International and Olympic Career
Nnamani is a 6' 1" (186 cm) outside hitter. She joined the U.S. national team in 2002 and went to the 2004 and the 2008 Olympics.
In 2005, Nnamani garnered media attention for an interview with USA Today where she remarked, "I know you can run a 100-yard dash by yourself or throw a really good pitch on your own. But in volleyball you rely on your team for every skill you perform." The quote was widely reproduced in newspapers when she was in contention for the Honda-Broderick Cup and later in September 2006 when the Italian media reported that she was being sought after by the A-1 teams.
Nnamani made her international professional debut under the Puerto Rican LVSF league for the Pinkin club of Corozal. Under Nnamani's leadership, the Pinkin team reached the finals of the national league for the first time since 1996, finishing second to the Carolina Gigantes.
After an abbreviated season in the Italian A-1 League, Nnamani signed on to Voléro Zürich of Switzerland for 2007. She joined fellow USA Olympian Robyn Ah Mow-Santos on the team. She helped Voléro Zürich team win the Swiss Cup Final, the Championship League and placed fourth in the Indesit European Championship.
After contesting the World Cup in Japan, where the United States took a bronze medal and qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nnamani returned to Italy and joined fellow USA Olympian Lindsey Berg at Asystel Novara. Novara finished with the bronze medal in the Indesit European Championship; highlights for Nnamani included hitting at a .710 percentage on 21 swings against her former team, Volero Zurich, in the playoffs. In January 2008, she was selected by popular vote to join the "All-Star" team for an exhibition game against the Italian National Team in Turin.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Nnamani played in both outside positions. Her play included a 17 point performance in a win that eliminated Poland on August 17, 2008. The United States finished with a silver medal after losing to World No. 1 Brazil, the first time it had made the gold medal match since 1984.
For the 2008–09 professional season, Nnamani played with Galatasaray, a Turkish volleyball club known for its FC (football club) that has been successful in the UEFA tournaments. Nnamani, the top scorer of her team, led Galatasaray to one of the biggest upsets in league history when the eighth-seeded Galatasaray upset first seed VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta Istanbul in the quarterfinals. The 322 points she scored during the regular season placed her fourth among all players in the Turkish Professional League.
Read more about this topic: Ogonna Nnamani
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