Elaina Oden (born March 21, 1967) is a former

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 from the

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who won the bronze medal with the

United States women's national volleyball team The United States women's national volleyball team participates in international volleyball competitions and friendly games, and is governed by USA Volleyball. Their last head coach was three-time Olympic gold medalist and retired dominant be ...

at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

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. She also competed in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

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. Oden was a member of the U.S. junior national team in 1985. During her tenure with the national team, she competed at the

1986 Goodwill Games The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Luzhniki Stadium, Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Sov ...

and the 1990 FIVB World Championship, earning a bronze medal in each event. She also won a silver medal at the

1995 Pan American Games The 1995 Pan American Games, officially known as the XII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mar del Plata 1995, were held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from 12 to 26 March 1995. After 44 years, this was the Pan American Games' first retur ...

High school

Oden attended

Irvine High School Irvine High School is a public high school, located in the city of Irvine in Orange County, California, United States. It is part of the Irvine Unified School District. The school is located in the El Camino Real neighborhood in the north-cen ...

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, and was a standout in volleyball, basketball, soccer, softball, and track & field, where she was the state champion in the shot put her senior year. As a senior, she was named the School's Athlete of the Year.

College

Oden is remembered as one of the most decorated women's volleyball players in University of the Pacific history. Oden was the key player on Pacific's back-to-back NCAA national championship teams. Highlights of those seasons included defeats of UCLA and Stanford for the NCAA title in 1985 and the steamrolling of Texas and Nebraska en route to the 1986 crown. Oden is Pacific's all-time single season hitting percentage leader (.380 in 1985), and she was named PCAA Most Valuable Player in 1985. Until recently, Oden held the Pacific single season kill record (547) and the all-time career kills mark (1,485). Oden's .357 hitting percentage in 1986 places her third on Pacific's all-time list. In leading the Tigers to back-to-back

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Championships, Oden was named an All-American at the middle blocker position in both 1985 and 1986 as the Tigers amassed a combined record of 75–6. ''Volleyball Monthly'' recognized her as its 1986 National Player of the Year. Oden added a third All-America honor in 1989, helping the Tigers to a record of 29–5. She is one of four Tiger volleyball players to have their jersey number retired by the Pacific Athletic Department. When it comes to career records, Oden ranks second in career hitting percentage (.341), third in digs (1,229), third in block solos (138), fourth in block assists (396), and fourth in total blocks (534). In addition, Oden set the Pacific freshman record of 547 kills in 1985. Oden was nominated for the NCAA's Broderick Award in 1985 and 1986. In 2000, Oden was inducted into the University of the Pacific Hall of Fame.

Awards

* PCAA Most Valuable Player — 1985 * Two-time NCAA Champion — 1985, 1986 * Three-time All-American — 1985, 1986, 1989 * Goodwill Games bronze medal — 1986 * ''Volleyball Monthly'' National Player of the Year — 1986 * FIVB World Championship bronze medal — 1990 * Olympic bronze medal — 1992 * Pan American Games silver medal — 1995 * FIVB World Grand Prix gold medal — 1995 * University of the Pacific Hall of Fame — 2000

Personal life

Oden's sisters, Kim and Beverly, were also outstanding volleyball players who played on the national team.

References

External links

*
Olympedia profile: Elaina Oden

Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame

University of the Pacific Hall of Fame profile

Volleybox.net profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oden, Elaina 1967 births American women's volleyball players Living people Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in volleyball Volleyball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Pacific Tigers women's volleyball players Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Sportspeople from Irvine, California Volleyball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in volleyball 20th-century American sportswomen