U.S. Men’s Jr. Team Rallies to Defeat Iran

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

Unofficial DataVolley Stats * Official Match Statistics

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 5, 2011) - The U.S. Men's Junior National Team rallied to defeat Iran 22-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-17 in its first match of the second round on Friday afternoon in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Junior World Championship Brazil 2011 held at Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro.

The U.S., which is 3-1 overall in the tournament, is 1-0 in Pool E with three group points. The Americans won their first round of pool play in Pool A. Team USA is set to face Spain at noon PT on Saturday and will play Russia at noon PT on Sunday to conclude tournament pool play. The top two teams in Pool E and Pool F, both four-team groups playing round-robin matches Aug. 5-7, advance to the gold medal semifinals on Aug. 9 with the tournament concluding on Aug. 10.

Taylor Sander (Norco, Calif.) and Josh Taylor (Honolulu) led the U.S. Men’s Junior Team in scoring, contributing 17 points apiece. Sander racked up his points on 12 kills on 30 attacks, three blocks and two aces, while Taylor scored 12 kills on 22 swings, four blocks and an ace. U.S. team captain Taylor Crabb (Honolulu) added 13 points on nine kills, three blocks and an ace.

Eric Mochalski (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) added 12 points with six kills on 10 attacks, three blocks and three aces. Dylan Davis (Corona del Mar, Calif.) contributed 11 points on five kills via 11 attacks and six blocks.

Micah Christenson (Honolulu) scored six points with three kills on as many attacks and three blocks for Team USA. Brian Cook (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Scott Kevorken (West Lake Village, Calif.) each added a kill each to Team USA’s victory.

“I am very pleased with my team,” U.S. Men’s Junior National Team Head Coach John Hawks said. “We adjusted our receiving after the first set and we managed to win by using our defensive skills. Scoring 22 block points is outstanding for us. We had three very tough teams ahead of us in this pool and now there are two left.”

Crabb added that Team USA responded well to Iran’s height.

“We had some trouble in receiving Iran’s float serves in the first set,” Crabb said. “From the second set on, we got better with it and our block worked very well. Iran has tall players and we were extremely disciplined on blocking.”

Pourya Fayazi and Amir Ghafour both added 14 points apiece to lead Iran in scoring.

Henry Cassiday (Honolulu) contributed 14 digs and nine excellent receptions for the U.S. team. Crabb added eight digs and five excellent receptions, while Sander had seven digs and three excellent receptions. Taylor contributed six digs. Christenson contributed 30 assists out of 89 total set attempts and had three digs.

Hawks started Crabb and Sander at outside hitter, Davis and Mochalski at middle blocker, Christenson at setter and Torres as opposite. Cassiday was the designated libero. Taylor started in the last three sets and subbed into the first set. Connor Olbright (Orange, Calif.) and Cook contributed court action in the second, third and fourth sets. Kevorken played in the third set.

Team USA racked up 49 kills on 111 attempts for 44.1 kill percent and .270 hitting efficiency. The U.S. team out-blocked Iran 22-10 and scored a 7-3 seven ace margin. The Americans held a slim 46-45 dig advantage.

Iran took the first four points of the match, but Team USA made a three point run to minimize the gap. Iran climbed to a 13-9 advantage. Crabb made a kill to side out and Mochalski fired an ace, bringing the U.S. to trail by only two points. Iran kept momentum and took a 14-11 lead, but Christenson dumped the ball for a side out and Taylor followed up with a block. The two teams battled to 16-all. At this point, the U.S. gave up two points by getting caught in the net and then hitting the ball out. The two teams battled back and forth and a kill from Torres tied the score 20-all. Iran made a four-point run but got caught in the net. Team USA served the ball out and Iran won the first set, 25-22.

In the second set, the U.S. broke away from a 5-all tie and gained a three-point advantage. At 16-16, Taylor made a kill to give the U.S. the serve. The two teams battled to 19-19. Team USA took a 21-19 lead after Sander fired a kill from the middle and Cassiday followed with an assist to Cook for another kill. The U.S. team propelled to a 25-20 second set victory.

Taylor’s ace gave the U.S. team momentum to take a three-point run and an 8-4 lead. Team USA’s offense couldn’t be denied as it mounted a 16-8 advantage off of Davis’ block. Mochalski followed up with an ace for the U.S. to increase the lead to a 10-point margin. Iran took two consecutive points, but got caught in the net. Iran battled to 23-13, but Team USA score a kill and an ace to win the third set, 25-15.

In the fourth set, Sander shot a kill straight down to give the U.S a three-point lead at 7-4. Team USA used a five-point run and Davis made a block to gain a 13-4 advantage. The U.S. increased its margin to 16-6 at the second technical timeout. Iran scored the next five of seven points to lessen the gap to 18-11. The U.S. climbed to a 24-16 score and won the set and match with a kill at 25-17.

In Pool E’s other match on Friday, Russia swept Spain 25-20, 25-18, 25-20.

In other pool action on Friday, Argentina defeated India 25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19 and Brazil will face Serbia at 2:30 p.m. PT in Pool F. In Pool G, Canada swept Japan 25-12, 25-17, 25-14 and Tunisia defeated Egypt 23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-13. In Pool H, Germany defeated Puerto Rico 25-14, 25-22, 32-34, 25-12 and Bulgaria will play Belgium at 2:30 p.m. PT.

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 def. Bulgaria, 25-22, 25-18, 25-21
Aug. 1: Japan def. Brazil, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 18-16
Aug. 2: Japan def. Bulgaria, 20-25, 20-25, 33-31, 25-18, 15-11
Aug. 2: Brazil def. USA 25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19
Aug. 3: USA def. Japan, 25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19
Aug. 3: Brazil def. Bulgaria, 23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 15-8

Pool B (at Niteroi, Brazil)
Aug. 1: Argentina def. Puerto Rico, 23-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-17
Aug. 1: Spain def. Tunisia, 25-14, 25-18, 25-17
Aug. 2: Spain def. Puerto Rico, 25-7, 15-25, 25-18
Aug. 2: Argentina def. Tunisia, 25-17, 25-23, 25-22
Aug. 3: Argentina def. Spain, 25-20, 22-25, 25-14, 25-8
Aug. 3: Puerto Rico def. Tunisia, 20-25, 25-13, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11

Pool C (at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Aug. 1: India def. Germany, 19-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20
Aug. 1: Russia def. Egypt, 25-16, 25-16, 25-13
Aug. 2: Egypt def. Germany, 26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23
Aug. 2: Russia def. India, 25-23, 25-17, 25-18
Aug. 3: India def. Egypt, 25-17, 25-19, 25-18
Aug. 3: Russia def. Germany, 25-20, 24-26, 25-23, 25-23

Pool D (at Niteroi, Brazil)
Aug. 1: Iran def. Canada, 25-19, 25-19, 25-20
Aug. 2: Serbia def. Iran, 23-25, 22-25, 30-28, 25-18, 15-13
Aug. 2: Belgium def. Canada, 25-23, 25-22, 25-17
Aug. 2: Serbia def. Iran, 23-25, 22-25, 30-28, 25-18, 15-13
Aug. 3: Iran def. Belgium, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 17-14
Aug. 3: Serbia def. Canada, 25-17, 19-25, 25-15, 21-25, 15-4

Second Round (Aug. 5-7)
Pool E (at Rio de Janeiro)
Aug. 5: Russia def. Spain, 25-20, 25-18, 25-20
Aug. 5: USA def. Iran, 22-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-17
Aug. 6: Iran vs. Russia, 6:00 a.m. PT
Aug. 6: USA vs. Spain, 12:00 p.m. PT
Aug. 7: Spain vs. Iran, 6:00 a.m. PT
Aug. 7: USA vs. Russia, 12:00 p.m. PT

Pool F (at Rio de Janeiro)
Aug. 5: Argentina def. India, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19
Aug. 5: Brazil vs. Serbia, 2:30 p.m. PT
Aug. 6: Serbia vs. India, 8:30 p.m. PT
Aug. 6: Brazil vs. Argentina, 2:30 p.m. PT
Aug. 7: Argentina vs. Serbia, 8:30 p.m. PT
Aug. 7: India vs. Brazil, 2:30 p.m. PT

Pool G (at Niteroi)
Aug. 5: Canada def. Japan, 25-12, 25-17, 25-14
Aug. 5: Tunisia def. Egypt, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-13
Aug. 6: Canada vs. Egypt, 8:30 a.m. PT
Aug. 6: Japan vs. Tunisia, 12:00 p.m. PT
Aug. 7: Tunisia vs. Canada, 6:00 a.m. PT
Aug. 7: Egypt vs. Japan, 2:30 p.m. PT

Pool H (at Niteroi)
Aug. 5: Germany def. Puerto Rico, 25-14, 25-22, 32-34, 25-12
Aug. 5: Bulgaria vs. Belgium, 2:30 p.m. PT
Aug. 6: Belgium vs. Germany, 6:00 a.m. PT
Aug. 6: Bulgaria vs. Puerto Rico, 2:30 p.m. PT
Aug. 7: Puerto Rico vs. Belgium, 8:30 a.m. PT
Aug. 7: Germany vs. Bulgaria, 12:00 p.m. PT

Medal Rounds and Playoffs (Aug. 10)
- the winners of the semifinals will play the final for the 1st and 2nd position.
- the losers of the semifinals will play for the 3rd and 4th position.
- the winners of the play-off 5-8 will play for the 5th-6th position.
- the losers of the play-off 5-8 will play for the 7th-8th position.
- the winners of the play-off 9-12 will play for the 9th-10th position.
- the losers of the play-off 9-12 will play for the 11th-12th position.
- the winners of the play-off 13-16 will play for the 13th-14th position.
- the losers of the play-off 13-16 will play for the 15th-16th position.

Tags: Brian Cook, Connor Olbright, Dylan Davis, Eric Mochalski, FIVB Volleyball Men's Jr. World Championship Brazil 2011, Henry Cassiday, John Hawks, Josh Taylor, Maurice Torres, Micah Christenson, mobile, Steven Irvin, Taylor Crabb, Taylor Sander, U.S. Men's Junior National Team