Hodge came on strong in the final 18 months of the cycle to make her first Olympic appearance and will head to London in peak form after being named MVP and Best Scorer of the FIVB World Grand Prix. In helping the U.S. win its third straight Grand Prix title, she led all scorers in the final round with 103 points and was second among all spikers with a 43.8 percent kill efficiency. Hodge began making her run to an Olympic spot with a strong showing at the 2011 Pan American Cup, leading the U.S. in scoring with 85 points. The outside hitter was a reserve on the World Cup squad that finished second in Japan to punch its Olympic ticket, averaging 3.75 points in 12 sets while posting a 51.6 kill percent. Hodge joined the national program in 2009 after helping Penn State win three consecutive NCAA tournament titles and went undefeated the last two seasons. She was the 2009 AVCA Division I player of the year and was a first-team All-America selection in 2008 in addition to winning Most Outstanding Player honors at the NCAA Championship. Hodge also was a four-time first-team All-America selection and has a strong volleyball family pedigree _ both her parents played for the U.S. Virgin Islands national teams, and her mother played collegiately at George Washington.
