Olympic Volleyball 2012: Matt Anderson and Players Flying Under the Radar

You've heard of Serena Williams, LeBron James, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Alex Morgan and Jordyn Wieber.

Heck, you probably know about Misty May-Treanor, Kerri Walsh, Logan Tom and even Clay Stanley.

But like every Olympics, there are a slew of athletes sliding under the radar, and that is especially true of the men's and women's volleyball teams. With that in mind, I've identified three United States indoor players you should pay close attention to during the 2012 London Olympics.

They may just become stars, and earn a gold medal in the process.

Matt Anderson

For the U.S. men to repeat as gold-medal winners, they'll need Clay Stanley to dominate like he did in Beijing. But they'll also need first-time Olympian and outside hitter Matt Anderson to shine.

Beverly Oden from Sports Illustrated has the breakdown on this key U.S. player:

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The 6-foot-10 outside hitter has made tremendous progress over the last two years to become one of the best attackers in the world and is capable of scoring runs of points with the strength of his jump serve.

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The United States aren't favored to win gold in London, coming into the competition ranked fifth in the world. If they want to beat the odds, Anderson is going to need to unveil himself as a star to the world.

He certainly has the talent to make that happen.

Destinee Hooker

If you checked out ESPN the Magazine's Body Issue, you might be somewhat, um, familiar with Destinee Hooker. But what you might not realize is that she is one of the up-and-coming stars in indoor volleyball, and could help lead the U.S. women to gold for the first time ever. 

Teammate Danielle Scott-Arruda certainly feels that way (via Jon Rosen of Fox Sports):

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"She's really gifted. She's very athletic, and she can make the play when we need her to," Scott-Arruda said of Hooker. "I just see her continuing to do her thing. I think she's a great player. She's really humble even though she's young. She still has a leadership role in her performance. But she has a good supporting staff, so she doesn't have to feel all the pressure."

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Lindsey Berg

Think of Lindsey Berg as the Steve Nash of the women's team. As a setter, she does what her position title suggests—sets up her teammates and compiles assists along the way. As the team's captain and centerpiece of the offense, the U.S. women will only go as far as Berg's sets allow them to.

Berg may not drop any hammer blows on the opponent, but she'll be the reason why her teammates are positioned properly to do so.

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