U.S. Boys' Team Polishes Off Poland

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 4, 2009) – The U.S. Boys’ Youth National Volleyball Team will play for ninth place on Saturday after sweeping Poland (25-22, 25-18, 25-17) on Friday at the FIVB Boys’ Youth (U-19) World Championship in Bassano del Grappa, Italy.

The U.S. Boys’ Youth Team (5-2) will play Brazil (5-2) for the second time in the tournament at 6 p.m. local time (9 a.m. PT) on Saturday for ninth place. Poland will play France for 11th place.

Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif.) led Team USA on Friday with a match-high 15 points on 14 kills (0.38 hitting percentage) and one block. Spencer Rowe (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) scored 13 points on eight kills (0.58 hitting percentage) and a match-high five blocks. Taylor Sander (Norco, Calif.) added 13 points on 11 kills, one block and one ace.

Milosz Hebda paced Poland with 15 points on 13 kills, one block and one ace.

Evan Mottram (Leona Valley, Calif.) who had been starting for the United States at libero sat out the match due to injury.

"We played very well today against Poland, which is a very good team,” said Sander, the U.S. team captain. “We just had to pick it up since our libero was out.”

The teams were equal in blocking with eight apiece and Poland had three aces while Team USA had one.

But Team USA completed 42 of 85 (49.4 percent) kill attempts with 17 errors for a 0.29 hitting percentage. Poland completed 26 of 83 (31.3 percent) kill attempts with 22 errors for a .05 hitting percentage.

Among other U.S. scorers, Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawai’i) scored three points on two kills and one block. Nick Gibson (Shorewood, Wis.) scored three points on three kills. Dylan Davis (Corona del Mar, Calif.) and Jeremy Dejno (New Berlin, Wis.) each added two points on two kills.

Christenson was credited with 21 running sets and no faults on 73 attempts. Taylor Crabb (Honolulu, Hawai’i), who played libero, was credited with 11 digs and two faults on 13 attempts and nine excellent receptions with two faults on 16 attempts. Sander led the receptions with 14 excellents and no faults on 22 attempts.

U.S. Head Coach Andy Read started Dejno and Sander at outside hitter, Davis and Rowe at middle blocker, Torres at opposite, Christenson at setter and Crabb at libero. Gibson and Tanner Clayton (San Diego, Calif.) played as substitutes.

Team USA held an 8-4 advantage at the first technical timeout (TTO) of the first set as Sander scored on two kills and Rowe added a kill and a block while Torres and Dejno each added a kill. The U.S. Boys’ Youth Team increased the lead to 9-4 before Poland came back with a 6-1 run to tie the score at 10-10. The two teams battled back and forth, with Poland holding a 16-15 advantage at the second TTO. With the scored tied 18-18, Team USA scored twice on a kill and a block by Sander. Poland called timeout and came back with a kill, but the damage was done. The United States reached set point first at 24-21 on a Torres kill. Poland scored on a kill but Torres ended the set with his seventh kill of the set.

Poland once again held an 8-7 lead at the first TTO of the second set with the U.S. scoring on two kills each by Rowe and Torres and one from Sander. Poland still led by one at 15-14 when the United States tied it on Sander’s kill and then scored three more points, including kills by Torres and Rowe. Poland scored three straight on a kill and two U.S. errors to tie the score at 18s. But those would be the last points that it scored as Team USA scored seven unanswered points, including two kills from Rowe, one from Torres to reach set point and one from Sander to win the set at 25-18.

Riding its momentum, the United States jumped out to an 8-3 lead at the first TTO of the third set as Christenson, Rowe, Torres and Sander each scored on a kill and Poland hurt itself with errors. The United States increased its lead to 16-10 at the second TTO and Poland was never able to string together more than two points in a row. A Gibson kill gave the U.S. match point at 24-17 and a Polish error gave Team USA the victory.

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)

Classification 9-12
Sept. 4
USA def. Poland, 25-22, 25-18, 25-17
Brazil def. France, 22-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-15 

Pool H Schedule (All times local) and 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 vs. Algeria, 12:30 p.m.

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 Match Schedule and 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, Youth World Championships