U.S. Boys' Team Takes Silver at NORCECA

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 11, 2010) – The U.S. Boys’ Youth National Volleyball Team finished second on Sunday at the NORCECA Boys’ Youth (U-19) Continental Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Cuba swept the U.S. Boys Team 25-16, 25-18, 25-22 in Sunday’s final and qualified for the 2011 Youth Olympic Games on Aug. 14-26 in Singapore. Both Cuba and the United States qualified for the 2011 FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship at a site and date still to be determined.

Cuba finished the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record. The United States finished 3-2, with the only losses coming to Cuba.

The United States’ Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) was named the tournament’s Best Blocker. He finished with a total of 15 stuff blocks. Cuba’s Wilfredo Leon was named Most Valuable Player, Best Scorer and Best Spiker. An estimated crowd of 3,000 was on hand for the match.

“We changed our tactical plan in playing against Cuba,” U.S. Boys’ Youth Team Head Coach Gary Sato (Los Angeles, Calif.) said. “We congratulated them for their performance and wish for them to win at the Singapore Youth Olympics.”

”It didn’t quite work out as we had planned,” U.S. Team Captain Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawaii) added. “But we really respect Cuba for their excellent game.”

Russell led the U.S. Boys’ Youth Team with nine points on six kills and three blocks, converting 0.5 of his kill attempts into points. Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif.) added eight points on eight kills. D.J. White (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) scored six points on six kills and Owen McAndrews (Avon Lake, Ohio) added six points on five kills and one ace.

Leon led all scorers with 22 points on 19 kills and three blocks.

Cuba’s blocking dominated the match as it double- and triple-teamed the top U.S. hitters. Cuba out-blocked the U.S. Boys’ Youth Team 14-6. Cuba’s team kill percentage was 0.47 while the United States’ was 0.35.

The United States was given credit for 39 excellent receptions while Cuba had 19. The United States was led by White who had 13 excellent receptions on 22 attempts and Austin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) who had 13 excellent receptions on 23 attempts. U.S. libero Andrew Sato (Calabasas, Calif.) was credited with 10 excellent receptions.
Among other U.S. scorers, Kingi had four points on three kills and one block. Christenson scored three points on one kill and two blocks and was also credited with 10 excellent sets on 74 attempts. Christopher Orenic (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) scored one point on one kill.

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.), John La Rusch (Long Beach, Calif.), Orenic and Matt West (Seattle, Wash.) all played as substitutes.

The first set got off to a rough start for the U.S. Boy’s Youth Team. The two teams were tied 5-5 – with Team USA scoring on a kill and block by Russell and a kill from White – when Cuba went on a 5-0 run on four kills and one block. Russell got another kill for a U.S. point, but Cuba got four more straight points, including two blocks and a kill, to take a 14-6 lead. Team USA started putting some points on the board, but Cuba still led 16-8 at the second technical timeout (TTO). With the United States trailing 12-19, Cuba scored three more straight points to put the set out of reach. Cuba reached set point at 24-14. Team USA scored twice more on a Cuba error and Orenic kill before Cuba ended the set with a kill.

The U.S. Boys’ Youth Team got off to a better start in the second set and took an 8-7 lead into the first TTO after scoring on two kills and a block from McAndrews, two Kingi kills and one kill each from White and Tarantino. But Cuba stopped the U.S. momentum with a 7-1 run after the break to lead 14-9. Team USA stayed in it with kills from Tarantino, Russell and White, but Cuba held a 16-12 lead at the second TTO. It then scored two more straight points to make it 18-12. Leading 21-17, Cuba scored three straight points to reach set point at 24-17. A White kill gave the United States its final point before Cuba sealed the set win.

The third set looked like it would be more of the same as Cuba jumped out to a 3-0 lead on three straight blocks of White and Tarantino. But White got Team USA going with a kill and Cuba’s lead at the first TTO was only 8-7. McAndrews tied the score with a kill. Cuba came back with a kill and a block to go ahead 2. But three straight Cuba errors followed by a Tarantino kill gave the United States a 12-10 lead. A 4-1 Cuba run put it back ahead 14-13. But Team USA scored three straight points, including a kill by Tarantino and block by Christenson to take the 16-14 lead into the second TTO. A Tarantino kill made it 17-14 before Cuba scored three straight points to tie the score. A block by Christenson that made the score 18-17 would give the United States its last lead. Cuba scored twice on a block and ace to lead 19-18. The U.S. couldn’t put together another run of points and Cuba broke a 20-20 tie with a kill and an ace. A McAndrews kill put Team USA back to within one point, but Cuba reached match point first at 24-21. A Cuba error made it 24-22 before Leon ended the match with a kill.

To view the NORCECA match bulletin with official scoring and statistics, click here.

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

Match video is available for viewing at justin.tv.

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

Final Standings
1. Cuba; 2. USA; 3. Puerto Rico; 4. Mexico; 5. Guatemala; 6. Dominican Republic; 7. Canada; 8. Costa Rica; 9. Curacao

Tournament Results

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, 25-13
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
Fifth-place match – Guatemala def. Dominican Republic, 25-17, 27-25, 16-25, 25-23
Third-place match – Puerto Rico def. Mexico, 29-27, 28-26, 25-23
First-place match – Cuba def. USA, 25-16, 25-18, 25-22

Tags: 2010 U.S. Boys' Youth National Team, Aaron Russell, Andrew Sato, Austin Kingi, Christopher Orenic, D.J. White, Gary Sato, John La Rusch, Matt Tarantino, Matt West, Micah Christenson, Nikola Antonijevic, NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship, NORCECA Continental Championship, Owen McAndrews, Scott Rhein, U.S. Boys' Youth National Team