U.S. Men's Junior Team Falls to Iran in Five

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 6, 2009) – The U.S. Men’s Junior Volleyball Team put up a fight, but it wasn’t enough as it fell to Iran, 2-3 (25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 25-20, 10-15) on Thursday at the FIVB Men’s Junior (U-21) World Championships at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune, India.

With the loss, the U.S. Men’s Junior Team falls to 0-3 in Pool F and 2-4 overall. It will play in the classification matches to determine places five-eight this weekend along with Iran (1-2). Brazil won the pool with a 3-0 record and Cuba finished second at 2-1. Both will move on to the semifinals.

The United States’ Tony Ciarelli (Huntington Beach, Calif.) led all scorers with 21 points on a match-high 17 kills, two blocks and two aces. Tyler Jaynes (Granite Bay, Calif.) added 15 points on seven kills, a match-high seven blocks and one ace. Murphy Troy (St. Louis, Mo.) scored 12 points on nine kills and three aces.

“My congratulations to Iran,” said U.S. Head Coach Shawn Patchell. “They played great and have a very mature team. I was most disappointed in our play in the second set. Iran served aggressively and we couldn’t sustain any momentum.”

Arash Kamalvand paced Iran with 19 points on 13 kills, three blocks and three aces.

Every member of the U.S. Men’s Junior Team played in the match and every player scored except libero Erik Shoji (Honolulu, Hawai’i).

The two teams were very close statistically. Both finished with six aces. The United States had 15 blocks to Iran’s 14. But the United States’ percentage of successful kill attempts was 36.64 while Iran’s was 43.8. Iran scored on 35 U.S. errors while committing only 30.

Among other U.S. scorers, Tri Bourne (Honolulu, Hawai’i) scored seven points on three kills and four blocks. Nick Vogel (El Cajon, Calif.) finished with five points on five kills. Joe Kauliakamoa (Las Vegas, Nev.) added three points on two kills and one block. Tom Amberg (El Cajon, Calif.) and Rusty Lavaja (St. Charles, Ill.) each scored two points on two kills. Brad Lawson (Honolulu, Hawai’i) scored one point on a block while Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) scored one point on a kill.

Kauliakamoa was credited with 32 running sets and one fault on 107 attempts. Shoji was credited with 12 digs and four faults on 24 attempts and with 12 excellent receptions and one fault on 19 attempts. Bourne was credited with 25 excellent receptions and one fault in 49 attempts.

Patchell started Troy, Bourne and Ciarelli at outside hitter, Vogel and Jaynes at middle blocker, Kauliakamoa at setter and Shoji at libero. Lavaja started the third set at middle blocker and Amberg started the fifth set at outside hitter. Lawson and Sunder played as substitutes.

In the first set, Team USA gained the two-point cushion at 4-2 on an Iran error, but Iran came back to tie it at 4-all on a Sasan Dejara block. The U.S. Men’s Junior Team went up 8-6 at the technical timeout (TTO) with a Kauliakamoa overpass spike and Iran back-row attack error. Team USA went up 10-7 on a Bourne spike. Iran closed to 10-9 with consecutive points. Troy slammed a kill from the right side as the United States went ahead, 12-9. Out of a timeout, Jaynes and Lawson formed a block and Troy added another spike pushing Team USA in front 14-9. Troy found open court for an ace out of the second TTO, increasing Team USA’s lead to 17-11 and forcing Iran into its second timeout. Iran’s G. Mojtaba Gheyasi served an ace at 17-13. Iran narrowed the gap to three at 19-16 with a U.S. error. Iran moved to within one at 20-19 with an ace from Mohammad Taher Vadi and a block from Alireza Jadidi. Team USA scored two quick points to return to a 22-19 advantage. A Team USA attack error brought Iran back to a one-point deficit at 23-22, but Troy nailed a kill to give the U.S. set point at 24-22. Bourne earned the winner at 25-23. Troy scored seven points in the opening set, while Jaynes added six points.

Team USA went up 2-0 in the second set on an Iran error and Bourne ace when Iran was out of rotation on the serve. The United States pushed its lead to 4-1. Troy served an ace extending the United States’ margin to four at 6-2. Ciarelli served an ace putting the Americans in front 8-3 at the TTO. Iran scored three consecutive points after two U.S. errors at 8-6. Iran continued the rally with a kill from Kamalvand at 8-7. Iran tied the set at 13-all with a Kamalvand block, and then went ahead with a Dejara block at 14-13. Iran increased its advantage to two points at 17-15 after a U.S. attack error. Kamalvand served an ace to push the lead to 18-15. A service error and attack error pulled Team USA to within 18-17. Iran’s Gheyasi served an ace lifting his team to a 21-18 advantage, and Daneshfar powered a kill off the U.S. block to increase the margin to 22-18. Farhad Salafzoon formed a block against the United States, putting Iran at set point 24-19. Troy tallied an ace to close USA to 24-21, but Iran won 25-21 on a Gheyasi spike. Kamalvand paced Iran’s second set comeback with six points, while the team had three blocks and two aces in the set victory.

Iran scored the first three points of the third set with two blocks and a U.S. hitting error. Out of a USA timeout, Danesfhar hit a kill at 4-0. Iran reached the first TTO leading 8-1. Team USA came back to within two at 11-9 on an 8-3 run. Iran used a 4-0 run to resume a six-point cushion at 15-9. Jaynes put down a block and combined with Bourne for another block slicing the deficit to 15-12. Iran scored points on each side of the second TTO to lead 17-12, and then added a third straight point with a U.S. attack error at 18-12. Jayne picked up a block to close the United States to four at 19-15. Iran strengthened its position at 24-17 after consecutive errors by the USA. After the Americans saved one set point, Iran ended the set at 25-18. Iran took advantage of 11 U.S. errors in the third set and added six blocks in setting the tone.

Team USA scored on blocks by Jaynes and Ciarelli on the first two plays of the fourth set, but Iran came back to tie at 2-all. The United States responded with two points of its own capped by a combined block from Bourne and Jaynes at 8-6. An Iran attack outside the antenna put the margin at 10-7 forcing a timeout. Team USA continued the momentum by taking a 13-8 advantage following an Iran error. Iran answered at 13-10 with a U.S. error. Another two American errors allowed Iran to move to within one at 14-13. Iran pushed an attack long, giving Team USA a 16-13 lead at the second TTO. Kauliakamoa tallied a setter dump and block at 18-14. The United States added another point at 19-14. Iran charged back to 20-17. An Iran attack went wide put Team USA up 22-17. Ciarelli gave the United States set point at 24-19. Vogel put down the winning spike at 25-20. Ciarelli scored eight points in the fourth set for USA as it put up four blocks.

Kamalvand slammed a kill off the U.S. block to give Iran a 2-0 lead in the fifth set. Edris Daneshfar pounded an overpass for a kill at 4-1. Iran’s Kamlvand pushed the margin to 5-1 on an ace. Vogel helped Team USA to a 5-3 deficit with an overpass spike and Iran followed with an attack error at 5-4. Ciarelli served an ace after a Vogel spike to tie the set at 6-all. Vadi and Jadidi combined for a block pushing Iran’s advantage to two points, 10-8. Jadidi formed a solo block against a U.S. attack to increase Iran’s advantage to 12-9, which was followed by another USA error out of the timeout at 13-9. Jadidi took a quick set for a kill for match points at 14-10 and Kamalvand served the winner ace at 15-10.

Live scoring, photos and other information are available on the FIVB web site by clicking here.

2009 FIVB Men's Junior World Championships
July 31-Aug. 9 in Pune, India

U.S. Men's Junior National Team Roster

Name (Position, Height, City, State, School, Region)
1. Thomas Amberg (OH, 6-7, El Cajon, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
4. Tyler Jaynes (MB, 6-9, Granite Bay, Calif., Pepperdine, No Cal)
5. Joseph Kauliakamoa (Setter, 6-5, Las Vegas, Nev., BYU, No Cal)
6. Brad Lawson (OH, 6-7, Honolulu, Hawai'i, Stanford, Aloha)
7. Erik Shoji (Libero, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawai'i, Stanford, Aloha)
8. C Murphy Troy (OH, 6-8, St. Louis, Mo., USC, Gateway)
9. Tri Bourne (OH, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawai'i, USC, Aloha)
10. Tony Ciarelli (OH, 6-6, Huntington Beach, Calif., USC, So Cal)
13. Rusty Lavaja (MB, 6-7, St. Charles, Ill., BYU, Great Lakes)
17. Joseph Sunder (Opp., 6-7, Greensburg, Pa., Penn State, Keystone)
18. Nick Vogel (MB, 6-9, El Cajon, Calif., UCLA, So Cal)

Head Coach: Shawn Patchell (BYU men's head coach)
Assistant Coach: JT Wenger (UCLA men's assistant coach)
Team Manager: Tom Tait (former Penn State men's head coach)
Therapist / trainer: Giuseppe Vinci (BYU technical coordinator)
Team Doctor: Julie Chuan

Final Pool F Standings
Brazil 3-0 6 points
Cuba 2-1 5 points
Iran 1-2 4 points
USA 0-3 3 points

Pool F Results
Aug. 4
Brazil def. USA, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-17
Cuba def. Iran, 25-18, 25-23, 25-22
Aug. 5
Cuba def. USA, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23
Brazil def. Iran, 25-20, 25-22, 25-18
Aug. 6
Iran def. USA, 23-25 25-21 25-18 20-25 15-10
Brazil def. Cuba, 25-22, 25-14, 25-22

Final Pool A Standings
India 2-1 5 points
USA 2-1 5 points
Belarus 2-1 5 points
Tunisia 0-3 3 points

Pool A Results
July 30
USA def. Belarus, 32-30, 21-25, 25-18, 30-28
July 31
India def. Tunisia, 25-11, 25-15, 25-13
Aug. 1
USA def. Tunisia, 21-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-21
Belarus def. India, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-11 
Aug. 2
Belarus def. Tunisia, 24-26, 26-24, 25-17, 25-17
India def. USA, 25-23, 25-21, 25-18

Tags: Brad Lawson, Erik Shoji, FIVB, Joe Kauliakamoa, Joe Sunder, Murphy Troy, Nick Vogel, Rusty Lavaja, Shawn Patchell, Tom Amberg, Tony Ciarelli, Tri Bourne, Tyler Jaynes, U.S. Men's Junior National Team, World Championships