‘Make the Impossible Possible’: U.S. Paralympic Volleyball Teams Prepare for 2028 Games Right Here at UCO

After the men’s and women’s Paralympic volleyball teams qualified for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, their quest for gold continues inside the Wellness Center at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Both teams have trained at UCO for more than two decades, and they will compete at the Paralympics together for the first time since 2016, when the U.S. men’s team last qualified. 

Their breakthrough, ten years in the making, was monumental and surreal.

“It still hasn’t really set in yet,” U.S. men’s outside hitter Zachary Upp said. “It was a couple of months ago, and it doesn’t feel real.”

For Upp, the qualification carries particular significance.

He has been part of the national team since 2016, and after a decade of trying to return to the Games, he finally seized the opportunity.

“It’s been a 10-year grind of trying to get back in,” Upp said. “And so finally getting there 10 years later is great. It feels relieving.”

However, the qualification does not mean the work is finished.

The U.S. men finished fifth at the most recent world championships in 2025, leaving the team still searching for its first podium finish in the current cycle ahead of the 2028 games.

“We still have so much work to do,” Upp said. “We’re still not breaking that top four, top three podium. So we’re still working our butts off.”

That work happens early mornings almost every day at UCO’s wellness center, and for Upp, having a reliable training environment is something he and the team do not take for granted.

“Being able to practice every single day and have gym access, which is not common, it’s awesome,” Upp said.

On the other side of the net, the women’s team has been dominant for years, winning gold in each of the last four Paralympic Games; however, the strength of the program is not only measured by podium finishes.

Monique Matthews has been part of the women’s team for 16 years. She discovered sitting volleyball while getting a new prosthetic after losing her foot at 18 when a brochure caught her attention.

“I’ve never looked back,” Matthews said.

The sport allowed Matthews to find something she had lost after her amputation.

“It brought me back to life because I was just doing nothing with my life,” Matthews said. “So it brought me back, and making friends with people with similar situations, it just meant a lot to me.”

Now Matthews is preparing for the home Paralympic Games as a veteran and leader of the program.

The women have qualified for every Paralympics during her time with the team, but Los Angeles carries a different feeling.

“It’s really exciting,” Matthews said. “We’ve qualified every time since I’ve been on the team, but just being at a home game, I can’t wait for it. It’s going to be so hype. The crowd’s going to be crazy.”

Representing the United States also remains a source of pride for Matthews.

“There’s no other feeling,” Matthews said about seeing the American flag raised after a victory and the star-spangled needle drop to follow.

Bill Hammiter, the director of the USA Sitting Volleyball program and head coach of the women’s team, has been involved with the program since it began in 2001.

Over 25 years, Hammiter has watched the program develop into one of the world’s strongest sitting volleyball programs, and for him, the work has become about more than volleyball.

“It was definitely a part of my personal mission as well,” Hammiter said. “That’s just been a lifelong journey.”

Hammiter continued, saying his involvement has also given him opportunities to travel internationally and work with organizations on adaptive education and programs for athletes with disabilities.

His time with the women’s program has also produced considerable success. Under his leadership, the U.S. women have won three Paralympic gold medals and one silver.

Now, the team has an opportunity to defend its gold medal on home soil and aim for a fourth straight gold finish.

Hammiter, with his years of experience, understands how difficult that will be.

“We have to work as we’ve never won any gold medal,” Hammiter said. “Make the impossible possible.”

To accomplish that, Hammiter said the team has restructured parts of its coaching and training approach and has relied on the strength of a deep roster.

“We’re pretty deep, especially compared to the rest of the world,” he said.

Hammiter said younger players have performed at a high level when given opportunities, including during last year’s World Cup, when only three regular starters played.

“Those guys really lifted their game,” Hammiter said. “So now you look at this. I can only take 12 players to the Paralympics. That makes my job tough because we have so many players that are playing well.”

That competition within the roster is part of what Hammiter believes can make the team the ultimate success again in 2028.

As the team has their goals set two years out, Hammiter hopes the work being done beforehand right here in Edmond gets the recognition it deserves.

He wants people throughout the Oklahoma City metropolitan area to recognize that a team with multiple Paralympic gold medals trains just beyond the city.

“Right in the back door, you’ve got a team that’s won gold medals,” Hammiter said.

Through that back door is a relentless work ethic and programming of two teams, shared by one university, on a path to their golden goal.

Los Angeles is still two years away, but every serve, block, and attack in the UCO Wellness Center is part of the journey.

For the U.S. Paralympic volleyball teams, the road to 2028 continues in Edmond.