Cynthia Jane Barboza (born February 7, 1987) is an American retired

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. She is an outside hitter who played at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

for four years.

High school

Barboza was born in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

, and was raised in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

where she graduated from Wilson Classical High School and was considered the top high school recruit for the class of 2005. She was the Gatorade National Player of the Year in volleyball 2 years in a row in 2003–04 and 04–05 and was also the overall girls' Gatorade Athlete of the Year in 2005. In 2002, she was on the USA Girls' Youth National Team that won a gold medal at the NORCECA championships in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

, and she was named "best serve-receiver" for the tournament. In her freshman season in 2001, she was named the National Freshman of the Year by Student Sports Magazine. She was named the 2002 National Sophomore of the Year by the same publication. In 2004, she hit .537 for the season, compiling 14 matches with an attack efficiency greater than .650 and four matches in which she hit better than .800. Her best effort of the season (.840) came against State Champion

Mira Costa High School Mira Costa High School (MCHS, "Costa") is a four-year public high school located in Manhattan Beach, California that first opened 1950. It is the only high school in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. The school's athletic teams are k ...

. In 2004, she averaged 18.3 kills, 1.57 blocks and 2.0 aces per match for the Bruins, who were 25–7 and reached the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA semifinal. She finished her high school career with 2,145 career kills, 349 blocks and 152 aces. She was named 2004 High School Player of the Year by Volleyball Magazine.

Career at Stanford

2005 Freshman season

Led the Pac-10 in kills (297) and kills per game (4.50) up until she tore her ACL near the end of the season and sat out the last 11 matches.

2006 Sophomore season

Barboza recovered from her injury and was named an AVCA and Volleyball Magazine first team All-American. She led the team with 463 kills and 4.21 kills per game. She also led the team with 48 services aces (0.44 per game), was third on the team with 329 digs, and fourth with 76 total blocks. She collected double-digit kills in 29 of Stanford's 34 matches. She helped her team reach the 2006 NCAA title match against

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, but Stanford was defeated, 3–1. Barboza was named to the final four All-Tournament team for her efforts, as she collected 12 kills and 7 digs.

2007 Junior season

Barboza repeated as an AVCA and Volleyball Magazine first team All-American. She accumulated 467 kills (3.99 kpg) for the season and led the team with 32 service aces. She was second on the team with 3.25 digs per game, hit .281% on the year and tallied 44 blocks. She led the team with a career-best 20 double-doubles on the year. She recorded double-figure kills in 29 matches, and double-figure digs in 20 of those. She was named the AVCA National Player of the Week on October 8, 2007. She once again helped her team in the 2007 NCAA title match against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, but Stanford was defeated, 3–2. Barboza had 16 kills and 12 digs in the match, for her 20th double-double of the season.

2008 Senior season

Barboza was named an AVCA First Team All-American for the third time in her career. She was second on the team with 412 kills (3.49 kps), finished among the Pac-10 leaders in kills (7th) and points (8th), led the team with 24 service aces and ranked second with 358 digs. She helped Stanford to the NCAA title match for the third consecutive season and was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team. She finished ninth all-time at Stanford in kills (1,639), sixth in digs (1,241) and ninth in service aces (115).

International career

In 2003, she was the youngest member on the USA women's national training team that earned a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. In 2004, then a rising high school senior, was named one of 6 alternatives for the USA National Team for the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. In 2007, she contributed 2.59 points per set during the Pan American Cup, highlighted by four double-figure point contests. She added 2.50 digs per set during the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

, and recorded 15 points against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

with 13 kills and two aces on June 21. She provided four aces as part of 10-point match against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

on June 22, and averaged 3.06 points during the Pan American Games, including 2.69 kills and 0.25 blocks per set. She turned in three double-figure point matches at Pan American Games, topped by a 12-point performance against

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

on July 15. As of February 2008, she is training with the U.S. National Team. In June, she helped team USA to a fifth-place finish at the 2008 Pan American Cup, attacking at a .302 clip and notching 17 points against

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

en route to helping team USA to a fifth-place finish. On June 17, she was named to the 19-player preliminary Olympic roster for the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

and was an Olympic alternate. For the 2009–2010 Barboza was a member of the Torray Arrows, a team based in

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...

, Shiga,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Her long-time mentor Doug Woodburn was not able to make the journey to Japan with her, but she says he continues to give her inspiration with their daily video conferences. Cynthia was a leader of the national team that won the bronze medal at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

held in

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Major international competition

* 2009 ** Final Four Intercontinental Cup (silver medal) ** Pan American Cup (fourth place) ** FIVB World Championship Qualification Tournament – NORCECA Pool G (Gold) ** FIVB World Grand Prix (Ninth Place) * 2008 ** Pan American Cup (Fifth Place) ** U.S. Olympic Team Exhibition for Volleyball Series versus Brazil ** FIVB World Grand Prix (fourth place) * 2007 ** Pan American Cup (fourth place) ** Pan American Games (bronze medal) * 2003 ** Pan American Games (bronze medal) * 2002 ** NORCECA Junior Girls Continental Championships (silver medal) ** NORCECA Youth Girls Continental Championships (gold medal)

Collegiate Awards & Honors

* Three time AVCA first team All-American (2006, 2007, 2008) * Three time Volleyball Magazine first team All-American (2006, 2007, 2008) * Three time AVCA All-Pacific region team (2006, 2007, 2008) * Three time All-Pac 10 team (2006, 2007, 2008) * 2008 Final Four All-Tournament Team * 2007 Pac-10 All-Academic Honorable Mention * 2007

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue, with the cover line "NEXT.," was published on March 11, 1998 (cover date March 23, 1998), and featured K ...

Second Team Academic All-American * 2007 Pac-10 Player of the Week (Oct. 8) * 2007 AVCA National Player of the Week (Oct. 8) * 2006 Final Four All-Tournament Team * 2006

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Player of the Week (Sept. 10) * 2006 Waikiki Beach Marriott Challenge MVP

High School Awards & Honors

* 2005 Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year * 2004–05 Gatorade National Player of the Year for volleyball * 2005 Gatorade California Player of the Year for volleyball * 2005 Prepvolleyball.com class of 2005 top "Senior Ace" (high school recruit) * 2004 Volleyball Magazine High School Player of the Year * Four time first team All-CIF (2001–04) * Three time Prepvolleyball.com High School All-American (2002–04) * 2003–04 Gatorade National Player of the Year for volleyball * 2004 Gatorade

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Player of the Year for volleyball * 2004 Los Angeles Times Girls' volleyball All-Star team * 2002

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

Player of the Year * 2002 CIF I-AA MVP * 2002 Student Sports Magazine National Sophomore of the Year * 2002 AAU National Beach Volleyball Champion * 2001 Student Sports Magazine National Freshman of the Year

References

External links

Cynthia Barboza at gostanford.com

Barboza at usavolleyball.org

Phone interview with Cynthia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barboza, Cynthia 1987 births Living people American women's volleyball players Volleyball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Volleyball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Volleyball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Stanford Cardinal women's volleyball players Volleyball players from Long Beach, California American expatriate volleyball players in Japan American people of Cape Verdean descent African-American volleyball players Wilson Classical High School alumni Outside hitters American expatriate volleyball players in Russia American expatriate volleyball players in Italy Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in volleyball 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen