U.S. Boys' Youth Fall to Bulgaria

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

FIVB Offical Stats * Photos

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 20) - The U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team (BYNT) took its first loss at the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ Youth World Championship Argentina 2011 to Bulgaria 25-22, 27-29, 25-16, 25-20 on Saturday in the second match of first-round Pool A action.

After losing the first set, the BYNT used 17 kills to capture the second set in a lengthy 29-27 outcome, but U.S. errors gave Bulgaria the third and fourth sets and the match.

In the first set a four-point run by Bulgaria starting at 17-all gave it the lead and momentum to take the set from the U.S. 25-22. Team USA used a 17-10 kill advantage to force the second set past 25-all, edging Bulgaria 29-27. The U.S. lost an early 6-3 lead in the third set to an eight-point run by Bulgaria at 11-6 followed by a 5-2 run at 20-13 to help in capturing the set 25-16. The U.S. improved on unforced errors in the fourth set with just four, but an early deficit left the Americans playing catch-up, coming within one at 11-10. The U.S. was unable to pass the Bulgarians, giving it the set at 25-20 and the match.

Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) led the U.S. with nine kills, a team-high two service aces and a block for 12 points. Cody Caldwell (Newport Beach, Calif.) charted 11 points off a team-high 10 kills and a block, while Nikola Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) posted a team-high four blocks and six kills for 10 points. Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill.) delivered nine kills and Ben Patch (Provo, Utah) secured five kills, a block and a service ace. Both James Shaw (Woodside, Calif.) and Matthew Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif.) posted three kills and a block, earning each four points. Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn.) connected on two kills and a service ace for three points.

Austin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Josh Kirchner (Sussex, Wis.) each tallied a point with kills in the third set.

Libero Andrew Sato (Calabasas, Calif.) led the team with 12 digs and 20 excellent receptions on 35 attempts. Shaw tallied 20 assists on 62 attempts and Matthew West (Seattle, Wash.) posted 18 assists on 57 attempts. Caldwell contributed 20 excellent receptions on 31 attempts

Bulgaria edged the U.S. with a 49-52 kill advantage. The U.S. converted 33.8 of their attacks for a .179 hitting efficiency compared to Bulgaria’s 39.7 kill percent with a .298 hitting efficiency. The U.S. led in blocks with a 9-8 advantage and controlled the service game with a 5-1 advantage. Team USA posted 47 excellent receptions at 52.9 percent over Bulgaria’s 38 excellent receptions for a 47.8 percentage. Bulgaria out-passed the U.S. with a 55-47 dig advantage. The Americans had 41 errors (attack faults, service faults, service reception faults) to the Bulgarians’ 30.

All 12 players clocked time in the match with Shibuya starting Caldwell and Tarantino as outside hitters, Antonijevic, Russell and Rhein as the middle blockers. Andrew Sato (Calabasas, Calif.) as the libero and Matthew West (Seattle Wast) at setter. Petty started as outside hitter in the second, third and fourth sets and Patch came in as opposite and Shaw as setter to start both the third and fourth sets. Kingi came off the bench in the second and third set as on outside with Kirchner subbing in the third as middle blocker.  

Bulgaria’s Ivan Ivanov was the team point’s leader with 16 coming from 15 kills and a block. Stanislav Velichkov posted 10 kills and led his team with three blocks for 13 points.

Earlier today in Pool C France defeated Korea 29-27, 25-20, 25-22 and Cuba overthrew France 29-27, 25-20, 25-22, while Cuba downed Brazil 21-25, 19-25, 25-21, 27-25, 15-13. In Pool D Spain defeated Puerto Rico 25-21, 27025, 25-15 and Iran defeated Serbia, 25-22, 13-25, 30-28, 25-18. Greece dominated China 25-14, 25-22, 25-12 in the evening match.

For more information about the tournament, visit the FIVB website by clicking here.

Bulgaria started the first set with the first two points only to be answered by a kill from Rhein and a Bulgarian error tying the set at 2-all. Both teams alternated points with Tarantino connecting for a kill to give the U.S. its first lead at 4-3. Tied up at 4-all and again at 5-all, thanks to a kill by Caldwell, the points continued to drop in pairs on both sides of the net. Down by two at 7-5 the U.S. looked upon a service ace from West and a kill from Antonijevic to tie the set at 7-all. The U.S. captured its second lead of the match off of a Bulgarian error only to be answered by consecutive points by Bulgaria to take back the lead at 9-8. Caldwell connected on a kill to tie the match at 9-all, but Bulgaria found a rhythm and held the U.S. at 10 points while they climbed to 14 on a three-point run. Team USA held Bulgaria at 17 while it made a four-point run to reach 17-all. Bulgaria posted four points uncontested before Caldwell connected for a kill at 22-19. Though the U.S. held Bulgaria to three set-points with consecutive points off of a kill from Petty and a Bulgarian error at 24-22, Bulgaria took the set 25-22.

The U.S. started the second set up 3-0 with a service ace from Russell, a kill from Caldwell and a block off of Antonijevic. Bulgaria retaliated with two points but couldn’t catch up as Antonijevic, Caldwell and Tarantino connected on three kills at 6-3. Bulgaria delivered an 8-4 run to take its first lead over the U.S. at 11-10. It was an up-hill battle for the U.S. from there trailing 16-13 before Caldwell delivered his sixth kill to give the U.S. some momentum at 16-14, Bulgaria. The U.S. went on a 6-3 run with help from Caldwell, Russell, Petty and Shaw who all found holes on attacks in the Bulgarian defense to bring the U.S. deficit within one at 20-19. Russell posted a block to tie the match up at 20-all and then he added to that with a kill to give the U.S. its first lead in 10 points at 21-20. After a valiant 6-4 run by the U.S. starting at 23-23, Team USA took the second set 29-27.

 In the third set the U.S. posted two points, quickly mirrored by two points from Bulgaria to tie the set at 2-all. Patch charted his second kill of the set followed by a kill from Antonijevic to give the U.S. a two-point lead at 4-2, which was short-lived as Bulgaria took off on an eight-point run ending at 11-7 by the third kill from Patch. Russell followed with a service ace to bring the score to 11-8. A kill from Antonijevic and a block from Caldwell stopped another Bulgaria run leaving the U.S. down five at 15-10. Bulgaria led a 5-2 run at 20-13 before the U.S. answered with a pair of kills from Petty and Kingi at 21-15. Bulgaria reached set-point at 24-15 but was held off by Kirchner’s kill at 24-16. Bulgaria captured the set on its second set-point at 25-16.

The fourth set started out similar to the others with the teams meeting at 3-all and 4-all with Petty, Patch and Caldwell posting kills and Antonijevic a block for the U.S. Bulgaria took a three-point lead at 7-5. Russell posted the next three points for the U.S. on kills as both teams increased by four to bring the score to 11-9, Bulgaria. Antonijevic denied Bulgaria with a block to bring the U.S. within one at 11-10. Team USA fell back three at 15-12 before Caldwell and Patch rallied the U.S. both connecting on kills at to bring the team within one at 15-14. The U.S. put the pressure on Bulgaria coming within two at 20-18 after kills from Russell and Caldwell. Bulgaria charted two consecutive points stopped by a kill off the hands of Petty at 22-19. Bulgaria finished off the set at 25-20 to take the match from the U.S.

No. Name (Position, City, State, Club, Region)
1- Nikola Antonijevic (MB, Buffalo Grove, Ill., Adversity, Great Lakes)
2- Cody Caldwell (OH, Newport Beach, Calif., Balboa Bay, Southern California)
5- Austin Kingi (OH, Tousand Oaks, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
6- Josh Kirchner (MB, Sussex, Wis., West Allis Lightning, Badger)
10- Ben Patch (Opposite, Provo, Utah, Vegas VC, Intermountain)
11- Greg Petty (OH, Downers Grove, Ill., Sports Performance, Great Lakes)
12- Scott Rhein (OH, Pleasant View, Tenn., Impact, Southern)
13- Aaron Russell (MB, Ellicott City, Md., MVP, Chesapeake)
15- Andrew Sato (Libero, Calabasas, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
16- James Shaw (Setter, Woodside, Calif., Mountain View, Northern California)
17- Matthew Tarantino (OH, Van Nuys, Calif., SMBC, Southern California)
18- 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

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

Pool A (Almirante Brown)
Aug. 19: USA def. Egypt 25-16, 25-21, 27-29, 24-26, 17-15
Aug. 19: Bulgaria def. Argentina 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-16, 15-8
Aug. 20: Bulgaria def. USA 25-22, 27-29, 25-16, 25-20
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: Greece def. Russia 25-12, 25-23, 32-30
Aug. 19: China def. Tunisia 26-24, 21-25, 25-27, 25-21, 15-6
Aug. 20: Greece def. China 25-14, 25-22, 25-12
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 def. Korea 25-19, 25-14, 23-25, 20-25, 15-9
Aug. 19: Cuba def. France 25-20, 16-25, 25-21, 25-21
Aug. 20: France def. Korea 29-27, 25-20, 25-22
Aug. 20: Cuba def. Brazil 21-25, 19-25, 25-21, 27-25, 15-13
Aug. 21: Brazil vs. France, 6 a.m.
Aug. 21: Korea vs. Cuba, 9 a.m.

Pool D (Bahia Blanca)
Aug. 19: Serbia def. Puerto Rico 25-16, 25-22, 25-20
Aug. 19: Spain def. Iran 25-22, 27-25, 25-21
Aug. 20: Spain def. Puerto 25-21, 25-17, 25-15
Aug. 20: Iran def. Serbia 25-22, 13-25, 30-28, 25-18
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: 2011 Boys' Youth National Team , 2011 Boys' Youth National Team, 2011 U.S. Boys' Youth National Team, Aaron Russell, Andrew Sato, Austin Kingi, Ben Patch, Cody Caldwell, D.J. White, Dan Friend, FIVB Volleyball Boys' Youth World Championship Argentina 2011, Greg Petty, James Shaw, Josh Kirchner, Ken Shibuya, Matt Tarantino, Matt West, mobile, Nikola Antonijevic, Rob Neilson, Scott Rhein