Team PMI Falls to Drean Bolivar in Club Champs Opener

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

Unofficial DataVolley Statistics * Official Match Statistics

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 15, 2010) – Team PMI put up a fight but fell in its opening match of the FIVB Club World Championships to Argentina’s Drean Bolivar, 3-1 (23-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-21) on Wednesday in Doha, Qatar.

Team PMI, a U.S. club team representing the NORCECA zone at the Championships that trained at the American Sports Centers in Anaheim, Calif., before leaving for Qatar, will be back in action in Pool B on Friday when it will play Dynamo Moscow of Russia.

Opposite Eric Vance (Camarillo, Calif.) led Team PMI on with 13 points on 12 kills and one block. Opposite Dean Bittner (Lakewood, Calif.), who played as a substitute, added 10 points on nine kills and one block.

“It was a good game, especially the first two sets we played really strong,” said starting setter and team captain Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, Ariz.). “In the third and fourth sets they got 3- or 4-point margins and kept that until the end.

“We know that this tournament is pretty short, so we’ll watch videos of this game to see where we can improve; even though we cannot make major changes, but only some adjustments.”

PMI Head Coach Gary Sato (Los Angeles) knows the road won’t get easier for his side as it plays Dynamo Moscow on Friday and Italy’s Trentino on Sunday.

“I hope that for the next games we are going to play a little bit better,” Sato said. “Our next opponents have a strong reputation. They have strong players and programs; but we’ll try to play hard and give our best against Dynamo and Trentino."

Drean Bolivar’s Federico Pereyra led all scorers on Wednesday with 24 points on a match-high 22 kills and two blocks. Gabriel Arroyo added 15 points on 14 kills and one ace.

Drean Bolivar out-blocked Team PMI 8-5. The two teams were tied on aces at 5-5, but Team USA had 19 service errors while PMI had 15. Bolivar’s hitting percent was 0.33 while Team PMI’s was 0.28.

PMI had 52 excellent receptions while Bolivar had 51. PMI also led in digs, 31-30.

Among other scorers for the U.S. club team, middle blocker Duncan Budinger (Encinitas, Calif.) had nine points on six kills, one block and two aces. Outside hitter Casey Patterson (Van Nuys, Calif.) scored nine points on nine kills. Outside hitter Damien Scott (Santa Ana, Calif.) added nine points on six kills, one block and two aces.

Setter Chris Seiffert (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) contributed three points on two kills and one block. Outside hitter Nils Nielsen (Fallbrook, Calif.) and setter Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, Ariz.) each scored one point on one kill. Middle blocker Matt Prosser (Ventura, Calif.) had one point on an ace. Libero Paul Muñoz (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was also credited with a kill.

Muñoz led the team in excellent receptions with 21 on 36 attempts. Scott had 20 excellent receptions on 27 attempts. Muñoz also led the team in digs with 15 on 16 attempts.

Hildebrand was credited with 17 running sets on 61 attempts. Seiffert was credited with seven running sets and no faults on 25 attempts.

Sato started Scott and Patterson at outside hitter, Budinger and Prosser at middle blocker, Vance at opposite, Hildebrand at setter and Muñoz at libero.

Every other PMI player got in the match as a substitute, including opposite John Mayer (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and middle blocker Matt Rawson (Los Angeles, Calif.).

The City of Anaheim is the Official Host City for the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Volleyball teams. The Men’s Team relocated to Anaheim from Colorado Springs, CO in 2006, and the Women’s Team followed in 2009, with both teams citing the advantages of training in Southern California, unequivocally the volleyball capitol of the country. The Men’s Team won the gold medal, and the Women’s team the silver medal, at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Anaheim serves as the training headquarters for the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams, and in partnership with USA Volleyball, will further promote the City throughout the volleyball and Olympic sport communities. USA Volleyball is the National Governing Body for the sport of volleyball in the United States, and is recognized as such by the Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Both the Men’s and Women’s Teams will train in Anaheim through the 2016 Olympic Games.  For more information on the City of Anaheim, please visit www.anaheim.net.

For more information on the FIVB Men’s Club World Championship, click here.

Team PMI

No. - Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
1 - Eric Vance (OH, 6-4, Camarillo, Calif., Cal State Northridge)
2 - Chris Seiffert (S, 6-6, Laguna Niguel, Calif., Long Beach State)
3 - John Mayer (Opp, 6-7, Thousand Oaks, Calif., Pepperdine)
5 - Matt Prosser (MB, 6-7, Ventura, Calif., Long Beach State)
6 - Nils Nielsen (OH, 6-4, Fallbrook, Calif., Cal State Northridge)
7 - Tyler Hildebrand (S, 6-4, Mesa, Ariz., Long Beach State)
8 - Matt Rawson (MB, 6-7, Los Angeles, Calif., Hawaii)
9 - Duncan Budinger (MB, 6-8, Encinitas, Calif., Long Beach State)
10 - Casey Patterson (OH, 6-7, Van Nuys, Calif., BYU)
11 - Dean Bittner (Opp, 6-7, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)
13 - Paul Muñoz (L, 6-1, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
18 - Damien Scott (OH, 6-5, Santa Ana, Calif., UCLA)

Head Coach: Gary Sato (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Team Manager: Alan Segal (Savannah, Ga.)
Assistant Coach: Chris Jackson (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Therapist/Trainer: Erin Wahlen (Anaheim, Calif.)
Medical Support: Maria Boquiren (Culver City, Calif.)

Pool A
BCH - PGE Skra Belchatow (POL)
AAH - Al Ahly (EGY)
PAY - Paykan (IRI)
AAR - Al Arabi Doha (QAT)

Pool B
TRE - Trentino (ITA)
MOS - Dynamo Moscow (RUS)
PMI (USA)
BLV - Drean Bolivar (ARG)

FIVB Men’s Club World Championship Schedule
(all times PT)
Pool B
Dec. 15: BLV def. PMI-BLV, 3-1 (23-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-21)
Dec. 16: TRE-MOS, 6 a.m.
Dec. 17: MOS-PMI, 1 a.m.
Dec. 17: TRE-BLV, 4 a.m.
Dec. 19: MOS-BLV, 4 a.m.
Dec. 19: TRE-PMI, 6 a.m.

Semifinals
Dec. 20: 1A v 2B, 1 a.m.
Dec. 20: 1B v 2A, 8 a.m.

Finals
Dec. 21: Third-place match, 1 a.m.
Dec. 21: First-place match, 8 a.m.

Tags: Chris Jackson, FIVB, FIVB Club World Championship, Gary Sato, Tyler Hildebrand