominican Republic volleyball player

Brenda Castillo is a volleyball player from the Dominican Republic and plays as a libero. She was a member of the Dominican Republic national team that won fifth place in the 2012 Summer Olympics, while she was named the tournament's Best Libero. She played in the 2014 World Championship reaching also the fifth place and ranking 17th in the 2010 World Championship and the 2011 FIVB World Cup where her national team ranked eight and the 2015 FIVB World Cup, winning the Best Libero individual award and ranking in seventh place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Hodge</span> American volleyball player

Megan Hodge Easy is an American indoor volleyball player who won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with the US team and played for Pennsylvania State University's volleyball team. Currently, she plays in Brazilian team Itambé-Minas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christa Harmotto</span> American volleyball player (born 1986)

Christa Deanne Harmotto Dietzen is an American former professional volleyball player who played as a middle blocker for the United States women's national volleyball team. She played college volleyball for the Penn State women's volleyball team, and won back to back national championships in 2007 and 2008. Harmotto won gold with the national team at the 2014 World Championship, silver at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alisha Glass</span> American volleyball player (born 1988)

Alisha Rebecca Glass Childress is an American professional volleyball player who plays as a setter for the Vegas Thrill of the Pro Volleyball Federation. Glass played collegiate volleyball for Penn State, where she led Penn State to three NCAA consecutive championships. Glass won gold with the national team at the 2014 World Championship, and bronze at the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan Larson</span> American volleyball player (born 1986)

Jordan Quinn Larson is an American professional volleyball player who plays as an outside hitter for the United States women's national volleyball team. A four-time Olympian, Larson earned the USA its first-ever gold in women's volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also has two silver medals from the 2012 and 2024 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal from the 2016 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtney Thompson</span> American volleyball player (born 1984)

Courtney Lynn Thompson is an American former professional volleyball player who played as a setter for the United States women's national volleyball team. She won the 2005 national championship while playing for the University of Washington, and she set an NCAA record in career assists per game. Thompson won gold with the national team at the 2014 World Championship, silver at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Murphy (volleyball)</span> American volleyball player

Kelly Ann Murphy is an American indoor volleyball player for the United States women's national volleyball team. Murphy played collegiate volleyball with the University of Florida Gators from 2008 to 2011. Murphy won gold with the national team at the 2014 World Championship and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimberly Hill</span> American volleyball player

Kimberly Hill is an American former professional volleyball player who played as an outside hitter for the United States women's national volleyball team. Hill won gold with the national team at the 2014 World Championship and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelsey Robinson</span> American volleyball player

Kelsey Marie Robinson Cook is an American indoor volleyball player of the United States women's national volleyball team. Robinson won gold with the national team at the 2014 World Championship, the Rimini Volleyball Nations League, and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Yoana Palacio Mahmudova born 6 October 1990) is a Cuban-born Azerbaijani female volleyball player. She was part of the Cuba women's national volleyball team at the 2010 FIVB World Championship in Japan. She won the silver medal in the 2011 Pan American Games being selected Best Spiker and Most Valuable Player and twice won the bronze medal in the NORCECA Continental Championship, in 2009 and 2011.

The Stanford Cardinal women's volleyball team represents Stanford University in the Pac-12 Conference. They are currently led by head coach Kevin Hambly and play their home games at Maples Pavilion. The team has won nine NCAA national championships, the most of all time, and 24 regular season conference titles. They have finished as national runner-up eight times and appeared in the first 39 NCAA tournaments, failing to qualify for the postseason for the first time during the 2020–2021 season. In January 2017, John Dunning retired as head coach of Stanford volleyball. The school named Kevin Hambly as the new head coach. Hambly came from the University of Illinois and 2017 was his first season with the Cardinal.

Winifer María Fernández Pérez is a Dominican female volleyball player. With her club Mirador she competed at the 2015 FIVB Club World Championship. She became well known after a video and later some photos of her playing and training, and personal photos of her--some of them fake--went viral in July 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krista Vansant</span> American volleyball player

Krista Vansant is a volleyball player and coach who played collegiately for Washington. In 2022, she was the assistant coach for the University of Illinois volleyball team after spending 3 seasons as an assistant coach at Indiana.

References

  1. FIVB. "USA claim third FIVB World Grand Prix title with perfect record" . Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  2. "Volleyball - AKINRADEWO Foluke". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  3. USA Volleyball [@usavolleyball] (August 8, 2021). "Saving the best for last. @JordanLarson10 & @fakinradewo now have a complete set of Olympic medals: 🥈 in London 2012, 🥉 in Rio 2016 and 🥇 in Tokyo 2020" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  4. "Getting to know Foluke Akinradewo". volleyball.teamusa.org. Archived from the original on August 16, 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Foluke Akinradewo". Team USA. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  6. CBS Interactive. "Foluke Akinradewo". Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  7. St. Thomas Aquinas. "Raider Reflections" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  8. "Stanford places four on All-American squad". cstv.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011.
  9. "WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL ALL-AMERICA TEAMS AND AWARD WINNERS" (PDF). NCAA . Archived (PDF) from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  10. American Volleyball Coaches Association. "2007 AVCA All-America Teams". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  11. "2007 Division I National Player of the Year is Foluke Akinradewo". Archived from the original on September 22, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  12. "Stanford's Foluke Akinradewo Wins Honda Sports Award For Volleyball". Pac-12. January 17, 2008. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  13. "Volleyball". CWSA. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  14. "クインシーズ|TOYOTA AUTO BODY". July 21, 2012. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  15. "選手詳細 | バレーボール Vリーグ オフィシャルサイト". バレーボール Vリーグ オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 31, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  16. "【お知らせ】2010/11V・プレミアリーグ個人表彰選手 | バレーボール Vリーグ オフィシャルサイト". バレーボール Vリーグ オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  17. "Trentino Diatec and Sollys Nestle crowned in Doha". Doha, Qatar: FIVB. October 19, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  18. "Рабита" празднует чемпионство (in Russian). Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation. April 17, 2013. Archived from the original on April 29, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  19. ""Rabitə" ölkə çempionudur!" (in Azerbaijani). Azərbaycan QƏZETİ. April 19, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  20. ""Rabitə" ölkə çempionudur" (in Azerbaijani). Azərbaycan QƏZETİ. April 28, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  21. "Super Liqanın "ən"ləri bəlli oldu" (in Azerbaijani). Record.az. April 28, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  22. "Foluke Akinradewo - Volleyball - Olympic Athlete". London 2012 Olympics. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. April 24, 2013. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  23. "Shocked Americans leave London with silver - Volleyball News | NBC Olympics". October 26, 2012. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  24. Benedetti, Valeria (October 12, 2014). "Volley, Mondiale: Usa batte Cina 3-1". La Gazzetta dello sport (in Italian). Milan, Italy. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  25. "USA win first World Championship title, China and Brazil complete the podium". Milan, Italy: FIVB. May 11, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
  26. "Kiraly announces 18 USA Volleyball women on FIVB VNL Roster |". May 13, 2021.
  27. "USAV Announces U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team". USA Volleyball. June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.

Sources

Awards
Preceded by Most Valuable Player of
FIVB World Grand Prix

2010
Succeeded by
Preceded by Best Blocker of
FIVB World Grand Prix

2010
Succeeded by
Preceded by
First Award
Best Middle Blocker of
Olympic Games

2016 (with Flag of Serbia.svg Milena Rašić)
Succeeded by
Preceded by Best Middle Blocker of
FIVB Club World Championship

2016 (with Flag of Serbia.svg Milena Rašić)
Succeeded by