Two of Courtney Thompson's former University of Washington volleyball teammates will also be Olympians in London.

TAMARI "TAMA" MIYASHIRO (UW 2005-09) earned one of two defensive positions on the USA Olympic Team. Miyashiro, 24, is from Kaneohe, Hawaii, where her mother, Joey, played for the University of Hawaii. Her father, Gordon, played college football at Northern Michigan. At the UW, Miyashiro was a three-time All-American and was twice named national Defensive Player of the Year. She's been a member of the U.S. National Team since January 2010, and was the libero last month as the U.S. defeated China to win the World Grand Prix.

JANINE SANDELL (UW 2006) was born in London and is a member of Great Britain's Olympic team. She was an All-American outside hitter at University of California, Santa Barbara before transferring for her senior year to Washington, where she was Honorable Mention All Pac-10.

Thompson, Miyashiro and Sandell were together for the 2006 season, when Washington reached the Final Four for the third consecutive season. At the Olympics, Britain is in Pool A and the U.S. is in Pool B.

The USA Olympic team — ranked No. 1 in the world — has two former Huskies (Thompson and Miyashiro), two from Stanford (Logan Tom and Foluke Akinradewo), two from Penn State (Megan Hodge and Christa Harmotto), two from Long Beach State (Danielle Scott-Arruda and Tayyiba Haneef-Park) and one each from USC, Minnesota, Texas and Nebraska. Scott-Arruda will be in her record-tying fifth Olympic Games.

— Jack Hamann