Brazil Beats U.S. Boys' Youth Team at Worlds

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 3, 2009) – The U.S. Boys’ Youth National Volleyball Team fell to Brazil, 1-3 (25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 23-25) on Thursday and will finish second in Group H at the FIVB Boys’ Youth (U-19) World Championship in Bassano del Grappa, Italy.

Team USA finishes the second round of pool play at 2-1 in Group H and 4-2 overall. It will play Poland (2-1, 2-4) on Friday at 3:30 p.m. local time (6:30 a.m. PT) while Brazil (3-0, 4-2) will play Japan (1-2, 1-5). The winners will play for ninth place on Saturday. The losing teams will play for 11th.

Meanwhile, two teams from the United States' original pool, Iran and Serbia, have advanced to the semifinals of the gold medal bracket. Serbia will play Russia on Saturday while Iran will face Argentina. The U.S. Boys' Youth National Team upset Iran – the defending tournament champion – to open the tournament.

U.S. team captain Taylor Sander (Norco, Calif.) once again led the United States on Thursday with 19 points on 14 kills, a match-high four blocks and his team’s only ace. Spencer Rowe (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) scored 12 points on 10 kills and two blocks.  Dylan Davis (Corona del Mar, Calif.) added 12 points on 10 kills and two blocks. Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif.) totaled 11 points on nine kills and two blocks.

Ricardo Lucarelli Santos de Souza led Brazil with 19 points on 18 kills and one block.

“Brazil played a very good match, they were very strong,” Sander said. “We missed some serves down the line and we didn't play our best today. But we will come out in the next two matches and play really well.”

The U.S. Boys’ Youth Team completed 56 of 119 kill attempts (47 percent) with 25 faults for a hitting percentage of 0.26. Davis’ hitting percentage was 0.83 and Rowe’s was .44.

Brazil completed 48 of 114 kill attempts (42 percent) with 24 errors for a hitting percentage of 0.21.

The teams were equal in blocks with 10 each. Brazil had six aces while the United States had one. Brazil was credited with 66 digs with 19 faults while the United States tallied 48 digs with 13 faults. Brazil was credited with 47 excellent receptions and three faults while Team USA had 33 excellent receptions with six faults.

Among other U.S. scorers, Jeremy Dejno (New Berlin, Wis.) totaled eight points on eight kills. Josh Taylor (Honolulu, Hawai’i) scored four points on four kills. Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawai’i) added one point on one kill.

Connor Olbright (Orange, Calif.), who started at setter, was credited with 25 running sets and two faults on 71 attempts. Christenson was credited with six running sets and one fault on 35 attempts.

Libero Evan Mottram (Leona Valley, Calif.) was credited with 16 digs and two faults on 19 attempts. Sander had nine digs and one fault on 12 attempts. Mottram totaled 10 excellent receptions and two faults on 20 attempts. Dejno had 12 excellent receptions with one fault on 31 attempts.

 U.S. Head Coach Andy Read started Dejno and Sander at outside hitter, Davis and Rowe at middle blocker, Taylor at opposite, Olbright at setter and Mottram at libero. Torres started the third and fourth sets at opposite. Christenson started the fourth set a setter. Taylor Crabb (Honolulu, Hawai’i) played as a substitute.

Team USA held an 8-7 lead at the first technical timeout (TTO) of the first set on two kills by Taylor, two by Sander, two from Rowe and one each from Dejno and Davis. The score remained close as the two teams battled back and forth. With the score tied 10-10, Sander scored on a kill and an ace to put the United States up by two at 12-10. Brazil came back with a kill, but Team USA scored two straight points on quick kills by Rowe and Dejno. Brazil called timeout, but the United States scored two more straight points on a Brazil error and Davis block to lead 16-11 at the second TTO. With the United States leading 20-15, Brazil went on a 4-1 run to pull to within two at 21-19. But the United States held off the surge and reached set point first at 24-21 on a Dejno kill. Brazil scored one more time before Sander ended the set with a kill.

Brazil held the 8-7 advantage at the first TTO of the second set despite two kills by Sander, two by Taylor and one from Davis. With Brazil leading 10-9, Team USA scored three straight points on kills by Davis and Sander and a Brazil error to lead 12-10. But Brazil came back with two kills to tie the score at 12s. With Team USA leading 14-12, Brazil scored four straight points to lead 16-14 at the second TTO. Two points from Sander tied the score again at 16-16. With the score tied 17-17, Brazil scored twice to go up by two and Team USA never caught up. Brazil reached set point at 24-22. The United States scored once on a Brazil error before Brazil ended the match with a kill.

Riding the momentum, Brazil jumped out to an 8-5 lead at the first TTO of the third set. Team USA came out of the timeout and scored twice on a Brazil error and Dejno kill to pull to within one, but Brazil maintained its lead and extended it to 16-12 at the second TTO. Trailing 13-19, the United States scored three straight points to pull to within three at 16-19, but Brazil called timeout and responded with two points to hold off the United States. Trailing 18-23, Team USA put together a four-point run, including a kill by Rowe and three Brazilian errors, but Brazil reached set point with a Lucarelli kill. Sander scored on his own kill before Lucarelli ended it with a final spike.

Looking to even things up, Team USA held an 8-6 advantage at the first TTO of the fourth set, scoring on three Torres kills, a kill and a block from Davis and a kill by Christenson along with Brazilian errors. Brazil came back to tie the score at 8-8. The two teams battled until the score was 11-11. Team USA used a 5-1 run to reach the second TTO with a 16-12 lead. However, Brazil kept coming and later used a 3-0 run to tie the score at 20s. Read called timeout and Rowe got a kill to lead 21-20. But Brazil tied it at 21-21, then took the lead on a U.S. error and reached 23-21 on a Lucarelli kill. A Brazilian serving error made it 23-22, but a U.S. serving error brought match point at 24-23 and Lucarelli’s 18th kill of the match ended it for Brazil.

Read Ken Preston’s “Blogging from the Boot.”

View Ken Preston’s photo gallery.

The event web site is at www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/Competitions/Youth/men/2009/.

FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship
Aug. 28-Sept. 6 in Jesolo and Bassano del Grappa, Italy

No Name (Position, Hometown, Region, Club)
2 Micah Christenson (S, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Aloha, Outrigger Canoe VC)
3 Tanner Clayton (MB, San Diego, Calif., Southern California, Epic VC)
4 Taylor Crabb (OH, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Aloha, Outrigger Canoe VC)
6 Dylan Davis (MB, Corona del Mar, Calif., So Cal, Balboa Bay VC)
7 Jeremy Dejno (OH, New Berlin, Wis., Badger, Lightning VC)
10 Nick Gibson (OH, Shorewood, Wis., Badger, North Shore Milwaukee VC)
12 Evan Mottram (L, Leona Valley, Calif., So Cal, Pacific Palisades VC)
14 Connor Olbright (S, Orange, Calif., So Cal, Balboa Bay VC)
15 Spencer Rowe (MB, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., So Cal, OCVC)
16 C Taylor Sander (OH, Norco, Calif., So Cal, Orange Coast VC)
18 Joshua Taylor (Opp/OH, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Aloha, Ku’ikahi VC)
19 Maurice Torres (Opp/OH, Riverside, Calif., So Cal, OC Riptides)

Head Coach: Andy Read (Long Beach State University)
Assistant Coach: Sean Byron (Ohio State University)
Team Leader/Manager: Ken Preston (former head coach at UC Santa Barbara)
Doctor: David Dyck Jr.
Therapist/Trainer: Daniel Friend (Lewis University)
Technical Coordinator: Chris Birch (Penn State University)

Pool H Final Standings
Country Record (Point Ratio)
Brazil 3-0 (1.155)
USA 2-1 (1.140)
Egypt 1-2 (0.919)
Algeria 0-3 (0.810)

Pool H Results
Sept. 1
USA def. Algeria, 25-17, 22-25, 25-17, 20-25, 15-6
Brazil def. Egypt, 25-20, 25-20, 25-22
Sept. 2
Brazil def. Algeria, 25-16, 25-22, 22-25, 25-14
USA def. Egypt, 25-21, 25-16, 25-18
Sept. 3
Brazil def. USA, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23
Egypt def. Algeria, 25-16, 25-21, 25-22

Pool B Final Standings:
Country Record (Point Ratio)
Iran 2-1 (1.151)
Serbia 2-1 (1.039)
USA 2-1 (0.941)
Japan 0-3 (0.906)

Pool B Results
All matches in Jesolo
Aug. 28
Serbia def. Japan, 20-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13
USA def. Iran, 25-20, 13-25, 25-22, 25-23
Aug. 29
Iran def. Japan, 25-20, 25-18, 19-25, 25-18
Serbia def. USA, 17-25, 18-25, 18-25
Aug. 30
USA def. Japan, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22
Iran def. Serbia, 25-22, 25-11, 25-23

Tags: 2009 U.S. Boys' Youth National Team, FIVB World Championship, U.S. Boys' Youth National Team