COURTESY OF THE MINNESOTA CHILL Lindsey Berg led the Minnesota Chill of the now-defunct United States Professional Volleyball League to a league title.

Punahou’s Berg
reaches the top

After a stellar college career
at Minnesota, the setter will
represent the U.S. in the Olympics

This is the fourth in a series on people with local ties taking part in the Olympic Games in Greece. Tomorrow's story will be on Lauren Spalding.

The meeting wasn't quite what Lindsey Berg expected.

After a long night staring at the ceiling, USA women's volleyball coach Toshi Yoshida confirmed the following morning what her teammates had been telling her all along -- she would be a member of the Olympic team.

The Berg File Sport: Volleyball Competition dates: Aug. 14-16-18-20-22-24-26-28 (gold) Birthdate: July 16, 1980 Birthplace: Honolulu Residence: Minneapolis College: University of Minnesota Tie to Hawaii: Born and raised in Hawaii, graduated from Punahou in 1998 Fun Fact: Berg is the first player from the Minnesota volleyball program to make the Olympic team. Berg's dad, Dennis, played volleyball at UC Santa Barbara with Hawaii coach Dave Shoji and Minnesota coach Mike Hebert. Did you know?: Berg is obsessed with fashion and would like to have her own clothing brand one day.

"I didn't sleep the whole night, not one minute," Berg said during a phone interview from Italy. "It was the weirdest thing for me. I never have trouble with that kind of thing."

But Yoshida's news wasn't all good for the former Punahou School alumna.

"He told me (she had made the Olympic team), but all of a sudden it changed into what I needed to work on," Berg said. "To me, it took away my excitement. This is supposed to be the meeting where you're really excited about making it or you get cut."

You couldn't blame Berg for wanting to bask a while in the news. Since she first touched a volleyball, her talent and skills were always disputed. The 24-year-old has spent more than a decade proving people wrong. Now she can thumb her nose at those who said she couldn't reach volleyball's upper echelon.

The 5-foot-8 Berg was hardly a shoo-in to be an Olympian despite a stellar collegiate career in which the three-time All-Big Ten selection finished third in career assists (5,913) and second in service aces (283) for the Gophers.

A gifted setter, Berg has an impeccable touch, a blistering jump serve and an instinct for when to set certain hitters. But most coaches were searching for setters with Berg's hands but not her height.

"I was very highly recruited but colleges would be questioning my size, questioning my body type," Berg said. "I don't have the typical volleyball player body type. That has been a question in a lot of coaches' minds throughout my whole career. It's just very self rewarding to not listen to any of that and prove them wrong with my play and my determination. That's always been a struggle to get it through to people that it doesn't matter."

What matters are results and Berg has been a winner at every level. She played a season in the United States Professional Volleyball League after graduating from Minnesota in three years with a degree from the Carlson School of Management.

She led the Minnesota Chill to the league championship and was voted the best setter, best server and All-USPV. Chill assistant coach Kevin Hambly, also an assistant with the national team, was the one who recommended Berg for a national team tryout after the league was disbanded for financial reasons.

In 2003, Berg beat out two other setters and survived the initial training team cut after a two-week tryout. Over the next 18 months, Berg continued to improve and was chosen for the 12-player team over former collegiate players of the year and All-Americans.

"Once I got out there then it really set in that I could really do it," Berg said. "And that's when it became my dream. I guess I always knew that I could go to that level but I was never given the opportunity until then.

"I'm honored in many ways. First of all, going to the Olympics is so exciting. ... It's an honor playing with legends and people who are volleyball greats. Gaining their respect is an amazing feeling."

Berg led the U.S. to the Pan American Cup last month and was named best setter of the tournament.

Yoshida says Berg was born to be a setter, with great hands and an ability to adjust to her hitter's needs.

Mike Hebert, her coach at Minnesota, saw it for four years.

"Lindsey is a maestro," said Hebert, who guided the Gophers to the NCAA final four last season. "She has that ability to see the whole game and add her special touch of genius to it. She's awfully good.

"She understands the game at a very sophisticated level. She has an intuitive understanding of the game -- where to be, what to do at a certain time. She understands traffic on the court very well and she's got the sweetest pair of hands around.

"The two setters from Hawaii are on the Olympic team. Both of them have great hands."

With Robyn Ah Mow-Santos directing the offense and Berg as the back up, the state can boast of having the two playcallers for the No. 2-ranked team in the world.

After Athens, Berg will be playing professionally in Pesaro, Italy, a city on the Adriatic Sea some three hours outside of Rome. The Italian professional leagues are generally considered the best and Berg will be playing in Italy's highest division.

"I'm very excited," Berg said. "It's going to be something totally different. I get to experience a different country. ... It will be fun to live in Italy for a while and play with different people. I'm very lucky."