Elaina Oden (born March 21, 1967, in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...

) is a former

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player from the

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who won the bronze medal with the

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at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

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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 Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. The Game ...

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 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

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-central ...

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

, 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 student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

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 Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

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