Men’s Jr. National Team Prepares for Worlds in Brazil

Candice Kasischke
Intern, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: candice.kasischke@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 28, 2011) - The 2011 U.S. Men’s Junior National Team, which will compete at the FIVB Volleyball Men's Junior World Championship Brazil 2011 from Aug. 1-10 in Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi, contains a 12-player roster comprising many players who have already had both college and international playing experience.

John Hawks, who recently became the director of volleyball for the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, is in his second year serving as head coach of the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team. Hawks is excited to compete with the 2011 lineup, which he says is both extremely talented and versatile.

“Most of our players have played a major role on their collegiate teams and that experience should carry over quite well for us,” Hawks said. “I feel like we are not going to be physically outmatched by anyone. This year’s team has tremendous depth and we can start a wide variety of line-ups and still maintain a high level of cohesion on the court.”

The team held a training session from July 11-23 at the GaREAT Sports Complex in Geneva, Ohio.

In Brazil, the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team is playing in Pool A in Rio de Janeiro and will open the tournament on Aug. 1 against Bulgaria. The U.S. team is scheduled to face Brazil for its second match on Aug. 2. For the team’s third match, the U.S. will face Japan on Aug. 3.

The top two teams in each of the four, first-round pools advance to the top eight in the second round with another round-robin pool of four teams playing in Rio de Janeiro. The teams finishing third and fourth in the first round drop into the 9-16 classification second round in Niteroi. Both second rounds take place Aug. 5-7.

The semifinal and final classification round is set for Aug. 9, while the medal rounds will be held Aug. 10.

The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team, ranked ninth in the world by the FIVB, is making its fourth consecutive appearance at the World Championship.

It is the sixth year that the United States has qualified for the event. In 1977 and 1981, the United States placed seventh. After a 24-year absence, the USA returned in 2005, posting a record of 2-5 and finished eighth. In 2007, the United States placed seventh again under Head Coach Andy Read. In 2009, Coach Shawn Patchell led the team to an eighth-place finish.

The Americans earned a spot in the 2011 championship by winning the 2010 NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The team went 5-0 and defeated host Canada in the final. The team did not lose a set in the tournament.

Nine players on the World Championship team played on the 2010 NORCECA team.

The setters selected to travel and compete with Team USA in Brazil are Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Connor Olbright (Orange, Calif.).

Christenson was named Best Setter of the 2010 NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship. Olbright did not play with the team in 2010, but in 2009, both Christenson and Olbright competed with the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team that finished 10th at the Boys’ Youth World Championship. Christenson will begin his freshman year at the University of Southern California this fall and Olbright just completed his freshman year at Long Beach State.

Eric Mochalski (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Scott Kevorken (Westlake Village, Calif.) and Dylan Davis (Corona del Mar, Calif.) are serving as middle blockers for Team USA. Mochalski was named to the All-MPSF Freshman team and was ranked No. 2 in MPSF Conference. He was the Stanford Athletic Board Outstanding Male Freshman Award recipient and set Stanford’s single-season record for hitting percentage.

Kevorken and Davis both played for the 2008 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team. Kevorken was the 2009 Marmonte League (Calif.) MVP and was a three-time scholar-athlete. Kevorken is playing at UC Irvine. Davis also played for the 2009 U.S. Boy’s Youth National Team and will be a sophomore at UC Santa Barbara.

The two opposite hitters are Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif.) and Joshua Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii). Torres also played on the 2008 and 2009 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team. He also made the 2010 MPSF All-Freshman team and has started at opposite for two years at Pepperdine. Taylor was a member of the 2008 U.S. Boys' Youth National Team and was named Best Outside Hitter at the 2008 High Performance Camp in Long Beach.

Outside hitters on the 12-player roster include Steven Irvin (Pacific Palisades, Calif.), Taylor Sander (Norco, Calif.), Brian Cook (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Taylor Crabb (Honolulu, Hawaii).

Irvin, who did not play on the 2010 team, was twice named AVCA first-team All-American after leading Loyola High School (Calif.) to CIF Southern Section Division I championships in 2009 and 2010. He was also named CIF Southern Section Division I Player of the Year and has his jersey retired from Loyola. Irvin also represented the United States in the 2008 FIVB Under-19 World Beach Volleyball Championships. He will attend Stanford in the fall.

Sander was a member of the 2009 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team. Sander also played on the gold medal winning 2008 Boy’s Youth National Team and will begin his sophomore season at BYU in the fall.

Cook was named SCCAL's player of the year for his class as a freshman, sophomore, and junior at Soquel. Cook missed his senior season because of injury, but was ranked No. 8 among Top 25 recruits by ESPN Rise in 2010. He will play at Stanford in the fall.

Crabb was named best spiker at the 2010 NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship. He guided Punahou Buffanblu High School to back-to-back state championships as a junior and senior, was tabbed the Most Outstanding Player of the 2010 Division I Boys Volleyball State Championships and was inducted into the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) Foundation Hall of Honor. He will play at Long Beach State University in the fall.

Henry Cassiday (Honolulu, Hawaii), the third new member of the team, will fulfill the libero duty for the U.S. team.

Cassiday was a member of the 2010 U.S. Men's Junior National A2 team and was named the Co-MVP in the Boys International Youth Division at the 2009 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships. Cassiday was also named to the 2010 State Division I All-Tournament team and helped Punahou High School to win the 2009 and 2010 state championships. In 2011, Cassiday will play his first season at the University of Southern California.

Hawks and the U.S. team have set the goal of being the first U.S. Men’s Junior Team to win the FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship. Regardless of the ultimate outcome, Team USA is bound to put on competitive play.

“Our goal is to win the gold medal,” Hawks said. “We started thinking about that as a possibility when selecting this team and the guys have been thinking about it since we qualified last summer in Canada for the FIVB World Championship. We realize that the United States has never medaled at this event which makes this challenge even more exciting for us all. We are not guaranteeing anything, but we will guarantee that we will compete in every single play.”

Hawks will be complemented with Colin McMillan and David Hunt as his assistant coaches and Patchell as the team leader in guiding the team in the FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship. The chemistry amongst the coaching staff will be a major asset to the U.S. team.

2011 U.S. Men's Junior National Team
Name (Position, Height, Hometown, HS Grad Year, Club/School, Region)
1. Henry Cassiday (L, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2010, USC, Southern California)
2. Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2011, Outrigger Canoe Club, Aloha)
4. Brian Cook (OH, 6-5, Santa Cruz, Calif., 2010, Stanford Univ., Southern California)
5. Taylor Crabb (OH, 6-1, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2009, Long Beach State Univ., Aloha)
6. Dylan Davis (MB, 6-9, Corona del Mar, Calif., 2009, UC Santa Barbara, Southern California)
8. Steven Irvin (OH, 6-5, Pacific Palisades, Calif., 2010, Stanford Univ., Southern California)
9. Scott Kevorken (MB, 6-8, Westlake Village, Calif., 2009, UC Irvine, Southern California)
10. Connor Olbright (S, 6-5, Orange, Calif., 2010, Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
11. Eric Mochalski (MB, 6-6, Manhattan Beach, Calif., 2010, Stanford Univ., Southern California)
15. Taylor Sander (OH, 6-5, Norco, Calif., 2010, BYU, Southern California)
17. Joshua Taylor (Opp, 6-7, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2011, Outrigger Canoe Club, Aloha)
18. Maurice Torres (Opp, 6-7, Riverside, Calif., 2009, Pepperdine Univ., Southern California)

Staff
Head Coach - John Hawks (Long Beach State)
Assistant Coach - Colin McMillan (Penn State)
Assistant Coach - David Hunt (Pepperdine)
Head of Delegation - Shawn Patchell (San Diego, Calif.)
Technical Coordinator - Randy Nako (Honolulu, Hawaii)

First Round (August 1-3)
Pool A (at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Aug. 1: USA vs. Bulgaria, 12:00 p.m. PT
Aug. 1: Brazil vs. Japan, 2:30 p.m. PT
Aug. 2: Japan vs. Bulgaria, 12:00 p.m. PT
Aug. 2: USA vs. Brazil, 2:30 p.m. PT
Aug. 3: USA vs. Japan, 12:00 p.m. PT
Aug. 3: Bulgaria vs. Brazil, 2:30 p.m. PT

Pool B (at Niteroi, Brazil)
Aug. 1: Argentina vs. Puerto Rico, 6:00 a.m. PT
Aug. 1: Tunisia vs. Spain, 8:30 a.m. PT
Aug. 2: Puerto Rico vs. Spain, 6:00 a.m. PT
Aug. 2: Argentia, Tunisia, 8:30 a.m. PT
Aug. 3: Spain vs. Argentina, 6:00 a.m. PT
Aug. 3: Tunisia vs. Puerto Rico, 8:30 a.m. PT

Pool C (at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Aug. 1: India vs. Germany, 6:00 a.m. PT
Aug. 1: Russia vs. Egypt, 8:30 a.m. PT
Aug. 2: Egypt vs. Germany, 6:00 a.m. PT
Aug. 2: Russia vs. India, 8:30 a.m. PT
Aug. 3: India vs. Egypt, 6:00 a.m. PT
Aug. 3: Germany vs. Russia, 8:30 a.m. PT

Pool D (at Niteroi, Brazil)
Aug. 1: Iran vs. Canada, 12:00 p.m. PT
Aug. 1: Serbia vs. Belgium 2:30 p.m. PT
Aug. 2: Canada vs. Belgium, 12:00 p.m. PT
Aug. 2: Iran vs. Serbia, 2:30 p.m. PT
Aug. 3: Belgium vs. Iran, 12:00 p.m. PT
Aug. 3: Serbia vs. Canada, 2:30 p.m. PT

Tags: 2011 U.S. Men's Junior National Team, Brian Cook, Connor Olbright, Dylan Davis, Eric Mochalski, Henry Cassiday, Josh Taylor, Maurice Torres, Micah Christenson, mobile, Scott Kevorken, Steven Irvin, Taylor Crabb, Taylor Sander