U.S. Girls' Youth Pass Thailand at Worlds

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

Photo Gallery * FIVB Official Stats

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 17, 2011) - The U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team (GYNT) used an 18-3 block advantage to down Thailand 33-31, 25-10, 25-22 in the second round Pool G at the 2011 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ Youth World Championship Turkey 2011 on Wednesday.

The U.S. is now in first place in Pool G with six points, while Thailand is now 1-1 with three points. The Americans will take their 2-0 Pool G record into Thursday’s showdown against Egypt (0 points, 0-2 in Pool G) at 3 p.m. local time 5 a.m. PT) to complete Pool G. The top two teams in the Pool G standings advance to the 9-12 classification semifinals on Saturday, while the bottom two teams will fight for 13-16 classification.

Nicole Dalton (Parker, Colo.) led the team in scoring with 13 points from seven kills on 25 attacks, four blocks and two service aces. Jordan Burgess (Tampa, Fla.) charted a team-high eight kills on 27 attacks in addition to a pair of blocks and kills for 12 points. Team captain Molly McCage (Spring, Texas) produced a match-high six blocks, in addition to three kills on six attempts for nine points. Both Amber Rolfzen (Papillion, Neb.) and Paulina Prieto-Cerame (Miami, Fla.) tallied eight points. Rolfzen charted seven kills on 12 attempts with a block while Prieto-Cerame booked six kills and two blocks. Lauren Carlini (Aurora, Ill.) and Andie Malloy (Allen, Texas) pocketed five points each. Carlini posted two blocks, two aces and a kill, while Malloy connected on four kills and one block. Nicole Edelman (Boulder, Colo.) charted one kill and one service ace for two points.

Burgess recorded a team high 15 digs and 17 excellent receptions on 28 attempts, while Libero Allison Palmer (Laguna Beach, Calif.) totaled 13 digs.  Carlini posted 11 assists on 50 total set attempts.

The U.S. held an 18-3 block advantage over Thailand. Team USA converted 33.9 percent of its attacks with a .239 hitting efficiency, contrasting to Thailand’s 23.3 kill percent and .045 hitting efficiency with 25 attack errors. The Americans dominated in the passing game with a 59-23 dig advantage, along with a 55.2 excellent reception percent (33-58) to Thailand’s 35.7 reception percent (31-70). The U.S. also held a 7-3 edge in aces. Both teams committed a high number of errors with the U.S. totaling 20 errors to Thailand’s 38 (total attack faults, service faults and aces allowed). Team USA’s kill percent was 55-97 percent. Thailand managed just a 23.31 kill percent.

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. Both Edelman and Malloy subbed into the match in the first and second set before starting in the third. Chloe Collins (Cypress, Texas) mad her tournament debut subbing in in both the first and third set.

"We played with a good spirit in this match,” Stone said to the FIVB. “It was a hard game, their attacking was very good, they forced us to put effort on defense, but we won. Really it was an interesting match.”

Tanaporn Polrueing led Thailand with a match-high 12 kills and a block for 13 points. 

The first set was a marathon for both the United States and Thailand reaching 33 minutes before a winner was decided. Thailand came out of the gate with a 6-1 lead. The first technical timeout occurred with the U.S. down by three at 8-5. With consecutive successful blocks by Burgess and solid hits by Prieto-Cerame, the U.S. tied up the score at 15-all. Burgess chalked up two consecutive kills to give the U.S. a lead at 29-28. Burgess delivered a service ace followed by a McCage block at 31-30. Amber Rolfzen delivered an untouchable attack to tie the set up at 31-all and saving a set point.  An error by Thailand followed by a kill off the swing of Dalton advanced the U.S. to 33-31 to take the first set. Burgess totaled four kills, two blocks and two service aces in the first set, leading the team in points. McCage charted one block and one kill while Carlini lined the board with a kill, a block and an ace. Dalton charted four kills and two blocks while Amber Rolfzen contributed with two kills and Prieto-Cerame tallied four kills.

Burgess kick-started the second set for the U.S. connecting with two balls for the Americans’ first two points at 3-2. McCage threw up two consecutive blocks to give the U.S. an early lead at 4-3. Carlini delivered a service ace followed by a kill and a block from McCage to give the U.S. a two-point advantage at 7-5. Following an error by Thailand, McCage charted her fifth block at 9-5. Dalton and Prieto-Cerame posted solid blocks at 12-6. Dalton and Prieto-Cerame posted kills prior to a block by Amber Rolfzen to give the U.S. an eight-point advantage at 15-7. With efforts by Dalton, Edelman and McCage, the U.S. reached set point at 24-10. McCage threw up a solo block that was the deciding factor for the set, giving the U.S. the win at 25-10. 

The U.S. connected strong in the beginning with three kills off the swings of Dalton, Malloy and Amber Rolfzen to bring the set to 4-3. Thailand charted back-to-back errors at 5-5 before the U.S. began to pull away. Malloy connected on an attack and Prieto-Cerame a block at 15-12. Amber Rolfzen tallied two consecutive kills at 19-15. Burgess threw down another kill at 20-18 before aid from Malloy finding a gap and execution and Thailand errors led the team to match-set point at 24-22. Thailand could not stop the U.S. defense and handed them the well-earned win at 25-22.

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

Team Rankings (after round one)

1-8 positions 
Pool E: Turkey, Argentina, China, Germany 
Pool F: Poland, Brazil, Serbia, Japan

9- 16 positions 
Pool G: Egypt, Slovakia, USA, Thailand 
Pool H: Algeria, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Italy

Pool Rankings 
Pool A: 1. Turkey 9 pts 2. Poland 6 pts 3. Egypt 3 pts 4. Algeria 0 
Pool B: 1. Brazil 9 pts 2. Argentina 5 pts 3. Mexico 3 pts 4. Slovakia 1 pt. 
Pool C: 1. China 9 pts. 2. Sebia 6 pts. 3. USA 3 pts 4. Puerto Rico 0 
Pool D: 1. Japan 8 pts 2. Germany 7 pts 3. Italy 3 pts 4. Thailand 0

Second Round (Aug. 16-18) (Ankara, Turkey)
Times are in Pacific Time

Pool E (Baskent Volleyball Hall)
Aug. 16: China def. Argentina, 25-17, 25-19, 25-7
Aug. 16: Turkey def. Germany 25-14, 25-20, 25-13
Aug. 17: Germany vs. China, 2:30 a.m.
Aug. 17: Turkey def. Argentina 25-14, 25-18, 25-18
Aug. 18: Argentina vs. Germany, 2:30 a.m.
Aug. 18: China vs. Turkey, 7:30 a.m.

Pool F (Baskent Volleyball Hall)
Aug. 16: Serbia def. Brazil 26-28, 21-15, 25-21, 25-16, 17-15
Aug. 16: Poland def. Japan 25-23, 25-17, 25-20
Aug. 17: Serbia def. Japan 25-17, 25-12, 25-10
Aug. 17: Brazil def. Poland 25-17, 24-26, 27-29, 25-22, 15-7
Aug. 18: Serbia vs. Poland, 5:00 a.m.
Aug. 18: Brazil vs. Japan, 10:00 a.m.

Pool G (Ankara Sports Hall)
Aug. 16: Thailand def. Egypt 25-15, 25-12, 25-22
Aug. 16: USA def. Slovakia 27-25, 25-20, 25-19
Aug. 17: USA def. Thailand 33-31, 25-10, 25-22
Aug. 17: Slovakia def. Egypt 25-21, 25-20, 25-19
Aug. 18: Slovakia vs. Thailand 2:30 a.m.
Aug. 18: USA vs. Egypt, 5:00 a.m.

Pool H (Ankara Sports Hall)
Aug. 16: Italy def. Algeria 25-8, 25-16, 25-18
Aug. 16: Mexico def. Puerto 25-21, 25-23, 25-22
Aug. 17: Italy def. Puerto Rico 25-15, 16-25, 25-17, 25-14
Aug. 17: Mexico def. Algeria 25-18, 25-16, 25-15
Aug. 18: Mexico vs. Italy, 7:30 a.m.
Aug. 18: Puerto Rico vs. Algeria, 10:00 a.m.

Tags: 2011 FIVB Girls' Youth World Championships, Alexis Austin, Allison Palmer, Andie Malloy, Chloe Collins, FIVB, FIVB Volleyball Girls' Youth World Championship Turkey 2011, Jordan Burgess, Lauren Carlini, mobile, mobile, U.S. Girls' Youth National Training Team