Shoji, Muagututia Lead Blue Team to Victory

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

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 7, 2011) – The Blue Team, led by 2010 AVCA Player of the Year Kawika Shoji (Honolulu, Hawaii) at setter and former UCLA outside hitter Garrett Muagututia (Oceanside, Calif.), defeated the Red Team in a U.S. Men’s Volleyball Training Team scrimmage on Friday (May 6) at Recreation Hall on the campus of Penn State University.

The scrimmage was contested as part of a tryout for the 2011 U.S. World University Games team. It was played as part of the Volleyball Extravaganza being held in conjunction with the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship tournament at Penn State.

The Blue Team won all four sets that were played, 25-15, 25-15, 25-20, 26-24. Muagututia led his team with 16 points on 15 kills (0.54 hitting percentage) and one ace. He was also credited with 16 receptions (three errors), 69 percent positive and 62 percent excellent.

The Red Team’s opposite, Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.), who played at Penn State, led all scorers with 18 points on a match-high 16 kills (0.15 hitting percentage) and two aces. However, no one else on the Red Team scored in double figures.

Shoji, a Stanford alumnus, set the Blue Team to a 0.37 hitting percentage while Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.), who played at Penn State, set his team to a 0.25 hitting percentage.

The Blue Team out-blocked the Red Team 10-4 and scored on nine aces while Red had five. The Blue Team had 57 receptions and seven errors with 75 percent positive and 53 percent excellent. The Red Team had 85 receptions with 10 errors, 58 percent positive and 39 percent excellent.

The Blue Team got balanced scoring from several players.

Stanford outside hitter Brad Lawson (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished with 10 points on nine kills (0.47 hitting percentage) and one block. He was credited with 19 receptions (two errors), 68 percent positive and 53 percent excellent.

Long Beach State opposite Jim Baughman (Valencia, Calif.) scored 10 points on seven kills (0.33 hitting percentage) and three aces. Pacific outside hitter Taylor Hughes (Fallbrook, Calif.) scored 10 points on eight kills (0.29 hitting percentage) and two blocks.

Pepperdine middle blocker Matt Pollock (Orland Park, Ill.) scored nine points on five kills (0.33 hitting percentage) and four blocks. UCLA middle blocker Nick Vogel (El Cajon, Calif.) added nine points on five kills (0.18 hitting percentage), four blocks and one ace.

Shoji scored five points on one kill and a match-high four aces. His brother, Erik Shoji (Honolulu, Hawaii), a libero from Stanford, was credited with 15 receptions (two errors), 87 percent positive and 60 percent excellent.

Among the other Blue Team scorers, middle blocker Ryan Meehan (Dana Point, Calif.) of Long Beach State scored nine points on four kills (0.5 hitting percentage), four blocks and one ace. Former Cal State Northridge middle blocker Cody Loe (Chatsworth, Calif.) finished with seven points on six kills (0.28 hitting percentage) and one ace.

Jordan Varee (Conneautville, Pa.), an outside hitter from St. Francis, scored six points on five kills (0.42 hitting percentage) and one ace. He was also credited with 28 receptions (three errors), 64 percent positive and 46 percent excellent.

Outside hitter Jake Schkud (Santa Monica, Calif.), who played at Hawaii, scored five points on five kills (0.36 hitting percentage). He was credited with 23 receptions (four errors), 39 percent positive and 22 percent excellent.

Murray scored two points on two kills and outside hitter Jay Petty (Downers Grove, Ill.) of Lewis University had one point on a kill.

Red Team libero Ric Cervantes (Santa Barbara, Calif.), who played at Hawaii, was credited with 27 receptions (one error), 70 percent positive and 52 percent excellent.

The 2011 World University Games are scheduled for Aug. 11-23 in Shenzhen, China.

U.S. Men’s Training Team Scrimmage and World University Games Tryout
May 6, 2011
Recreation Hall at Penn State University

Red Team
4 Jay Petty (Outside Hitter, 6-6, Downers Grove, Ill., Lewis University)
6 Ric Cervantes (Libero, 5-11, Santa Barbara, Calif., Hawaii)
8 Cody Loe (Middle Blocker, 6-8, Chatsworth, Calif., Cal State Northridge)
10 Ryan Meehan (Middle Blocker, 6-8, Dana Point, Calif., Long Beach State)
11 Luke Murray (Setter, 6-0, East Petersburg, Pa., Penn State)
13 Will Price (Opposite, 6-5, Gaithersburg, Md., Penn State)
16 Jake Schkud (Outside Hitter, 6-4, Santa Monica, Calif., Hawaii)
19 Jordan Varee (Outside hitter, 6-3, Conneautville, Pa., St. Francis)

Blue Team
2 Jim Baughman (Opposite, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State)
3 Garrett Muagututia (Outside Hitter, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA)
5 Taylor Hughes (Outside Hitter, 6-7, Fallbrook, Calif., Pacific)
7 Matt Pollock (Middle Blocker, 6-9, Orland Park, Ill., Pepperdine)
9 Nick Vogel (Middle Blocker, 6-9, El Cajon, Calif., UCLA)
12 Erik Shoji (Libero, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
14 Brad Lawson (Outside Hitter, 6-7, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
18 Kawika Shoji (Setter, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)

Tags: Brad Lawson, Erik Shoji, Kawika Shoji, U.S. Men's Training Team, World University Championship