U.S. Boys’ Youth Bags Packed for FIVB Worlds

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 16, 2011) –The 12-player roster making up the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team (BYNT) has wrapped up its training in San Diego and is off to Buenos Aires, Argentina for the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ Youth World Championship Argentina 2011 slated for Aug. 19-28.

The team, ranked ninth in the world according to the FIVB, has taken advantage of many opportunities to compete and train in preparation for the 16-team international field of the best players in the world. The Americans first matchup will be Egypt on Friday at 6 p.m. local time (2 p.m. PT) in Pool A. The United States will also battle Bulgaria on Saturday at 9 p.m. local time (5 p.m. PT) and top-seeded host, Argentina on Sunday at 6 p.m. local time (2 p.m. PT).

Pool B consists of Russia, Greece, Tunisia and China while Pool C houses Brazil, the top-ranked team according to the FIVB rankings, Korea, Cuba and France. In Pool D Serbia, Puerto Rico, Iran and Spain will battle it out for the top seed.

In addition to its training time in San Diego, the team most recently captured the bronze medal on July 16 after defeating Mexico, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21, at the Boys’ Youth (Under-19) Pan American Cup in Mexicali, Mexico.

The U.S. BYNT has previously qualified for the FIVB World Championships by winning the silver medal at the 2010 Youth NORCECA Championship, while Cuba captured the gold and Puerto Rico the bronze, also qualifying them for the tournament.

Eight of the 13 players tallied playing time as the U.S. captured silver at the 2010 NORCECA Continental Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, including middle blocker Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) who was named the tournament’s Best Blocker, middle blocker Nikola Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill.), outside hitters Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn.), Matthew Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif.), Austin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and DJ White (Hermosa Beach, Calif.). White unfortunately will not be making the trip to Argentina due to a schedule conflict with his freshman orientation at Harvard University where he will beginning college in the fall.

Libero Andrew Sato (Calabasas, Calif.) and setter Matthew West (Seattle, Wash.) are also returners to the squad’s roster.

New to the team are outside hitters, Cody Caldwell (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Greg Petty (Downers Gorve, Ill.), middle blocker Josh Kirchner (Sussex, Wis.), opposite Ben Patch (Provo, Utah) and setter James Shaw (Woodside, Calif.).

Five members of the BYNT were named to the 18-Open All-Tournament Team at the 2011 USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National Championships including Caldwell who was named Most Valuable Player after leading his Balboa Bay club team to the gold medal. Also named All-Tournament were Kingi, Sato and Tarantino, all from the second-place team, Santa Monica Beach Club. Petty was also named to the team as he was the standout for Sports Performance.    

BYNT head coach Ken Shibuya will enter his sixth season as Stanford University’s men’s volleyball coach. Shibuya is assisted by Dan Friend of Lewis University and Rob Neilson of Brigham Young University.

Also making the trip with the team will be team manager Tom Tait, team doctor Julie Chuan and Technical Coordinator Jonah Carson.

Tunisia and Egypt qualified for the tournament at the 2010 Youth African Championship while Iran, China and Korea secured top-three positions at the 2010 Youth Asian Championship, good for a ticket to the world championship. Brazil joins the field after winning the 2010 Junior South American Championship. The 2011 CEV Youth Volleyball Boys’ European Championship advanced six teams to the tournament including Serbia, France, Russia, Bulgaria, Spain and Greece. Argentina was guaranteed a spot in the field as the host of the tournament.

The tournament will be housed in two competition halls; Polideportivo Municipal located in Almirante Brown for Pools A and C and the Osvaldo Casanova in Bahia Blanca for Pools B and D.

In the 2009 edition located in Jesolo and Bassano del Grappa, Italy, Serbia captured the gold in their first time participating while Iran secured the silver and Argentina the third.

The FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship occurs every other year and initiated in 1989. This year marks the 12th edition of the battle for gold and just the fifth time the U.S. has qualified, with a tournament-best seventh place finish coming in 1995. The team qualified in 2005 (was unable to attend) and finished 15th in 2007 and 10th in 2009.

For more information about the tournament, click here.

2011 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team Roster

Name (Position, City, State, Club, Region)
Nikola Antonijevic (MB, Buffalo Grove, Ill., Adversity, Great Lakes)
Cody Caldwell (OH, Newport Beach, Calif., Balboa Bay, Southern California)
Austin Kingi (OH, Tousand Oaks, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
Josh Kirchner (MB, Sussex, Wis., West Allis Lightning, Badger)
Ben Patch (Opposite, Provo, Utah, Vegas VC, Intermountain)
Greg Petty (OH, Downers Grove, Ill., Sports Performance, Great Lakes)
Scott Rhein (OH, Pleasant View, Tenn., Impact, Southern)
Aaron Russell (MB, Ellicott City, Md., MVP, Chesapeake)
Andrew Sato (Libero, Calabasas, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
James Shaw (Setter, Woodside, Calif., Mountain View, Northern California)
Matthew Tarantino (OH, Van Nuys, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
Matthew West (Setter, Seattle, Wash., Spaceneedle, Puget Sound)
*DJ White (OH, Hermosa Beach, Calif., MB Surf, Southern California)

*White will not be making the trip to Argentina due to scheduling conflict with Harvard University.

Staff
Head Coach – Ken Shibuya, Stanford University
Asst. Coach – Dan Friend, Lewis University
Asst. Coach – Rob Neilson, Bringham Young University
Team Manager: Tom Tait
Team Doctor: Julie Chuan
Technical Coordinator: Jonah Carson, University of the Pacific

First Round (Aug. 19-21)
Times are in Pacific Time

Pool A (Almirante Brown)
Aug. 19: USA vs. Egypt, 2 p.m. PT
Aug. 19: Argentina vs. Bulgaria, 5 p.m.
Aug. 20: USA vs. Bulgaria, 2 p.m.
Aug. 20: Egypt vs. Argentina, 5 p.m.
Aug. 21: Bulgaria vs. Egypt, 2 p.m.
Aug. 21: Argentina vs. USA, 5 p.m.

Pool B (Bahia Blanca)
Aug. 19: Russia vs. Greece, 2 p.m. PT
Aug. 19: Tunisia vs. China, 5 p.m.
Aug. 20: Greece vs. China, 2 p.m.
Aug. 20: Russia vs. Tunisia, 5 p.m.
Aug. 21: Tunisia vs. Greece, 2 p.m.
Aug. 21: China vs. Russia, 5 p.m.

Pool C (Almirante Brown)
Aug. 19: Brazil vs. Korea 6 a.m. PT
Aug. 19: Cuba vs. France, 9 a.m.
Aug. 20: France vs. Korea, 6 a.m.
Aug. 20: Cuba vs. Brazil, 9 a.m.
Aug. 21: Brazil vs. France, 6 a.m.
Aug. 21: Korea vs. Cuba, 9 a.m.

Pool D (Bahia Blanca)
Aug. 19: Serbia vs. Puerto Rico, 6 a.m. PT
Aug. 19: Iran vs. Spain, 9 a.m.
Aug. 20: Spain vs. Puerto Rico, 6 a.m.
Aug. 20: Iran vs. Serbia, 9 a.m.
Aug. 21: Serbia vs. Spain, 6 a.m.
Aug. 21: Puerto Rico vs. Iran, 9 a.m.

Round Two (Aug. 23-25)

The 1st and 2nd ranked teams of Pool E and F will qualify for the semifinals.
The 3rd and 4th ranked teams of Pool E and F will qualify for the play-off 5-8.
The 1st and 2nd ranked teams of Pool G and H will qualify for the play-off 9-12.
The 3rd and 4th ranked teams of Pool G and H will qualify for the play-off 13-16.

Semifinals (Aug. 27)

The semifinals and play-offs consist of a total of eight matches: two semifinal matches for the rankings 1-4, two matches for the classification 5-8, two matches for the qualification 9-12 and two matches for the classification 13-16.

Finals (Aug. 28)

The finals and play-offs consist of a total of eight matches:
- 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: 2010 U.S. Boys' Youth National Team, 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Youth World Championships, Aaron Russell, Andrew Sato, Austin Kingi, Ben Patch, Cody Caldwell, D.J. White, Dan Friend, FIVB, Greg Petty, James Shaw, Josh Kirchner, Ken Shibuya, Matt Tarantino, Matt West, mobile, Scott Rhein