GYNT Falls Short in Four to China at FIVB Worlds

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

Official FIVB Stats * Photo Gallery

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 14, 2011) - The U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team fell to China 24-26, 25-15, 25-21, 25-20 on Sunday in first-round pool play at the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ Youth World Championship Turkey 2011 in Ankara, Turkey.

The U.S. team, ranked second in the FIVB world rankings, dropped to a 1-2 record with the one hour and 52 minute loss and will compete in Pool G for the nine to 16 standings beginning on Tuesday.

Jordan Burgess (Tampa, Fla.) led the team offensively with 15 points from team-high 12 kills and three blocks. Paulina Prieto-Cerame (Miami, Fla.) tallied 11 kills and three service aces for 14 points in her first start of the tournament. Amber Rolfzen (Papillion, Neb.) had a dominant game both offensively and defensively, charting seven kills and five blocks. Molly McCage (Spring, Texas) also recorded five blocks in addition to three kills for a total of eight points. Nicole Dalton (Parker, Colo.) connected on seven attacks and a service ace for eight points while Setter Lauren Carlini (Aurora, Ill.) pocketed a pair of blocks and a pair of kills in addition to a service ace for five points.

Libero Allison Palmer (Laguna Beach, Calif.) totaled a team-high 26 digs, while Burgess recorded 29 excellent receptions on 48 attempts. Carlini produced 43 assists on 126 total set attempts. The U.S. held a 15-9 block advantage over china.

"We knew that we needed to win 3-0 to qualify (for the top eight), but when we lost the second set, we decided to give more of our play," U.S. Captain McCage said. "We were physically, but China was mentally better. Congratulations to China. They played brilliant."

U.S. Girls' Youth National Team Head Coach Jim Stone started Amber Rolfzen and McCage at middle blocker, Dalton at opposite, Burgess and Prieto-Cerame at outside hitter and Carlini at setter. Palmer was the designated libero for the match. Nicole Edelman (Boulder, Colo.) subbed into the match in both the first and fourth sets. Chloe Collins (Cypress, Texas) was a sub in the second and third set, while Kadie Rolfzen (Papillion, Neb.) came off the bench for the second, third and fourth sets.

"I am proud of my players," Stone said. "China is a very difficult team especially at defense. The harder opponents we play, the more we improve. For some of the players, it was the first international matches."

China’s 3-0 record and nine group points is good for first-place in Pool C, advancing them into Pool E for the second round. The U.S. was the only team in Pool C to take a set from China.

The Chinese big gun Ruoya Xu was her team's best scorer with 20 points. China, which converted 51 of 162 attacks. China held a 94-77 dig advantage and recorded 39 excellent service receptions on 77 attempts for a 41.56 percent.

Earlier today in pool A Egypt topped Algeria, 25-19, 25-13, 2-25, 25-18 in one hour and 35 minutes while Turkey over powered Poland, 25-23, 25-17, 25-15 in one hour and 12 minutes. In Pool B Mexico defeated Slovakia, 25-21, 25-18, 25-14 and Brazil was victorious against Argentina, 25-17, 25-20, 25-13. In Pool C Serbia outplayed Puerto Rico, 25-13, 25-8, 25-21. Wrapping up round one in Pool D was Germany over Italy, 31-29, 16-25, 27-25, 25-30 and Japan over Thailand, 25-16, 25-23, 25-20.  

The U.S. faced adversity down 6-0 to start the first set. Initiated by an error from China, Amber Rolfzen and Dalton charted individual kills to shorten the gap at 10-4. The U.S. seemed to not be able to hang on, trailing 11-5 with three points coming off of Chinese errors. Dalton recurred her second hill followed by four points of the fingertips of Amber Rolfzen with triple blocks and a kill to bring the score to 15-10. Edelman subbed in and Burgess got on the board with her first kill of the match at 16-11. Carlini fired an ace while Burgess tallied her second kill. Pietro-Cerame connected on back-to-back attacks to bring the set within five at 20-15. The Americans continued to fight back from behind with a kill and block off the arm of McCage at 21-17. China lost its rhythm at 22-18 forcing four errors and tying the game at 22-all. Amber Rolfzen kept the set within one will a kill at 24-23, followed by a Carlini block to take the set to 24-all. The U.S. captured the set 26-24.

China gained momentum early in the second set maintaining a five-point lead for the majority of play. Burgess connected on a kill at 5-3 followed by a block my McCage bringing the score to 9-4. China jumped to a 10-5 lead where Prieto-Cerame brought the set within four with a kill at 13-7. Dalton and Amber Rolfzen both racked in kills at 17-9, but the Chinese retaliated with aggressive kills that the Americans could not control. Despite Burgess’ pair of blocks to keep the U.S. fighting, China secured the set 25-15.

It was a battle in the early stages of the third set with both teams eager to secure the advantage going into the fourth. The U.S. led 4-3 with a kill from Burgess and a block from McCage. China began to feed off of U.S. errors and took the lead after each team reached 7s. McCage and Burgess continued to chart points for the Americans taking them within one at 14-13. The set was all tied up at 15 with back-to-back kills from Prieto-Cerame. China took a four-point lead at 22-18 before Burgess charted her seventh kill at 22-19. China sealed the set and the 2-1 set-advantage with a 25-22 finish.

Burgess pocketed five kills in the fourth set, leading the team offensively as it tried to force a fifth set. Carlini threw up a solo block followed by back-to-back kills from Burgess and Dalton. The team capitalized in China’s gaps connecting on two kills form Prieto-Cerame and McCage at 9-6. The U.S. fought back to tie the set up at 10 before taking the lead at 13-12 thanks to a kill from Burgess. McCage posted her third kill and fifth block of the match at 21-18. The U.S. was unable to fight back to take the lead again and China captured the set and match with a fourth set score of 25-20. 

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: Egypt def. Algeria 25-19, 25-13, 20-25, 25-18
Aug. 14: Turkey def. Poland 25-23, 25-17, 25-15

Pool B (Ankara Sports Hall)
Aug. 12: Brazil 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 def. Mexico 25-13, 23-25, 25-14, 25-22
Aug. 14: Mexico def. Slovakia 25-21, 25-18, 25-14
Aug. 14: Brazil def. Argentina 25-17, 25-20, 25-13

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: China def. Puerto Rico 25-22, 25-18, 25-11
Aug. 13: Serbia def. USA 25-21, 25-13, 26-14
Aug. 14: Serbia def. Puerto Rico 25-13, 25-8, 25-21
Aug. 14: China def. USA 24-26, 25-15, 25-21, 25-20

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 def. Germany 17-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-12
Aug. 14: Germany def. Italy 31-29, 16-25, 27-25, 25-20
Aug. 14: Japan def. Thailand 25-16, 25-23, 25-20

Tags: 2011 FIVB Girls' Youth World Championships, Allison Palmer, Amber Rolfzen, FIVB, 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