U.S. Boys' Youth Team Finishes 10th 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. 5, 2009) – The U.S. Boys’ Youth National Volleyball Team finished the FIVB Boys’ Youth (U-19) World Championship in 10th place after falling to Brazil 1-3 (25-27, 19-25, 27-25, 19-25) in Bassano del Grappa, Italy.

The U.S. Boys’ Youth Team completes the World Championship with a 5-3 overall record. Brazil finishes ninth with a 6-2 record. Iran and Serbia, which were in the United States’ original pool, will play for the gold medal on Sunday.

Officially, Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif.) led all scorers with 22 points on a match-high 17 kills, three blocks and two aces. Taylor Sander (Norco, Calif.) added 15 points on 15 kills. Dylan Davis (Corona del Mar, Calif.) totaled eight points on five kills, one block and two aces.

"We tried our hardest, we just couldn't stop them with our blocking,” said Sander, the team captain. “They served really tough on us and our players were having a hard time. We played with our heart and for our country and it was a good match.”

Ary de Souza Nóbrega Neto led Brazil with 18 points on 14 kills, three blocks and one ace.

Brazil completed 51 of 113 (45.13 percent) kill attempts with 25 faults for a hitting percentage of 0.23. Team USA completed 45 of 110 (40.91 percent) kill attempts with 27 faults for a hitting percentage of 0.16.

Brazil out-blocked Team USA 13-5 and had six aces while the U.S. Boys’ Youth Team had five.

Team USA scored on 35 Brazilian team errors while committing 32.

Jeremy Dejno (New Berlin, Wis.) scored six points on five kills and one ace. Spencer Rowe (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) added three points on one kill and two blocks. Nick Gibson (Shorewood, Wis.) and Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawai’i) each scored one point on one attack.

Christenson was credited with 15 running sets and two faults on 96 attempts. Olbright was credited with three running sets and no faults on six attempts. Taylor Crabb (Honolulu, Hawai’i), who played libero for the injured Evan Mottram (Leona Valley, Calif.), finished with 12 digs and three faults on 15 attempts. Torres had nine digs and four faults on 14 attempts.

Dejno was credited with 15 excellent receptions and two faults on 33 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 started the second set for Dejno. Tanner Clayton (San Diego, Calif.), Connor Olbright (Orange, Calif.) and Josh Taylor (Honolulu, Hawai’i) played as substitutes.

Team USA held an 8-5 lead at the first technical timeout (TTO) of the first set as Torres had two kills, Davis had a kill and an ace while Dejno had a kill and Rowe a block. In increased the lead to 11-5, including attacks by Sander and Torres before Brazil scored again and the United States held a 16-9 lead at the second TTO. Team USA seemed to have the set locked up with a 21-14 lead, but Brazil was not finished and went on a 6-0 run, including three blocks, a kill and an ace, to pull to within one at 21-20. A Brazilian serving error ended the run, but it scored two more straight points to tie it at 22-22. Team USA reached set point first at 24-23 on a Davis block, but Brazil scored twice on a kill and an ace to gain the 25-4 lead. The U.S. tied it on a Brazil error, but Brazil finished the set off with a U.S. error and a kill.

Brazil held an 8-6 lead at the first TTO of the second set with the United States scoring on a block and a kill from Davis and a Sander kill. Team USA did not give up and pulled to within one point at 12-13. But Brazil scored four straight points to maintain the lead. Brazil reached set point first at 24-16. Team USA scored three straight points on a Sander kill and two Brazil errors, but Brazil took the set victory on a U.S. error.

Team USA came out strong in the third set, taking a 5-2 lead on a block and two kills from Sander and a Davis ace. It held an 8-5 lead at the first TTO. Brazil eventually tied the score at 11-11 and the two teams battled back and forth. With the scored tied at 14s, Team USA got a kill and an ace from Torres to take the lead at the second TTO. The United States led 20-17 when Brazil scored three straight points, including two kills, to tie the score at 20s. The United States scored the next three points, including a block by Torres, to lead 23-20. However Brazil reached match point at 24-23 on three kills and an ace. Sander tied the score with a kill. Brazil gained a 25-24 advantage with a kill. But Team USA scored twice on Brazil errors and got the set victory with a Dejno kill.

The teams stayed close to open the fourth set and Brazil held an 8-7 lead at the first TTO. However, it came out and score the next two points on an ace and a block to lead 10-7. Team USA pulled to within one point at 10-11 and trailed by just one point at the second TTO, 15-16. But Brazil came out of the timeout and scored five straight points to go ahead 21-15. Brazil reached match point first at 24-17. The United States scored on kills from Davis and Sander, but Brazil won it with a kill.

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. 5
Brazil def. USA, 27-25, 25-19, 25-27, 25-19
Sept. 4
USA def. Poland, 25-22, 25-18, 25-17
Brazil def. France, 22-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-15 

Pool H Results
All matches in Bassano del Grappa
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

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, Connor Olbright, Dylan Davis, FIVB World Championship, Jeremy Dejno, Maurice Torres, Micah Christenson, Nick Gibson, Spencer Rowe, Tanner Clayton, Taylor Crabb, Taylor Sander, U.S. Boys' Youth National Team, Youth World Championships