(August 13, 2002)                                                                                             Hot News Main Page 

Chicago Thunder Front Office Hires

OAKBROOK TERRACE IL (August 13, 2002) The Chicago Thunder, a member of the United States Professional Volleyball league (USPV), today promoted Nicole Gonzalez to the post of account executive.

In her role as account executive, Gonzalez will be responsible for selling group and season ticket packages and will also focus on marketing and match-day operations.

In 2001, Gonzalez was the Thunder team manager, where she acted as a liaison between the athletes and the front office and also handled the team's practice and road trip logistics.

Prior to joining the Thunder, Gonzalez worked for San Angelo Pro Hockey, Inc. where she was involved in a variety of different marketing and promotion activities. Gonzalez also worked with the Schaumburg (Ill.) Flyers minor league baseball team.

Gonzalez played volleyball collegiately for four years at Southeast Missouri State University where she was graduated in 1998 with a degree in Social Work. Gonzalez earned a Master's Degree in Administration from SEMSU in 2001. Gonzalez was a four-year Ohio Valley Conference Scholar Athlete at SEMSU.

In other Thunder front office moves, Mike Miazga, the USPV's media relations director, will, in addition to his league publicity duties, officially assume the Thunder media relations post. Miazga was the Thunder's interim media relations director for the 2002 season.

Prior to joining the USPV, Miazga, who will begin his third season as the league's media relations director, enjoyed a 10-year career as a sportswriter in the Chicago area, most recently with the Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Ill.), the third largest daily paper in Illinois.

The USPV, the premier women's professional volleyball league, recently announced it will expand to eight teams in 2003 with the addition of expansion teams in Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

[Source: Mike Miazga, Director Media Relations, USPV/Chicago Thunder, (630) 575-8827 (office); (847) 344-6554 (cell); mmiazga@uspv.net, www.uspv.net]