U.S. Boys’ Youth Team Falls Just Short of Mexico

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 13, 2011) - The U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team fell to host Mexico, 25-21, 19-25, 21-25, 27-25, 15-13 on Wednesday evening in a hard-fought battle in the final pool-play match at the  Boys’ Youth (Under-19) Pan American Cup in Mexicali, Mexico.

The Americans finished 1-1 in Pool B and will compete in the quarterfinals Thursday against Costa Rica (0-2), which lost both of its Pool A matches. Mexico (2-0) won Pool B and will advance straight to Friday’s semifinals.

In Pool A, Brazil defeated Puerto Rico, 25-17, 25-9, 25-18, securing a place in the other semifinal match.

The U.S. played tough in a nail-biting match that lasted more than two hours.

“Actually this was our second match of this year, and it was a very good one on both sides,” said head coach Ken Shibuya. “We were six players in the courts against another six players and two thousand more, but really wanted to experience how it feels to face a team locally with all the support of the fans.”

The U.S. Boys’ Youth Team out-attacked Mexico 60-53, out-blocked it 14-7 and had six aces while Mexico had four. But Mexico scored 43 points off U.S. errors while committing 29.

The U.S. team had four players who tallied double-digit kills including team and match point-leader Matthew Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif.) who charted 23 points off a team and match-high 18 kills, four blocks and a service ace.

Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) recorded 10 kills, a team-high five blocks and four service aces totaling 19 points. Cody Caldwell (Newport Beach, Calif.) recorded 14 kills and also threw up two blocks earning 16 points while starting in all five sets. 

D.J. White (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) charted 12 kills and 14 points including a block and a service ace. Nikola Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) finished with seven points on five attacks and two blocks.

Starting setter Matt West (Seattle, Wash.) was also credited with 12 of the team's 13 assists and no errors and team libero Andrew Sato (Calabasas, Calif.) recorded four digs. 

U.S. Boys’ Youth Head Coach Ken Shibuya started the same five players as the first match, Tuesday against Trinidad and Tobago. Caldwell and White started as outside hitters, Joshua Kirchner (Sussex, Wis.) and Russell at middle blocker, Tarantino at opposite, White at setter and Andrew Sato (Calabasas, Calif.)  was the designated libero.

Antonijevic started the second and third sets at middle blocker. Ben Patch (Provo, Utah) replaced Tarantino at opposite in the first set, while Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill.) subbed in as outside hitter in the last four sets, earning a kill. Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn.) saw playing time during the fourth set when he subbed in at outside hitter.

White came out firing for the United States recording a kill and a block to put Mexico in a 0-2 hole to start the first set. Mexico retaliated with a service ace paired with a U.S. error to tie the game up at 2. Loud cheering and noisemakers backed Mexico and built momentum pushing it to a 9-5 lead with four unanswered points, forcing the U.S. to call its first timeout. A three-point run by the U.S. brought the match within one at 9-8, before Mexico answered with its own three-point run to bring the match to 12-8. A Caldwell block, a White kill and a service ace by White brought the match back within one for the U.S. at 12-11, but they were unable to regain the lead. Mexico created a two-point lead and maintained it until 20-18. After an extensive rally between the two teams and two consecutive points by Mexico the U.S. called a timeout with a four-point disadvantage at 22-18.  The Americans bounced between a three and four-point deficit with points coming from Tarantino’s attack and a right-side block by Russell, but Mexico maintained its lead and had set-pint at 20-24. Caldwell kept the set alive with a successful kill but the U.S. was unable to hold on and fell 25-21. 

The Americans fell behind 5-1 in the second set, before climbing back out with kills from Russell and Caldwell to bring the match to 6-all. Back-to-back services aces by Russell gave the U.S. its first two-point lead at 8-6. Points bounced back and forth between the teams with the U.S. capitalizing on opposing errors as Mexico had six team errors in the United States’ first 12 points of the second set.  The U.S. tallied five unanswered points off back-to-back blocks from Caldwell and Tarantino before Mexico called a timeout at 15-10. Tarantino recorded his fifth kill while Russell charted his second block to bring the U.S. to a four-point lead at 18-14. Antonijevic recorded his first kill of the match at 20-15 before Tarantino racked two points with a kill and a block. White tallied his fifth kill of the match and first of the set to take the U.S. to set point, 24-19. Tarantino capitalized on a solid set by West and tallied a kill to earn a second-set U.S. victory at 25-19.

Down by two to start the third set, the U.S. rallied with a 5-0 run as Caldwell, Russell and Tarantino, each recording a kill. Russell took the game to 7-3 with a solid connection and his third service ace. The U.S. expanded its lead to six-points, the most in the set with a service ace from Tarantino at 13-7 before Mexico was forced to call timeout. Mexico connected on three consecutive points to bring the game within three but failed to ever take the lead. Mexico got within two points at 20-18, but Antonijevic connected and found a gap in Mexico’s defense in the center of the court to take a 22-19 lead. Caldwell recorded his 10th kill at 23-21 before Russell scored on an ace to bring the game to set point. White took advantage of a hole in the block and captured the third set for the U.S., 25-21.

The U.S. maintained a two or three-point lead on Mexico in its first 15 points in the fourth set, ending at 15-13. With two consecutive points from Mexico and an error the score met at 16. Antonijevic pushed the U.S. to a 17-16 lead and White connected on a great pass from West to break the tie again, this time at 18-17. Tarantino threw up a solo block creating a three-point cushion for the Americans at 20-17. Mexico, fueled by the crowd ‘s intensity, kept the U.S. to 23 points while they tallied four, taking the lead for just the second time in the set at 24-23. Tarantino connected with his 17th kill to bring the game to 24-all. Mexico earned its first set point off a U.S. error but was quickly deflated with its own error at 25-all. Attempting to force the match to a fifth set, Mexico connected and captured its second set point at 25-26. This time, the U.S. couldn’t hang on and Mexico took the victory with a final set-score of 27-25.

Mexico led the first few points with a 7-point run to the United States’ three. Petty closed the gap after subbing in and recorded his first and only kill of the match to bring the set to 4-8. Tarantino threw up his fourth block at 7-10, pushing the U.S. closer to Mexico’s coattails. The U.S. trailed Mexico the entire final set getting within one at 12-13 after a three-point run initiated and ended by a kill from Russell and a kill from Caldwell, respectively. The U.S. was unable to break past 13 points and Mexico went away with the set point and match victory, 15-13.

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)
17 Matthew Tarantino (OH, Van Nuys, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
18 Matthew 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 def. Puerto Rico 25-17, 25-9, 25-18

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 def. USA 25-21, 19-25, 21-25, 27-25, 15-13

July 14 at 5 p.m.: Quarterfinal 1 Puerto Rico vs. Trinidad and Tobago
July 14 at 6 p.m.: Quarterfinal 2 USA vs. Costa Rica

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

July 15 at 5 p.m.: Brazil vs. winner of Quarterfinal
July 15 at 7 p.m.: Mexico vs. winner of Quarterfinal

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

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