US Olympic Volleyball Team Body Issue: Photo Shoot Improves Chemistry for London

You know what they say, girls who pose together in ESPN's Body Issue also win together. 

OK, that might not be the most common of phrases—AKA I just made it up—but the chemistry the USA Women's Volleyball Team is displaying certainly can't hurt, right?

Volleyball is a game that displays an enormous amount of teamwork. 

Spacing is incredibly important, as is knowing what strategy you will employ, and whether you will simply bump it over the net or go for the set and spike. Plenty of different factors go into being a successful volleyball team, and that is even more true at the highest level, which is where these ladies are hoping to compete.

Now, I might not be the person to trust on that considering my experience in volleyball is mastering the one-handed fist shot, but if it's a team sport, you need chemistry. There's no getting around that fact. 

There are a lot of different ways to display team chemistry. Go to the bar together, play pinnacle together, bake cookies together, meet each other's parents. Lots of stuff.

And again, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure you can throw "posing together for a magazine" onto that list. 

Team Chemistry. Up. 

So many times there have been stories of talented teams falling apart because the players don't get along with each other. But the fact that the Team USA volleyball players are willing to pose together in a risque fashion means that they love and trust each other.

Call me a corn-ball, but that's what makes a good team. 

The American women fell in 2008 to Brazil, capturing silver for just the second time in history, but they won't be happy until they can win gold for the USA for the first time ever. 

I may be overly optimistic, but finding this kind of comfort level with the players you must trust on the court or sand is a good way to strive towards that goal. 

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