B.J. Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

ANAHEIM, Calif. (April 24, 2008) - The chance to see some of the best men's volleyball players in the world, in person, is just a phone call away. Tickets are on sale now for the U.S. Men's National Team's 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Exhibition for Volleyball against Argentina, on May 27 in Irvine, Calif. The match, which is being hosted by USA Volleyball in conjunction with NBC and the U.S. Olympic Committee, will be played at 7 p.m. (Pacific Time) at the Bren Events Center (seats 4,984) on the campus of UC Irvine. General admission tickets are available for $15-$20 each. Tickets for groups of more than 10, senior citizens and children 12-and-under cost $10 each. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Bren Events Center at (949) 824-5000.

The Olympic Exhibition will be the only opportunity this year for fans to see the U.S. Men's National Team play in Southern California. Two weeks later, the team will leave for Finland to begin play in the 2008 FIVB World League, which starts June 13. Team USA will play three domestic World League matches in Hoffman Estates, Ill. (June 20-21 against Bulgaria) , Green Bay, Wis. (June 27-28 against Finland) and Bloomington, Ill. (July 11-12 against Spain) .

The U.S. Men's headquarters are just a few miles up the road from Irvine in Anaheim, Calif., at the American Sports Center. The U.S. Men's National Team is ranked third in the world and qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games by winning the NORCECA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in January in Puerto Rico. Argentina is ranked sixth in the world and will be vying for an Olympic berth at the Men's World Olympic Qualification Tournament on May 31-June 8 in Tokyo, Japan. The Olympic Exhibition match will be broadcast tape delayed by MSNBC on June 1 at noon Eastern Time (9 a.m. PT).

The 2008 Olympic Games begin with the Opening Ceremonies on Aug. 8 and the volleyball competition will begin the next day with men's and women's teams alternating their competition days. The U.S. Men's National Team home page is www.usavolleyball.org/National/mnthome.asp.

NBC UNIVERSAL'S BEIJING GAMES COVERAGE: NBC Universal will present more than 3,600 hours of coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the most ambitious single media project in history and more than the combined total of every Summer Olympics ever televised in the United States. The Beijing Games begin Aug. 8, with unprecedented around-the-clock coverage and, for the first-time ever in the U.S., live streaming Olympic broadband video coverage, 2,200 hours in all. Over the 17 days of the Beijing Games (Aug. 8-24), NBC Universal will present more than 3,600 hours of coverage highlighted by NBC in primetime which will feature live swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball, despite the 12-hour time difference from the U.S.'s eastern time zone to Beijing.