U.S. Men's Junior Team Ready for the World

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org  

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 30, 2009) – The players and coaches on the U.S. Men’s Junior (U-19) National Team that will compete July 31-Aug. 9 at the 2009 Men’s Junior World Championship in Pune, India, know each other pretty well.

Seven players return from the 2008 team that won the bronze medal at the 2008 NORCECA Championship in El Salvador to qualify for the world championships: outside hitter Tri Bourne (Honolulu, Hawai’i); middle blocker Tyler Jaynes (Granite Bay, Calif.); setter Joe Kauliakamoa (Las Vegas, Nev.); outside hitter Brad Lawson (Honolulu, Hawai’i); libero Erik Shoji (Honolulu, Hawai’i), who was named Best Defender, Best Receiver, and Best Libero at the NORCECA Championship; team captain Murphy Troy (St. Louis, Mo.) at outside hitter; and opposite Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.).

Head coach Shawn Patchell, the men’s volleyball coach at BYU, also coached the team in 2008.

Jaynes, Kauliakamoa, Lawson, Shoji and Troy have all played together on U.S. teams since 2006, when they were on the U.S. Boys’ Youth Team that won the silver medal at the NORCECA Championships in the Dominican Republic.

The new players on the team will bring great skill and are also familiar with some of the other players in one way or another.

Outside hitter Tony Ciarelli (Huntington Beach, Calif.) started as a freshman at USC this spring, playing with Troy and Bourne. That Trojans team made it to the NCAA final, where it fell to UC Irvine, 2-3.

Middle blocker Rusty Lavaja (St. Charles, Ill.) plays at BYU with Kauliakamoa and Patchell. Middle blocker Nick Vogel (El Cajon, Calif.) and outside hitter Thomas Amberg (El Cajon, Calif.) play together at Valhalla High School before both went to UCLA. The U.S. Men’s Junior Team assistant coach Jonathan Wenger is also from UCLA.

However, there is one player the team expected to have in India that it won’t. Setter Matt Stork (Topanga, Calif.) could not make the trip due to visa issues.

Lawson may have to sit out early matches as he recovers from a sprained ankle.

The team trained for two weeks at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., before heading to India.

“We are excited to finally play,” Patchell said. “Being one of the top 16 teams in the world is an honor but we are ready to compete and represent USA Volleyball.

“Our boys have fought through 30 hours of travel and jet lag and are ready to peak in the next 10 days of competition.”

This is the third straight year, and fifth overall, that the United States has qualified for the Men’s Junior World Championship. In 1977 and 1981, the U.S. Men’s Junior Team placed seventh. After a 24-year absence, the United States returned in 2005, posting a record of 2-5 and finished eighth. In 2007, the United States placed seventh again under head coach Andy Read.

If it is hoping to do better in 2009 the United States must first get through its pool, which includes Belarus, host India and Tunisia. None of the four has ever medaled at the Men’s Junior World Championship.

Following the first round of pool play, four new pools will be created, with two pools of first- and second-place teams and two pools of third- and fourth-place teams. The best four teams from the top two pools move on to the semifinals.

Team USA will open against Belarus at 9:30 p.m. PT on Thursday, July 30. It will face Tunisia at 1:30 a.m. PT on Aug. 1 and India at 5:30 a.m. PT on Aug. 2. All the matches will be played at the Balewadi Sports Complex - Badminton Hall.

Patchell says that to play Belarus he will start Jaynes and Vogel at middle blocker, Ciarelli and Troy at outside hitter, Sunder at opposite, Kauliakamoa at setter and Shoji at libero.

Brazil and Russia have each won the Men’s Junior World Championships three times while the USSR won it four times before being dissolved.

Live scoring, photos and other information are available on the FIVB web site by clicking here.

2009 FIVB Men's Junior World Championships
July 31-Aug. 9 in Pune, India

U.S. Men’s Junior National Team Roster

Name (Position, Height, City, State, School, Region)

1. Thomas Amberg (OH, 6-7, El Cajon, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
4. Tyler Jaynes (MB, 6-9, Granite Bay, Calif., Pepperdine, No Cal)
5. Joseph Kauliakamoa (Setter, 6-5, Las Vegas, Nev., BYU, No Cal)
6. Brad Lawson (OH, 6-7, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Stanford, Aloha)
7. Erik Shoji (Libero, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Stanford, Aloha)
8. C Murphy Troy (OH, 6-8, St. Louis, Mo., USC, Gateway)
9. Tri Bourne (OH, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawai’i, USC, Aloha)
10. Tony Ciarelli (OH, 6-6, Huntington Beach, Calif., USC, So Cal)
13. Rusty Lavaja (MB, 6-7, St. Charles, Ill., BYU, Great Lakes)
17. Joseph Sunder (Opp., 6-7, Greensburg, Pa., Penn State, Keystone)
18. Nick Vogel (MB, 6-9, El Cajon, Calif., UCLA, So Cal)

Head Coach: Shawn Patchell (BYU men’s head coach)
Assistant Coach: JT Wenger (UCLA men’s assistant coach)
Team Manager: Tom Tait (former Penn State men’s head coach)
Therapist / trainer: Giuseppe Vinci (BYU technical coordinator)
Team Doctor: Julie Chuan

Pool A Schedule (All times PT)

July 30
9:30 p.m. USA vs. Belarus

July 31
3:30 a.m. Tunisia vs. India

Aug. 1
1:30 a.m. Tunisia vs. USA
5:30 India vs. Belarus

Aug. 2
1:30 a.m. Belarus vs. Tunisia
5:30 a.m. India vs. USA

Tags: 2009 U.S. Men's Junior National Team, Brad Lawson, Erik Shoji, Joe Kauliakamoa, Joe Sunder, Murphy Troy, Nick Vogel, Rusty Lavaja, Shawn Patchell, Tom Amberg, Tony Ciarelli, Tri Bourne, Tyler Jaynes, U.S. Men's Junior National Team, World Championships