U.S. Boys' Youth Fall in Five to Korea

Bill Kauffman
Associate Director, Communications
Phone: 719-228-6800
Email: bill.kauffman@usav.org

Official FIVB Statistics

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 26, 2011) - The U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team (BYNT) lost to Korea 25-20, 20-25, 18-25, 25-19, 15-11 Friday evening in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to conclude second-round Pool H of the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ Youth World Championship Argentina 2011.

The U.S. Boys’ Youth Team, which played its second straight five-set match, finished the second round with a 1-2 record and three points in Pool H. The Americans will now intently watch the outcome of the final match in Pool H between Iran and Russia as the top two teams Pools G and H advance to the 9-12 classification semifinals.

Team USA still has an outside chance to advance to the 9-12 classification semifinals should Iran defeat Russia in three sets or the U.S. holds a better points scored ratio if Russia loses in four sets. In any other outcome, the Americans will fall into the 13-16 classification semifinals and challenge Puerto Rico on Saturday at a time to be determined. Korea ends the second round with a 1-2 record and three group points and will be in the 13-16 classification semifinals on Saturday.

Aaron Russell (Ellicott, Md.) scored a Team USA-high 16 points with 16 kills on 24 attacks with only two errors. Matthew Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif.) added 10 kills on 35 attacks, three blocks and an ace for 14 points. Nikola Anotnijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) pocketed 12 points with seven kills on 13 attacks and a match-high five blocks. Cody Caldwell (Newport Beach, Calif.) contributed nine kills and a block for 10 points. Austin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) tacked on seven kills and a block for eight points, while James Shaw (Woodside, Calif.) provided three kills, three blocks and an ace for seven points. Josh Kirchner (Sussex, Wis.) totaled three points with two kills and a block, while Ben Patch (Provo, Utah) added two kills.

Shaw provided 32 assists on 93 total attempts as the Americans converted 42.8 percent of its attacks into points with a .298 hitting efficiency (56-17-131). Korea converted 41.6 percent of its attacks into points with a .268 hitting efficiency (62-22-149).

“It was impossible for us to stop Korea's attacks,” U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team Head Coach Ken Shibuya said. “In the last two sets we were unfocused so we couldn't give good balls.”

Andrew Sato (Calabasas, Calif.) charted a team-high 16 digs in the loss while adding 20 excellent service receptions on 42 attempts. Caldwell added 18 excellent service receptions on 33 attempts.

“Korea did really well,” U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team captain Matt West said. “It is very interesting to see its captain's play. We played very well, but Korea was better.”

U.S. Boys’ Youth Head Coach Ken Shibuya started Shaw at setter, Kingi at opposite, Tarantino and Caldwell at outside hitter, and Antonijevic and Kirchner at middle blocker. Sato served as the libero for the match. Russell replaced Kirchner in the starting lineup beginning in the second set. Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn.) subbed in all five sets, while Ben Patch (Provo, Utah) was a sub in the first, third and fourth sets. Matt West (Seattle) was a sub in the first and fifth sets, and Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill.) subbed into the second set and fifth sets.

Team USA held a 14-11edge in blocks to offset a 62-56 Korea advantage in kills. Korea managed a 3-2 margin in aces, while holding a commanding 55-38 advantage in digs to keep rallies in progress. Korea turned in a 55.68 reception efficiency (52-3-88) on serve-receive, while the U.S. held a 41.57 serve receive efficiency (43-6-89).

"Almost all matches we had already played were finished in tiebreakers," Korea Head Coach Eun-Chul Kim said. "My players were tired, but they could focused in order to win. I am very happy."

Gyeong-Bok Na led all scorers with 23 Korean points, including 18 kills on 50 attacks, three blocks and two aces. Myung-Geun Song added 17 points and Jun-Young Kim tacked on 16 points.

Korea reached the opening set’s first technical timeout leading 8-7 and inched its lead to 16-14 by the second technical timeout. The Koreans expanded their lead little-by-little to take a five-point victory at 25-20.

Russell came off the bench in the second set to spark the U.S. as it went into the first technical timeout leading 8-6. The Americans reached the second technical timeout with a 16-13 advantage before closing out the set 25-20, thanks to eight points from Russell.

Team USA gained an 8-5 lead at the first technical timeout of the third set behind four consecutive points by Russell. The U.S. scored eight of the next 11 points to push to a 16-8 margin at the second technical timeout. Team USA paced itself the rest of the set for a 25-18 victory. The U.S. received balanced scoring in the third set as not player scored more than three points. Team USA scored four aces in the in third set and benefited from six errors by Korea.

The Americans trailed 11-6 in the fourth set and rallied to within 12-9. Korea stretched the lead back to 16-11 at the second technical timeout. The Americans pulled to within three at 18-15, only to have Korea extend the lead back to five at 22-17. Korea forced the fifth-set tiebreaker with a 25-19 victory in the fourth set. The Americans committed eight errors in the fourth set as Russell scored a team-best four points in the period.

Korea jumped to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set with three kills and two American errors. Korea reached the switch leading 8-3, then scored a third unanswered point at 9-3. The U.S. sliced two off the deficit at 9-5 with a Korea error and Antonijevic kill. Tarantino scored a kill and block on back-to-back plays to close the U.S. to 12-8. Russell hammered a kill and Korea committed an error leading to a 13-10 score. However, Korea reached set and match point at 14-10. Korea finished the set on its second opportunity at 15-11.

2011 U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team Roster
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, Thousand 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., Space Needle, 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 (Brigham Young University)
Team Manager: Tom Tait
Team Doctor: Julie Chuan
Technical Coordinator: Jonah Carson

Second Round (Aug. 24-26)
Times are in Pacific Time

Pool E (Times Local)
Aug. 24: Cuba def. China 25-18, 20-25, 25-14, 23-25, 17-15
Aug. 24: Serbia def. Argentina 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 15-9
Aug. 25: Serbia def. Cuba 22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-15
Aug. 25: Argentina def. China 25-23, 19-25, 25-15, 25-19
Aug. 26: Serbia vs. China, 6 p.m.
Aug. 26: Argentina vs. Cuba, 9 p.m.

Pool F (Times Local)
Aug. 24: Spain def. Bulgaria 22-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-17
Aug. 24: France def. Greece 19-25, 25-14, 25-20, 26-24
Aug. 25: Spain def. France 25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 15-25, 15-10
Aug. 25: Bulgaria def. Greece 25-23, 25-19, 25-21
Aug. 26: France def. Bulgaria 22-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-11
Aug. 26: Spain def. Greece 25-19, 30-28, 25-19

Pool G (Times Local)
Aug. 24: Brazil def. Tunisia 25-15, 21-25, 25-12, 25-21
Aug. 24: Egypt def. Puerto Rico 15-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-17
Aug. 25: Brazil def. Puerto Rico 25-17, 25-16, 25-18
Aug. 25: Egypt def. Tunisia 25-19, 25-22, 15-25, 28-26
Aug. 26: Tunisia def. Puerto Rico 25-21, 25-18, 25-21
Aug. 26: Brazil def. Egypt 25-18, 25-14, 25-20

Pool H (Times Local)

Aug. 24: Russia def. Korea 25-20, 19-25, 18-25, 25-16, 15-10
Aug. 25: Iran def. Korea 21-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-22
Aug. 25: USA def. Russia 25-20, 20-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13
Aug. 26: Korea def. USA 25-20, 20-25, 18-25, 25-19, 15-11
Aug. 26: Russia vs. Iran, 9 p.m.

First Round (Aug. 19-21)

Pool A (Almirante Brown)

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 def. Tunisia 25-12, 25-19, 25-14
Aug. 21: Greece def. Tunisia 25-22, 25-10, 25-20
Aug. 22: 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: France def. Brazil 14-25, 25-20, 9-25, 25-22, 15-12
Aug. 21: Cuba def. Korea 24-26, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 15-13

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 def. Spain 21-25, 28-26, 25-22, 25-21
Aug. 21: Iran def. Puerto Rico 25-12, 25-15, 25-19

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 U.S. Boys' Youth National Team, Aaron Russell, Andrew Sato, Austin Kingi, Ben Patch, Cody Caldwell, 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, U.S. Boys' Youth National Team