U.S. Girls' Youth Over Puerto Rico at FIVB Worlds

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

Official FIVB Stats

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 12, 2011) - The U.S. Girls' Youth National Team opened the FIVB Volleyball Girls' Youth World Championship Turkey 2011 tournament with a 25-15, 25-20, 25-17 victory over Puerto Rico on Friday in Ankara, Turkey.

The second-ranked United States outplayed the No. 21 Puerto Ricans in Pool C in straight sets in both teams' first match of the tournament. The U.S. Girls' Youth Team will face Serbia in its second match of Pool C on Saturday at 9 a.m. PT.

Kadie Rolfzen (Papillion, Neb.) brought in 12 points for the U.S. with a match-high 10 kills on 23 attacks, a block and a service ace. Jordan Burgess (Tampa, Fla.) connected with six kills on 19 swings, two blocks and two service aces for 10 points were good for second-best of the team. Outside hitter Paulina Prieto-Cerame (Miami, Fla.) charted nine points off of a match-high six blocks and three kills on eight attacks. Kadie's twin sister Amber Rolfzen (Papillion, Neb.) charted seven points off of six kills via 10 swings and a solo block. Setter Lauren Carlini (Aurora, Ill.) totaled two kills on as many attacks, three blocks and two service aces for seven points. Nicole Dalton (Parker, Colo.) charted two points off of two kills in the second set. Middle blocker Molly McCage (Spring, Texas) scored two kills on two attacks in a reserve role.

Allison Palmer contributed a team-high seven digs, while Dalton charted 10 excellent receptions on 22 attempts. Carlini provided 28 assists on 69 total set attempts to go with seven digs.

The U.S. scored a 31-18 advantage in kills and produced a 13-4 margin in aces. The Americans converted 38.3 percent of their attacks with a .210 hitting efficiency. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico managed to convert just 19.2 percent of its attacks into points with a negative .085 hitting efficiency. Both teams secured five aces along with a high number of errors - USA had 24 to Puerto Rico's 26. The U.S. held a 36-28 advantage in digs.

"Today we played as a team," said McCage. "We are happy to win our first match in the championship. We hope to be better in the coming matches."

"We had some difficulty in reception," U.S. Girls' Youth National Team Head Coach Jim Stone. "The best thing that we did is backline defense. I think both teams will be better as they play more games. Now we are looking forward to meeting up with Serbia in our second match which will be an important game for us."

Puerto Rico was led by captain Daly Santana's 11 points that included a match-high three aces. Ana Sofia Jusino tacked on seven points in the loss.

In the first match of all four pools all winners were decided in three matches. Earlier in the day, Poland outplayed Egypt 25-13, 25-16, 26-24. Heavy-hitters Brazil handled Slovakia 25-13, 25-12, 25-21 in Pool B. In Pool D Japan surprised Italy with a 25-20, 25-20, 25-21 victory.

The U.S. came out of the gates firing with a 10-1 run in the first set off of two Burgess service aces and a Kadie Rolfzen attack. Puerto Rico racked five errors in the first 10 points for the U.S. Kadie Rolfzen charted a kill to bring the match to 12-3 before her twin sister Amber recorded a kill followed by a solo block to increase the lead by 10 at 14-4. Puerto Rico then went on a 3-0 run before the U.S. retaliated with a five-point run with kills from both Prieto-Cerame and Amber Rolfzen. The U.S. reached the 20-point milestone at 20-12 on a long Puerto Rican service error. Burgess recorded her first block before Puerto Rico tallied its ninth error to bring the game to 22-12. Carlini increased the lead to 11 at 23-12 with her own service ace followed by another Puerto Rico error giving the U.S. the first set point at 24-12. Prieto-Cerame sealed the deal for the Americans with a huge block to give the U.S. the first-set win at 25-14.

In the second set, the U.S. welcomed Puerto Rico with a 5-0 lead from two Burgess’ kills and back-to-back blocks from Kadie Rolfzen and Prieto-Cerame. Puerto Rico called a timeout and returned to the floor with a much different game plan. The United States remained stuck at five for four Puerto Rican points, bringing the score to 5-4 before Carlini charted a service ace to be followed by a Burgess’ block and kills from Dalton and Amber Rolfzen to bring the match to 8-5. Burgess’ knocked down her fourth kill at 9-6 with a service ace from Kadie Rolfzen at 10-6. McCage entered the game as a sub to tally two kills in the set at 20-19. The lead for the Americans began to fall after unforced errors brought the match to 19-all, the first time Puerto Rico had tied-up with its NORCECA rivals. Edelman subbed in to the match at 20-19 before Puerto Rico tied the match again at 20-20. The U.S. took a five-point run with consecutive kills form Burgess and Prieto Cerame and back-to-back points fo Caralini off a block and an attack. The final score of the second set was 25-20.

Team USA took the third set and the match, 25-17 after impressive one, two, three kills from all corners of the floor. The U.S. came out with a 3-0 lead with bullets from Burgess, Kadie Rolfzen and Prieto Cerame. After a U.S. sub-in for Collins Burgess delivered consecutive kills to take the match to 12-8. Additional subs in the third match were Edleman and Malloy. Kadie Rolfzen single handedly brought the game to 18-9 with three unanswered points. She tallied her ninth kill at 19-11 before her sister, Amber Rolfzen charted three attacks herself, bringing the game to set-match points at 24-16 with the help from the blocking of Carlini. Kadie Rolfzen reached double-digit kills with the match-point attack at 25-17, her 20th attack on the day.

2011 U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team
Name (Pos, Hometown, HS Grad Year, Club/Region or High School)
1 - Lauren Carlini (S, Aurora, Ill., 2013, West Aurora High School/Aurora, Ill.)
3 - Jordan Burgess (OH, Tampa, Fla., 2012, Tampa Bay Juniors/Florida)
4 - Nicole Dalton (OPP, Parker, Colo., 2012, Front Range/Rocky Mountain)
5 - Nicole Edelman (S, Boulder, Colo., 2012, Front Range/Rocky Mountain)
6 - Alexis Austin *  (MB, Houston, Texas, 2012, Thunder Volleyball/Lone Star)
9 - Andie Malloy (OPP, Allen, Texas, 2012, Skyline Juniors/North Texas)
10 - Chloe Collins (S/DS, Cypress, Texas, 2013, Texas Pride/Lone star)
11 - Molly McCage (MB, Spring, Texas, 2012, Woodlands Wave/Lone Star)
12 - Allison Palmer (L, Laguna Beach, Calif., 2012, Laguna Beach/Southern California)
13 - Janae Hall (MB, Centennial, Colo., 2012, Front Range/Rocky Mountain)
15 - Amber Rolfzen (MB, Papillion, Neb., 2013, Nebraska Juniors/Great Plains)
16 - Kadie Rolfzen (OH, Papillion, Neb., 2013, Nebraska Juniors/Great Plains)
17 - Paulina Prieto-Cerame (OH, Miami, Fla., 2011, Boomers Volleyball Club/Florida)
* Alexis Austin was originally named to the roster but could not attend due to injury

2011 Girls' Youth National Team Staff
Head Coach: Jim Stone, USA Volleyball High Performance
Assistant Coach: Melissa Wolter, University of West Florida
Assistant Coach: Charlene Whitted, USA Volleyball High Performance
Team Manager: Heath Hoke
Team Doctor: Priscilla Tu
Technical Coordinator: Herb Summers

First Round (Aug. 12-14) (Ankara, Turkey)
Times are in Pacific Time

Pool A (Baskent Volleyball Hall)
Aug. 12: Poland def. Egypt 25-13, 25-16, 26-24
Aug. 12: Turkey def. Algeria 25-8, 25-13, 25-14
Aug. 13: Poland def. Algeria 25-7, 25-13, 25-13
Aug. 13: Turkey def. Egypt 25-9, 25-21, 25-20
Aug. 14: Algeria vs. Egypt, 1:30 a.m.
Aug. 14: Turkey vs. Poland, 6:30 a.m.

Pool B (Ankara Sports Hall)
Aug. 12: Brazila def. Slovakia 25-13, 25-12, 25-21
Aug. 12: Argentina def. Mexico 25-21, 25-19, 25-22
Aug. 13: Argentina def. Slovakia 23-25, 25-18, 25-11
Aug. 13: Brazil vs, Mexico, 6:30 a.m.
Aug. 14: Mexico vs. Slovakia, 1:30 a.m.
Aug. 14: Argentina vs. Brazil, 6:30 a.m.

Pool C (Baskent Volleyball Hall)
Aug. 12: USA def. Puerto Rico 25-15, 25-20, 25-17 
Aug. 12: China def. Serbia 25-18, 25-20, 25-23
Aug. 13: Puerto Rico vs. China, 4 a.m.
Aug. 13: USA vs. Serbia, 9 a.m.
Aug. 14: Serbia vs. Puerto Rico, 4 a.m.
Aug. 14: China vs.USA, 9 a.m.

Pool D (Ankara Sports Hall)
Aug. 12: Japan def. Italy 25-20, 25-20, 25-21 
Aug. 12: Germany def. Thailand 25-18, 25-16, 25-20
Aug. 13: Italy def. Thailand 25-20, 25-17, 27-25.
Aug. 13: Japan vs. Germany, 9 a.m.
Aug. 14: Germany vs. Italy, 4 a.m.
Aug. 14: Thailand vs. Japan, 9 a.m.

Tags: Allison Palmer, Amber Rolfzen, Andie Malloy, Chloe Collins, FIVB Volleyball Girls' Youth World Championship Turkey 2011, Janae Hall, Jim Stone, Jordan Burgess, Kadie Rolfzen, Lauren Carlini, mobile, Molly McCage, Nicole Dalton, Nicole Edelman, Paulina Prieto-Cerame, U.S. Girls' Youth National Team