Riley Salmon
Position: Outside Hitter
Height: 6-6 (197cm)
Weight: 196 lbs (89kg)
Hometown: League City, Texas
College: Pierce College
Birth Date: July 2, 1976
Joined Team: May 2001
PERSONAL: Born Riley Salmon on July 2, 1976 in Amarillo, Texas... Parents are Mike and Jennalee Clepper... His wife's name is Millie... He also has one sister: Sari... Riley and Millie became parents for the first time in December, 2005, with the birth of their daughter Isabel Maria. Their son, Lincoln Riley, was born in October, 2008... Attended Clear Creek High School in League City, Texas... Tried Little League baseball, tennis and basketball before taking up volleyball... Riley was working as a warehouse supervisor for General Electric in 1999 when a scout called him and asked him to try out for a professional volleyball team in Italy Also enjoys sports and reading... Favorite sports team is the Houston Rockets of the NBA... Favorite TV show is "The Simpsons."... Favorite musical group is Limp Bizkit.
MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2008 - Olympic Games (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League (Gold Medal)... Four Nations' Tournament (Gold Medal)... NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifying Championship (Gold Medal). 2007 - FIVB World Cup... NORCECA Continental Championship (Gold Medal)... Americas' Cup (Gold Medal)... FIVB World League (Bronze Medal). 2006 - FIVB World Championships... Pan American Cup (Gold Medal). 2005 - Pacific Northwest Tour vs. Netherlands... USOC International Sports Invitational (Silver Medal)... Argentina Tour... America's Cup (Gold Medal)... FIVB World Championship Qualifying Tournament (Gold Medal)... NORCECA Continental Championships (Gold Medal)... World Grand Champions Cup (Silver Medal). 2004 - NORCECA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Gold Medal) ... Houston Series... USA Global Challenge (First Place)... Serbia and Montenegro Tour (Second Place)... Olympic Games (Fourth Place). 2003 - Colorado/Nebraska Tour... Canada Tour... Pan American Games (Fourth Place)... NORCECA Zone Championships (Gold Medal)...World Cup (Fourth Place). 2002 - Bulgaria Tour...Greece Tour...Florida Tour... World Championships. 2001 - Japan Tour... World League... World Championship Qualifier... NORCECA Zone Championships... Jeep America's Cup. 2000 - France Tour.
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2008 - Riley helped the U.S. Men win the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He finished 14th among all scorers with 83 points on 771 kills, eight blocks and four aces... Helped the U.S. Men win their first FIVB World League title. Was the team's third-leading scorer, eighth overall, in the final round with 39 points on 36 kills, two blocks and one ace... Riley helped the U.S. Men win the NORCECA Olympic Qualifier in Caguas, Puerto Rico and qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games. Riley finished the tournament with 39 points on 33 kills, five blocks and one ace. He was credited with 72 receptions. 2007 - Riley played in 123 sets for the U.S. Men in 2007 and was the team's third-leading scorer with 330 points on 284 kills, 30 blocks and 11 aces. He leads all starters with a hitting percentage of 0.633. Riley was third on the team in digs with 207 (1.68 digs per set)... Riley was named the MVP of the United States' World Cup match against Bulgaria as he scored 23 points on 20 kills, one block and two aces. Salmon converted 57 percent of his spike attempts to points. He also had five digs and 18 "excellent" serve receptions in 30 attempts as Team USA defeated Bulgaria and went on to finish fourth at the World Cup. Riley was the United States' second-leading receiver and seventh overall at the World Cup with a 61.70 efficiency percentage... Riley was the United States' fourth-leading scorer and 22nd overall at the NORCECA Continental Championship. He finished the tournament with 37 kills and four blocks. He was the team's leading scorer in its final NORCECA match against Puerto Rico with 16 points on 16 kills... Riley was the United States' third leading scorer, and 13th overall, in the World League final round, finishing with 36 points on 31 kills, three blocks and two aces... Riley was the United States' third-leading hitter and eighth overall in World League pool play with 93 kills in 184 attempts for a success rate of 50.54 percent. He was the team's third-leading receiver and sixth overall with 129 "excellents" in 222 attempts. 2006 - Riley tied Jim Polster for the third greatest number of kills at the World Championships with 82. He was also third in digs with 63... For the season, Riley was fourth on the team in kills with 132, even though he did not play in the World League. He was also fourth in digs with 98... Riley was on the roster for the World League, but never got to play due to a shoulder injured due to overuse... He helped the U.S. to a gold medal at the inaugural Pan American Cup in Mexico. 2005 - Riley, who led the team in scoring 12 times during the year, led the United States in total points (381), points per set (3.66) and kills (322) during the year... Finished second on the team in kills per set (3.10), service aces (23) and digs (154)... He capped the 2005 season as a member of the USA squad that captured the silver medal at the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup in November in Japan... The Americans, who lost to defending Olympic gold medalist Brazil in the first match of the tournament, lost just one set the rest of the way as they defeated Japan (3-1), 2004 Olympic silver medalist Italy (3-0), Egypt (3-0) and China (3-0) en route to their fifth medal in five events this season... Scored a team-high-tying 16 points on 15 kills and one ace as the USA Men stunned the world's best team when it defeated 2004 Olympic gold medalist Brazil in five sets to win the America's Cup tournament in Brazil on Aug. 7... Salmon was named "Best Server" of the America's Cup... Helped Team USA win its second-straight NORCECA Continental Championship with a four-set victory over Cuba on Sept. 15... The USA Men qualified for the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup with the gold-medal win... Also captured Most Valuable Player and "Best Spiker" honors and earned a gold medal in August at the FIVB World Championship Qualifying Tournament as the USA Men qualified for the 2006 World Championships. 2004 - Riley made his first-ever Olympic appearance in Athens, Greece... Team USA qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, by winning the NORCECA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Caguas, Puerto Rico on Jan. 10... The men posted a perfect record of 6-0 en route to the gold medal, which included a come-from-behind, 3-2 win over Cuba in the championship match... Scored 10 points on nine kills and one service ace in the championship match. 2003 - Member of the team that played in the NORCECA Zone Championships in Mexico as Team USA captured the gold medal and a berth in the 2003 World Cup, the first Olympic qualifier... Emerged as a force on the left side during the World Cup...Finished third on the team in scoring and 24th overall with 103 points on 83 kills, 13 blocks and seven aces.2002 - Rejoined the team in late July... Played in just 36 of a possible 141 sets during the year... Still had 86 total points, 71 kills, nine blocks, six blocks and 20 digs... Posted a hitting percentage of .318 and averaged 2.39 points per set. 2001 - Finished third on the team in kills (167) and fourth in service aces (12)... Also had 88 digs and 14 blocks... Played professionally for P.A.O.K. in Greece.
COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: Played two years of varsity volleyball at Pierce College in Los Angeles, Calif., from 1994-96.
