Men's Junior Team to Play for NORCECA Gold

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

Unofficial DataVolley Statistics * Official Match Statistics

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 20, 2010) – The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team advanced to the gold medal match of the NORCECA Men’s Junior (under-21) Continental Championship with a 25-15, 25-23, 25-16 defeat of Puerto Rico in Friday’s semifinal at the Centre-Sportif de Gatineau in Quebec.

The U.S. Men’s Junior Team is also assured of a slot at the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championships in Brazil, as the top three teams qualify.

The United States (4-0) will play Canada (4-0) in Saturday’s gold medal match at 8 p.m. ET. The match will be shown live online at ssncanada.ca. Puerto Rico (3-2) is headed to the bronze medal match against Cuba (3-1) with a medal and the third and final berth for the Junior World Championship on the line.

“We executed our game plan to a tee in the first set,” U.S. Men’s Junior Head Coach John Hawks (Huntington Beach, Calif.) said. “I don’t think we missed two serves. We kept consistent pressure on them. But we knew they would come back strong. I’m proud of our effort. We’re qualified but we are not done.”

The U.S. Men’s Junior Team out-blocked Puerto Rico 11-3. It had 38 successful attacks (0.46 hitting percentage) while Puerto Rico had 29 (0.21 hitting percentage).

U.S. opposite Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif.) was the match’s top scorer with 16 points on a match-high 12 kills (0.33 hitting percentage), three blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Taylor Sander (Norco, Calif.) added 11 points on 10 kills (0.44 hitting percentage) and one ace.

“Going to the world juniors was one of our goals going into this,” said outside hitter Taylor Crabb (Honolulu, Hawaii), who earned seven points for the United States on five kills (0.57 hitting percentage), one block and one ace. “We are very excited about going to Brazil next year. But there is still another goal in front us and that is to win this tournament.”

Among other U.S. players, middle blocker Dylan Davis (Newport Beach, Calif.) scored eight points on six kills (1.0 hitting percentage) and two blocks. Middle blocker Eric Mochalski (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) added eight points on four kills (0.67 hitting percentage), and a match-high four blocks. Opposite Josh Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii) score two points on one kill and one ace. Setter Micah Christenson scored one point on a block.

Christenson was credited with 23 running sets and no faults on 47 attempts. Libero Evan Mottram (Leona Valley, Calif.) was credited with three digs on 14 attempts and four excellent receptions on seven attempts. Sander led in receptions with eight excellent on 23 attempts.

Puerto Rico was coming off a two-hour marathon victory in the quarterfinal over Mexico on Thursday. But Head Coach Ramon Lawrence said fatigue wasn’t a factor.

“We didn’t get into the rhythm of the game, we didn’t establish our block,” Lawrence said. “The game last night didn’t affect us.”

Jorge Antonio scored 13 points for Puerto Rico and Ricardo Archilla added seven.

“We have to forget about this game,” Puerto Rico Team Captain Ramon Burgos said. “We still have the chance to go to Brazil and we are looking forward to the next game.”
Hawks started Crabb and Sander at outside hitter, Davis and Mochalski at middle blocker, Torres at opposite, Christenson at setter and Mottram at libero. He stuck with the same starters throughout the match.

Outside hitter Brian Cook (Santa Cruz, Calif.), outside hitter Jeremy Dejno (New Berlin, Wis.), setter Matt West (Seattle, Wash.) and Taylor all played as substitutes.

The United States held a 7-5 lead to open the first set, scoring on two kills and an ace by Torres and three kills from Sander along with a Puerto Rico service error. Torres had another spike to give the U.S. an 8-5 lead at the first technical timeout (TTO), and that sparked a 7-1 run that saw the United States lead 15-6. Team USA eventually increased the lead to 20-10, including three more kills from Sander. The United States reached set point first at 24-14. Puerto Rico scored on a kill before Mochalski scored with the winning block.

The second set opened much more evenly as Puerto Rico stepped up its attack and the U.S. Men’s Junior Team struggled with passing. Puerto Rico took a 3-1 lead, scoring on a kill and two U.S. errors. The teams traded points until Puerto Rico led 7-5. Torres tied the score with two straight kills, but Puerto Rico’s spike gave it the 8-7 lead at the first TTO. Later, with the score tied 10-10, Team USA scored four straight points on two Puerto Rican errors and spikes by Crabb and Davis. PR came back with a block, but another Davis kill and PR error gave Team USA the 16-11 lead at the second TTO. Puerto Rico was not done, however, and scored three straight points to pull to within two at 16-14. Hawks called timeout and Crabb responded with a block. But PR scored two more straight points on a spike and U.S. hitting error to pull to within one at 17-16. Torres held PR off with a kill. Puerto Rico tied the score at 18-18 on another U.S. hitting error and a spike. Puerto Rico’s service error kept the U.S. lead at one point and Crabb extended that with a jump-float ace. Puerto Rico called timeout and came back with three straight points on a spike, a U.S. attack error and a block to lead 21-20. Hawks called timeout and Sander responded with a kill. Puerto Rico took the 22-21 lead with a spike, but Sander had another kill followed by a Davis block and Torres kill to give the U.S. set point at 24-22. Puerto Rico held off the loss with a spike before Torres ended the set with a successful attack.

Carrying the momentum into the third set, the United States jumped out to a 6-1 lead, scoring on two blocks by Mochalski and a block and kill from Torres along with two Puerto Rico errors. The U.S. led 8-4 at the first TTO and continued to lead by four at 13-9 when Crabb sparked a four-point run with a kill. Davis chipped in a block and Sander an attack as the U.S. went ahead 17-9. The U.S. lead was 18-11 when Sander had a kill and an ace to increase it to 20-11. Puerto Rico scored on a U.S. service error but the United States came back with a Davis kill and Mochalski block to lead 22-12. But Team USA’s concentration seemed to slip and PR took advantage, scoring three straight points on a U.S. error, a kill and a block. Hawks called timeout and Taylor showed a very focused attack to lead 23-15, and then followed with an ace to bring the U.S. to match point. PR held off the loss with an attack, but Sander gave Team USA the victory with a final attack.

USA Volleyball Men’s Junior National Team:
No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, High School/Grad. Year, Club, Region)
2 Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Kamehameha Kapalama/2011, Outrigger Canoe Club, Aloha)
4 Brian Cook (OH, 6-6, Santa Cruz, Calif., Soquel/2010, Bay to Bay, Northern California)
5 Taylor Crabb (OH, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Punahou/2010, Outrigger Canoe Club, Aloha)
6 C Dylan Davis (MB, 6-9, Newport Beach, Calif., Corona Del Mar/2009, UC Santa Barbara, Southern California)
7 Jeremy Dejno (OH, 6-4, New Berlin, Wis., New Berlin Eisenhower/2010, West Allis Lightning, Badger)
9 Scott Kevorken (MB, 6-9, Westlake Village, Calif., Westlake/2009, UC Irvine, Southern California)
11 Eric Mochalski (MB, 6-6, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mira Costa/2010, SCVC, Southern California)
12 Evan Mottram (L, 6-4, Leona Valley, Calif., Quartz Hill/2009, UC Santa Barbara, Southern California)
13 Matt West (S, 6-5.5, Seattle, Wash., Shorewood/2011, Space Needle VF, Puget Sound)
15 Taylor Sander (OH, 6-4, Norco, Calif., Norco/2010, Orange Coast VC, Southern California)
17 Josh Taylor (OPP, 6-7, Honolulu, Hawaii, Punahou/2011, Kuikahi VC, Aloha)
18 Maurice Torres (OPP, 6-7, Riverside, Calif., Lutheran/2009, Pepperdine, Southern California)

Head Coach: John Hawks (Long Beach State University)
Assistant Coaches: Colin McMillan (Penn State University) and Brad Keller (USC)

Event Schedule (All times ET) and Results

Monday, Aug. 16
Pool A: Dominican Republic def. Guatemala, 25-22, 25-23, 25- 23
Pool B: Puerto Rico def. St. Lucia, 25-10, 25-13, 25-10
Pool B: Cuba vs. Honduras, 25-12, 25-19, 25-15
Pool C: Mexico def. Martinique, 25-15, 25-15, 25-16
Pool C: USA def. Trinidad & Tobago, 25-9, 25-7, 25-10

Tuesday, Aug. 17
Pool A: Canada vs. Guatemala, 25-23, 25-14, 23-25, 26-24
Pool B: Cuba def. St. Lucia, 25-10, 25-10, 25-14
Pool B: Puerto Rico def. Honduras, 25-19, 25-13, 25-11
Pool C: Mexico def. Trinidad & Tobago, 25-15, 25-13, 25-9
Pool C: USA def. Martinique, 25-14, 25-11, 25-11

Wednesday, Aug. 18
Pool A: Canada def. Dominican Republic, 25-20 25-14 25-21
Pool B: Honduras def. St. Lucia, 25-20, 25-14, 25-15
Pool B: Cuba def. Puerto Rico, 23-25 27-25 25-21 25-14
Pool C: Martinique def. Trinidad & Tobago, 25-12, 25-8, 25-20
Pool C: USA def. Mexico, 25-22, 25-19, 25-19

Final Pool Standings
Pool A
Canada 2-0
Dominican Republic 1-1
Guatemala 0-2

Pool B
Cuba 3-0
Puerto Rico 2-1
Honduras 1-2
St. Lucia 0-3

Pool C
USA 3-0
Mexico 2-1
Martinique 1-2
Trinidad & Tobago 0-3

Thursday, Aug. 19
Consolation Quarterfinal: Guatemala def. St. Lucia, 25-12, 25-9, 25-10
Consolation Quarterfinal: Honduras def. Martinique, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21
Quarterfinal: Puerto Rico def. Mexico, 23-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-21, 15-7
Quarterfinal: Canada def. Dominican Republic, 25-19, 25-15, 25-19

Friday, Aug. 20
9th-place: Martinique def. St. Lucia 25-17, 25-19, 25-17
7th-place match: Guatemala def. Honduras, 25-21, 25-21, 27-25
Semifinal: USA def. Puerto Rico, 25-15, 25-23, 25-16
Semifinal: Canada def. Cuba, 22-25, 25-19, 25-7, 25-15

Saturday, August 21
13:00 10th-place match: Trinidad & Tobago vs. TBD
15:00 5th-place match: Mexico vs. Dominican Republic
18:00 Bronze medal match
20:00 Gold medal match

Tags: 2010 U.S. Men's Junior National Training Team, Brian Cook, Dylan Davis, Eric Mochalski, Evan Mottram, Jeremy Dejno, John Hawks, Josh Taylor, Men's Junior National Team, NORCECA, NORCECA Continental Championship, NORCECA Men's Junior Continental Championship