Richard Edward "Rich" Lambourne (born May 6, 1975) is an American indoor volleyball player. He joined the U.S. men's national team in 2000 as the designated libero. He has recently played for Delecta Bydgoszcz. Lambourne made his Olympic debut at the 2008 Olympics, helping Team USA to a gold medal.

High school and personal life

Lambourne was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, to Paul and Ann Lambourne. He grew up in

Tustin, California Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city is located next to the county seat, Santa Ana, and does not include the unincorporated community ...

, and attended Foothill High School. Lambourne was badly injured during a bike accident when he was 6. He skinned his shoulder to the bone and mangled the right side of his face. He says of the accident, "I could have been much uglier but due to my loving parents and medical science, I am only mostly unattractive". He served a mission in

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

, Japan, for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

College

Lambourne attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

where he majored in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. He was also recruited by Stanford and Long Beach State. In 1999, he was the starting outside hitter for the BYU men's volleyball team that won the program's first ever

NCAA men's volleyball championship The NCAA men's volleyball tournament, officially titled the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship, is an annual competition that determines the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship in American college men ...

. For the year, he played in 82 games and posted 252 kills, 205 digs, 88 blocks and a .348 hitting percentage.

Career

Lambourne began to play professional volleyball for

Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...

, a

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

from Greece. His next club was Aon hotVolleys Vienna. After that, he went to

Noliko Maaseik Greenyard Maaseik is a Belgian professional men's volleyball club from the city of Maaseik. They compete in the Euro Millions Volley League. Honours Domestic * Belgian Championship :Winners (16): 1990–91, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 199 ...

, then to Polish Mlekpol AZS Olsztyn, then to the Russian Lokomotiv-Belogorie. He represented Polish Delecta Bydgoszcz. As of February 24, 2010 he has been disciplinary released.

Clubs

* Aon hotVolleys Vienna (2001–2003) * Piet Zoomers Apeldoorn (2003–2004) * Lamia (2004–2005) * Noliko Maaseik (2005–2006) * AZS Olsztyn (2006–2008) * Lokomotiv-Belogorie (2008–2009) * Delecta Bydgoszcz (2009–2010) * Fart Kielce (2011–2012) * Al Arabi S.C. (2012–2013)

International competitions

Recent international competition *2008 **Olympic Games (gold medal) **FIVB World League (gold medal) **NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifying Championship (gold medal) *2007 **FIVB World Cup **NORCECA Continental Championship (gold medal) **America's Cup (gold medal) **FIVB World League (bronze medal) *2005 **NORCECA Continental Championships (gold medal) **World Grand Champions Cup (silver medal)

Individual awards

*'' 2006 Pan-American Cup "Best Defender"'' *'' 2007 FIVB World League "Best Libero"'' *'' 2008 FIVB World League "Best Libero"''

External links

* *
BYU Cougar Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambourne, Richard 1975 births Living people American men's volleyball players AZS Olsztyn players Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Sportspeople from Orange County, California BYU Cougars men's volleyball players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in volleyball Volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Latter Day Saints from California Latter Day Saints from Kentucky American Mormon missionaries in Japan Volleyball players at the 2007 Pan American Games American expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate volleyball players in Poland Volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in volleyball Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Liberos