U.S. Boys' Youth Team Defeats Trinidad & Tobago

Becky Murdy
Assistant, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: becky.murdy@usav.org

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 12, 2011) - The U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team defeated Trinidad and Tobago, 25-12, 25-10, 25-13 on Tuesday evening in pool play at the Men’s Under-19 Pan American Cup in Mexicali, Mexico.

The Americans (1-0) will complete play in Pool B at 7 p.m. PT on Wednesday against host Mexico (1-0). The winner will go straight to Friday’s semifinals.

In Pool A, Brazil defeated Costa Rica 25-6, 25-9, 25-10 on Monday and Puerto Rico defeated Costa Rica 25-9, 25-10, 25-15 on Tuesday. Brazil (1-0) and Puerto Rico (1-0) will face each other Wednesday.

The United States dominated all aspects of its match against Trinidad and Tobago, leading in attacks, 42-15, leading in blocks 7-0 and leading in aces 9-0. The U.S. hitting efficiency was 0.603.

“We played a very good match and had good chemistry and hope to go further in this tournament and prepare for the World Championship in Argentina”, said American captain Matthew West.

Eleven of the United States’ 12 players scored points, with only libero Andrew Sato (Calabasas, Calif.) left out. Sato was credited with three digs and led the team in receptions.

Ben Patch (Provo, Utah) tallied a team and match-high 10 kills and led the U.S. with 11 points, including an ace, despite not starting in the first set.

Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) charted nine points with four kills, one block and a match-high four aces. Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill.) recorded seven points on six kills and one ace in two sets.

James Shaw (Woodside, Calif.) and Joshua Kirchner (Sussex, Wis.) led the U.S. blocking effort with two stuffs each. Kirchner added three kills and an ace to finish with six points. Shaw had a kill to score a total of three.

Among other U.S. scorers, Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn.) scored six points on four kills, one block and one ace. Cody Caldwell (Newport Beach, Calif.) had five points on five kills while playing in just the first set.

Nikola Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) finished with three points on three kills as did D.J. White (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif.) had three points on two attacks and one ace.

Starting setter Matt West (Seattle, Wash.) scored two points on one kill and one block and was also credited with 13 assists and no errors.

U.S. Boys’ Youth Head Coach Ken Shibuya started Caldwell and White at outside hitter, Kirchner and Russell at middle blocker, Tarantino at opposite, White at setter and Sato was the designated libero.

Antonijevic started the second and third sets at middle blocker. Patch replaced Tarantino at opposite in the first set and started the next two. Petty and Rhein each started the second and third sets at outside hitter. Shaw started the second set at setter.

The United States came out firing with a 7-2 lead in the opening set, capitalizing on opponent errors and the arm of Russell. Caldwell, White and Tarantino all jumped on the board with back-to-back-to-back kills pushing the U.S. lead to five. Tarantino tallied consecutive kills bring the score to 11-5 and then jumped to a 15-5 lead. Trinidad and Tobago stopped the run at 15-6 only to have Caldwell and Tarantino connect with consecutive kills bringing the score to 17-6. Trinidad and Tobago regained possession on a U.S. error, but quickly lost control, as the U.S. tallied three unanswered points to lead 21-9. Kirchner jumped on the board with his team’s 22nd point. Caldwell continued to lead the U.S. in kills, raking his fifth to bring the set win within two. Set point was earned on a Trinidad and Tobago error at 24-12. Patch was subbed in to serve and scored the winning point for the Americans 25-12. Caldwell led the team in kills with five in the opening set, while his team put up 14 total attacks.

In the second set, Trinidad and Tobago came out with two unanswered points before kills from Antonijevic and Russell brought the game to 3-all. Rhein tallied his first point of the match with a kill to advance the U.S to a 6-5 lead. Shaw posted the first block for the team before recording a kill at 10-6. The U.S. went on a five-point run with attacks from Russell and Petty and a second block from Shaw to extend its lead to 15-6. With a 6-2 point run ratio, the U.S. lead 21-9 with four kills from Patch. Trinidad and Tobago regained control of the ball at 22-10 but could not stop Patch’s attack, 23-10. A double block from Russell and West captured the third set for the team 25-10.

The U.S. jumped to a 4-0 lead in the third set with kills from both Petty and Patch. Continuing their domination, Rhein and Patch tallied two additional kills each bringing the score to 8-3. West recorded his first kill at 14-4 expanding the American’s lead. Trinidad and Tobago answered with consecutive points before Antonijevic’s kill regained possession for the U.S. and a 15-6 lead. Petty and Antonijevic hammered back-to-back kills stretching the lead to 17-10. An opposing error paired with Petty’s sixth kill brought the score to19-8. A block by Kirchner followed by consecutive kills by Rhein and a final kill by Kirchner set the U.S. at 23-9. A three-point opposing run held the game to three set-match points, 24-12, before a Trinidad and Tobago error gave the U.S. its 25th point and match victory 25-13.

The top five teams from NORCECA and the top three teams from the CSV, based on 2010 U-19 Continental Championship rankings compete in the Men’s U-19 Pan American Cup. Other teams competing are Argentina, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico.

For live scoring of the matches, visit the NORCECA web site by clicking here.

2011 Pan American Cup
July 11-16 in Mexicali, Mexico

U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team Roster
No Name (Position, City, State, Club, Region)
1 Nikola Antonijevic (MB, Buffalo Grove, Ill., Adversity, Great Lakes)
2 Cody Caldwell (OH, Newport Beach, Calif., Balboa Bay, Southern California)
6 Josh Kirchner (MB, Sussex, Wis., West Allis Lightning, Badger)
10 Ben Patch (OPP, Provo, Utah, Vegas VC, Intermountain)
11 Greg Petty (OH, Downers Grove, Ill., Sports Performance, Great Lakes)
12 Scott Rhein (OH, Pleasant View, Tenn., Impact, Southern)
13 Aaron Russell (MB, Ellicott City, Md., MVP, Chesapeake)
15 Andrew Sato (L, Calabasas, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
16 James Shaw (S, Woodside, Calif., Mountain View, Northern California)
17Matthew Tarantino (OH, Van Nuys, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
18Matthew West (S, Seattle, Wash., Space Needle, Puget Sound)
19 DJ White (OH, Hermosa Beach, Calif., MB Surf, Southern California)

Staff
Head Coach – Ken Shibuya, Stanford University
Asst. Coach – Dan Friend, Lewis University
Asst. Coach – Rob Neilson, Brigham Young University

2011 Pan American Cup Schedule and Results (All times PT)
Group A
July 11 at 5 p.m.: Brazil def. Costa Rica 25-6, 25-8, 25-10
July 12 at 5 p.m.: Puerto Rico def. Costa Rica 25-9, 25-10, 25-15
July 13 at 5 p.m.: Brazil vs. Puerto Rico

Group B
July 11 at 7 p.m.: Mexico def. Trinidad and Tobago 25-19, 25-18, 25-11
July 12 at 7 p.m.: USA def. Trinidad and Tobago 25-12, 25-10, 25-13
July 13 at 7 p.m.: Mexico vs. USA

July 14 at 5 p.m.: Quarterfinal 1 (A2 vs. B3)
July 14 at 6 p.m.: Quarterfinal 2 (B2 vs. A3)

July 15 at 3 p.m.: Fifth-place match

July 15 at 5 p.m.: Semifinals
July 15 at 7 p.m.: Semifinals

July 16 at 5 p.m.: Finals Bronze-Medal Match
July 16 at 7 p.m.: Finals Gold-Medal Match

Tags: Aaron Russell, Andrew Sato, Ben Patch, Cody Caldwell, D.J. White, Dan Friend, Greg Petty, James Shaw, Josh Kirchner, Ken Shibuya, Matt Tarantino, Matt West, mobile, Nikola Antonijevic, Pan American Cup, Scott Rhein, U.S. Boys' Youth National Team