U.S. Boys' Youth Team to Play Cuba in Final

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

To view U.S. Boys' Youth National Team Data Volley statistics for the match, click here.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 10, 2010) – The U.S. Boys’ Youth National Volleyball Team will have a rematch with Cuba on Sunday for the NORCECA Championship and a chance to compete at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

The U.S. Boys swept Mexico, 25-21, 25-20, 25-12, on Saturday in the semifinal of the 2010 NORCECA Boys’ Youth (U-19) Continental Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico. Cuba swept Puerto Rico (25-21, 25-16, 25-12) in the other semifinal.

“It was a difficult and exciting match, as we had expected it to be,” U.S. Boys' Youth Team Head Coach Gary Sato (Los Angeles, Calif.) said. “But the players adapted well to our plan and achieved our goal.”

The winner of the NORCECA Championship will qualify for the Youth Olympics on Aug. 14-26 in Singapore. Both the United States and Cuba – as the two finalists – have now qualified for the 2011 FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship at a site and date still to be determined.

Cuba swept the United States in the final match of pool play on Thursday, 27-25, 25-23, 25-20. The two teams will play again for the championship at 3 p.m. PT on Sunday.

A crowd of approximately 2,000 attended Saturday’s match between the United States and the hometown favorites.

“We really took advantage of the energy that the Mexican fans brought to the stadium,” U.S. Team Captain Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawaii) said. “We borrowed from that excitement and energy and we won because our coaches prepared us very well.”

Team USA’s Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) led all scorers with a match-high 11 kills, a match-high five blocks and one ace. His hitting percentage was 0.65. Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif.) added 11 points on 10 kills and one block.

D.J. White (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) contributed nine points on nine kills with a kill percentage of 0.5.

The U.S. Boys’ Youth Team converted 0.47 of its attack attempts while Mexico converted 0.26. Team USA was credited with 12 blocks while Mexico had none. Mexico also had no aces while the United States had two.

Mexico was also hurt by 26 team errors while the United States had 19.

Among other U.S. scorers, Owen McAndrews (Avon Lake, Ohio) scored six points on four kills and one ace.

Christenson added six points on two kills and four blocks. He was also credited with 21 excellent sets on 82 attempts.

John La Rusch (Long Beach, Calif.) had three points on two kills and one ace. Austin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) scored two points on one kill and one block and Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn.) added two points on two kills.

Libero Andrew Sato (Calabasas, Calif.) was credited with five excellent digs on 16 attempts and had six excellent receptions on eight attempts. White was credited with 11 excellent receptions on 14 attempts.

Sato started White and Rhein at outside hitter, Russell and McAndrews at middle blocker, Tarantino at opposite and Christenson at setter and Sato at libero. Kingi started the second and third sets at outside hitter. Nik Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill.), La Rusch, Christopher Orenic (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), and Matt West (Seattle, Wash.) all played as substitutes.

The U.S. Boys’ Youth Team got off to a fast start and took an 8-3 lead into the first technical timeout (TTO). Team USA got balanced scoring off kills from Russell, Tarantino, Rhine and Christenson along with four Mexico attack errors. The United States eventually increased its lead to 14-7 when Mexico put together a three-point run on a kill and two U.S. errors. Sato called timeout and White came out of the break with his third kill of the set. The U.S. Boys’ led 16-11 at the second TTO and it was 17-12 when Mexico used another three-point run, including two kills, to pull to within two points at 17-15. The two teams battled back and forth, and with the score 19-17, Team USA scored two straight points on kills by Russell and Tarantino. Mexico called timeout and came back to score two straight points. Team USA reached set point first at 24-21 on a kill by Russell. A Mexico attack error gave Team USA the set victory.

Mexico started out more relaxed in the second set and took a 7-5 lead on four kills and three U.S. attack errors. Team USA scored three straight points on two kills by Tarantino and one from White to lead 8-7 at the first TTO. Mexico tied it at 8-8 before the United States scored three more straight points on a Tarantino kill and a block and kill from Russell. The two teams continued to battle and Team USA held a 16-13 lead at the second TTO. A Tarantino kill after the break made it 17-13 and Mexico never threatened to get closer after that. Team USA reached set point at 24-18. Mexico scored twice on U.S. errors before a Russell quick attack gave Team USA the set victory.

The U.S. Boys’ Youth Team took an 8-6 lead at the first TTO of the third set, scoring on two kills from White, two from Russell, one from Christianson and aces by McAndrews and Russell. Mexico used a kill to pull to within one point, but Team USA scored three straight on Mexico error and kills by La Rusch and McAndrews to make it 11-7. Mexico pulled back to within two points at 13-11, when Team USA scored 11 straight points behind to reach match points. Team USA got two blocks and a kill from Russell, a block by Christenson, a kill from La Rusch and a block by Antonijevic in the run. A U.S. serving error ended the onslaught, but Kingi immediately ended the match with a kill.

To view the NORCECA Bulletin with official match statistics and statistical leaders, click here.

To view the photo gallery, go to http://usavolleyball.org/multimedia/photo_gallery/1470.

Live streaming of the matches is available at www.guadalajara2011.org.mx/esp/index.asp.

2010 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team
NORCECA Continental Championships
April 6-11 in Guadalajara, Mexico

No. Name (Position; Height; Hometown; Club; Region)
3 Nikola Antonijevic (MB; 6-8; Buffalo Grove, Ill.; Adversity; Great Lakes)
4 Micah Christenson (S; 6-5; Honolulu, Hawaii; Outrigger Canoe Club; Aloha)
7 Austin Kingi (OH; 6-4; Thousand Oaks, Calif.; SCVC; Southern California)
9 John La Rusch (OH; 6-6; Long Beach; Calif.; MB Surf; Southern California)
10 Owen McAndrews (MB; 6-4; Avon Lake, Ohio; Matchpoint; Ohio Valley)
12 Christopher Orenic (OH; 6-3; Manhattan Beach, Calif.; SCVC; Southern California)
13 Scott Rhein (OH; 6-5; Pleasant View, Tenn.; Impact; Southern)
14 Aaron Russell (MB; 6-7.5; Ellicott City, Md.; MVP; Chesapeake)
16 Andrew Sato (L; 5-9; Calabasas, Calif.; SMBC; Southern California)
17 Matt Tarantino (OPP; 6-8; Van Nuys, Calif.; SMBC; Southern California)
18 Matt West (S; 6-5.5; Seattle, Wash.; Space Needle Volleyball Foundation; Puget Sound)
19 D.J. White (OH; 6-5; Hermosa Beach, Calif.; MB Surf; Southern California)

Head Coach: Gary Sato (Los Angeles)
Team Leader: Tom Tait
Assistant Coach: Jeff Stork (Topanga, Calif.)
Trainer: Walt Ker (Valencia, Calif.)
Physician: Julie Chuan

Tournament Schedule and Results
(All times PDT)

April 6
Pool A: USA def. Canada, 25-14, 25-17, 25-11
Pool B: Puerto Rico def. Curacao, 25-22, 25-11, 25-13
Pool C: Guatemala def. Costa Rica, 25-19, 25-19, 25-18

April 7
Pool A: Cuba def. Canada, 25-14, 25-10, 25-130
Pool B: Dominican Republic def. Curacao, 25-11, 25-20, 25-14
Pool C: Mexico def. Guatemala, 25-12, 25-9, 25-13

April 8
Pool B: Puerto Rico def. Dominican Republic, 25-16, 25-6, 25-15
Pool A: Cuba def. USA, 27-25, 25-23, 25-20
Pool C: Mexico def. Costa Rica, 25-18, 25-10, 25-10

April 9
Classification 9 – Canada def. Curacao, 25-13, 25-18, 25-15
Quarterfinal – Cuba def. Guatemala, 25-18, 25-12, 25-8
Quarterfinal – United States def. Dominican Republic, 25-13, 25-18, 25-15

April 10
Classification 7/8 – Canada def. Costa Rica, 26-24, 16-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9
Semifinal – Cuba def. Puerto Rico, 25-21, 25-16, 25-12
Semifinal – United States def. Mexico, 25-21, 25-20, 25-12

April 11
11 a.m.: Fifth-place match – Dominican Republic vs. Guatemala
1 p.m.: Third-place match – Mexico vs. Puerto Rico
3 p.m.: First-place match – USA vs. Cuba

Tags: 2010 U.S. Boys' Youth National Team, Gary Sato, NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship, NORCECA Continental Championship, U.S. Boys' Youth National Team