U.S. Men's Junior Team Falls to Russia

Maura Gladys
Intern, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6886
E-Mail: maura.gladys@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 8, 2009) -The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team continued to struggle on Saturday at the FIVB Men’s Junior (U-21) World Championships in Pune, India, losing 0-3 (19-25, 18-25, 18-25) to Russia.

The loss was the United States’ fifth consecutive defeat at the tournament, dropping its overall record to 2-5 and setting up a rematch on Sunday with Iran to determine seventh place. Russia will face Belgium on Sunday to battle for fifth place.

“I thought Russia played great today,” U.S. Head Coach Shawn Patchell said. “They served well and kept us out of system. I am disappointed with our energy on the court today. It was not very good.”

Tony Ciarelli (Huntington Beach, Calif.) led Team USA with 10 points thanks to eight kills and two blocks. Thomas Amberg (El Cajon, Calif.) chipped in six points on five kills and one ace. Murphy Troy (St, Louis, Mo.) also finished with six points on six kills. Brad Lawson (Honolulu, Hawai’i) had four points on four kills while Rusty Lavaja (St. Charles, Ill.) had three points on two kills and one block. Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) finished with three points on three kills. Joe Kauliakamoa (Las Vegas, Nev.) added two points on two blocks and Tyler Jaynes (Granite Bay, Calif.) and Nick Vogel (El Cajon, Calif.) both finished with one kill.

Russia’s Levan Kalandadze and Sergey Burtsev led all scorers with 14 points each. Kalandadze’s came off of 12 kills, one block and one ace, while Burtsev’s came off of 11 kills and three aces.

Statistically, Russia had the upper hand in service points with six aces compared to Team USA’s one. Russia also out-blocked the Team USA 12-5. and scored on 21 errors while committing only 19.

Kauliakamoa was credited with 22 running sets and one fault on 59 attempts. Libero Erik Shoji (Honolulu, Hawai’i) was credited with nine excellent receptions and two faults on 14 attempts while Ciarelli was credited with eight excellent receptions and one fault on 16 attempts.

The United States started 2-0 in the opening set, but Russia came back to take the lead at 6-5. Amberg served an ace to give the Americans a 10-9 advantage, but a Burtsev kill reversed the lead to Russia at 11-10. A Chervyakov block pushed the Russia advantage to 13-11. Russia increased its lead to 16-13 at the second technical timeout. Team USA cut the deficit back to one at 18-17. Russia built the lead to four at 21-17 with a U.S. attack error and spike of its own. Burtsev sliced back-to-back aces to give Russia the set victory at 25-19. Burtsev ended the set with eight points, three of which were aces.

Ciarelli spiked an attack to give Team USA a 4-2 advantage early in the second set, but Russia came back to knot the score at 4-all on a Kalandadze spike. Russia took the lead at 5-4. Shcherbinin scored a block out of the first technical timeout to give Russia a 10-8 lead and it increased to 12-8 with a United States error and Kalandadze spike. Out of a U.S. timeout, Volvich notched a block at 13-8. A Russia attack error decreased its advantage to 13-10. A Team USA error on attack put Russia in front 16-11 at the second technical timeout. Chervyakov put down a quick set to strengthen Russia’s position to 18-12. Murphy Troy pulled the U.S. to 19-15 with a kill. A U.S. hitting error allowed Russia to resume a six-point edge at 21-15. Tyler Jaynes served an ace at 22-18 to bring the U.S. to within four. However, Russia scored the final three points for a 25-18 victory. Kalandadze pocketed five points in the second set and Russia earned nine points off USA miscues.

Kalandadze served an ace to provide Russia with the first two-point cushion of the third set. Chervyakov collected an ace of the first technical timeout to give Russia a 9-6 advantage. After Team USA closed to 9-8, Russia stormed to a 17-11 advantage with an 8-3 scoring run. Russia cruised the rest of the set for a 25-18 victory.

Team USA will take on Iran on Sunday. They previously squared off against Iran in Pool F of the tournament, losing 2-3 (25-23, 21-15, 18-25, 25-20, 10-15).

The U.S. reached the 5-8 classification stage after a strong second place finish in Pool A and a fourth place finish in Pool F. In Pool A they defeated Belarus and Tunisia and fell to India. In Pool F they lost to Brazil, Cuba and Iran. \

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 Round - Places 5-8
Aug. 8
Russia def. USA, 25-19, 25-18, 25-18
Belarus def. Iran, 25-19, 26-24, 25-18

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, FIVB World Championship, 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