U.S. Olympic Volleyball Captain Lindsey Berg Is A Natural Leader

Lindsey Berg, 32, captained the U.S. Women’s Volleyball team to a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Team USA fell to Brazil in the gold medal game, a crushing defeat considering the Americans entered the Olympics ranked No. 1 in the world and had won every match in the 2012 Olympic play leading up to the defeat. However, a second straight silver medal remains a tremendous accomplishment for Team USA after their silver finish in Beijing four years ago.

Growing up in Honolulu, Hawaii, Berg was an avid surfer in addition to being a star on the volleyball court at Punahou High School, which is ranked the No. 1 high school athletics program in the nation by Sports Illustrated and is also the former high school U.S. President Barack Obama. Berg accepted a volleyball scholarship to the University of Minnesota, where she would go on to be named First Team All-Big Ten three times in her Gopher Career. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in Business and Marketing. Berg has also played professionally in Italy in the Italian Series A League.

A member of both the 2004 and 2008 Women’s Olympic Teams, the London Games marked Berg’s first Olympics as team captain. Heading into the games, Berg understood the magnitude of such a title, but believed it wouldn’t change her role as a teammate.
“I'm a leader no matter what on the court,” Berg told Uinterview exclusively. “It's what's inside of me. I don't know how to not help people, not lead people, but it's a great honor to be named captain and it's a great honor to lead this team.”