Men's Junior Team Wins NORCECA Championship

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

Official Match Statistics * Unofficial DataVolley Statistics

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 21, 2010) – The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team won the NORCECA Men’s Junior (under-21) Continental Championship for the first time on Saturday, defeating Canada, 25-14, 25-19, 25-16, in the gold medal match at the Centre-Sportif de Gatineau in Quebec.

The United States finished the tournament with a 5-0 record and did not drop a set. Canada finished 4-1. Both teams qualified for the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championships in Brazil.

The United States’ Taylor Crabb (Honolulu, Hawaii) was named the tournament's best spiker. Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawaii) was named best setter and Evan Mottram (Leona Valley, Calif.) was named best receiver. Canada's Nicholas Hoag was named the tournament most valuable player.

In the bronze medal match, Puerto Rico defeated Cuba, 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-18, 25-22).

The United States has medaled in every NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship since the bi-annual event began in 1998, but has never won gold. Its best finishes were seconds in 2004 and 2006.

“This victory means absolutely everything to us,” said opposite Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif.), who led the U.S., with 14 points on nine kills (0.26 hitting percentage), one block and a match-high four aces. “There’s nothing more you can do than win a gold medal. We play as a team. There’s not one or two of us; there’s 12 of us. That’s the best system you can have.”

Outside hitter Taylor Sander (Norco, Calif.) added 12 points on nine kills (0.32 hitting percentage), one block and two aces. Middle blocker Eric Mochalski (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) contributed eight points on six kills (0.55 hitting percentage) and two blocks.

The United States had seven team aces to Canada’s three. Team USA had 37 points on kills (0.37 hitting percentage) while Canada had 24 (0.07 hitting percentage). The teams were even in blocking, 4-4. The United States’ service reception included 24 excellents and two errors on 41 attempts. Canada’s had 28 excellents and seven errors on 67 attempts. .

“I was proud of our effort this week and tonight,” U.S. Men’s Junior Head Coach John Hawks (Huntington Beach, Calif.) said. “They executed the game plan. They are smart players and just a really fun group of guys to coach.”

Among other U.S. players, Crabb had five points on five kills (0.27 hitting percentage). Josh Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii) added three points on two kills and one ace. Dylan Davis (Newport Beach, Calif.) totaled three points on three kills. Christenson had two points on two setter dumps and Jeremy Dejno (New Berlin, Wis.) scored one point on one attack.

Mottram was credited with 10 excellent service receptions and no faults on 14 attempts. Christenson was credited with 15 running sets and no faults on 51 attempts.

Hoag led Canada with 12 points on nine kills, one block and two aces. The Canadians, also silver medalists in 2008, had their best set in the second but a six-point U.S. run midway through was too hard to make up.

“The U.S. really came to play and we just got out played today,” said Canada’s Justin Olmstead, who added seven points. “Our plan was to stick to what we we’ve doing all week and keep that block stable. But they made it tough on us and we wound up making a lot of errors.”
Hawks started Crabb and Sander at outside hitter, Mochalski and Davis at middle blocker, Torres at opposite, Christenson at setter and Mottram at libero.

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

The U.S. Men’s Junior Team opened an 8-2 lead at the first technical timeout (TTO) of the first set. It extended the lead to seven at 10-3 and led by eight at the second TTO, 16-8. With the U.S. leading 17-9 after a Sander kill, Canada came back to score twice on an ace and a kill to make it 17-11. The United States answered with a 4-0 run, including a kill and ace by Torres and a block and kill by Sander to lead 21-11. Canada scored twice on a block and U.S. hitting error, but Davis ended the run with an attack. Canada scored once more with a spike before Team USA reached set point on a Sander attack and won the set on a Mochalski kill.

The United States took a 4-0 lead in the second set, including kills by Sander, Crabb and Mochalski, before Canada called timeout and came back with three straight points on two kills and a U.S. error. Still, the U.S. led 8-5 at the first TTO, getting two more points on a kill and ace by Torres. Team USA led 9-6 when Canada scored twice on Olmstead attacks. Sander got a kill to keep Team USA ahead by two, but an attack and Hoag ace tied the score at 10-10. The score was tied at 11-11 when Mochalski opened things up with an attack and an ace. Canada scored on a U.S. error, but the United States scored the next seven points, including a kill and two aces by Torres and a setter dump from Christenson. Torres ended his own serving run with a serve out of bounds, but then came back with another attack to make the U.S. lead 21-13. Canada used U.S. errors and two blocks to cut the lead to four at 21-17. But the U.S. continued to attack and reached set point at 24-18. An Olmstead kill held off the loss but Canada’s serving error ended the set.

The U.S. took an 8-6 lead at the first TTO of the third set, scoring on a block and kill from Mochalski, two kills by Davis, one by Torres and a Christenson setter dump. Four out of Canada’s six points were scored on U.S. errors. Torres extended the lead to 9-6 with an attack, but Canada cut the lead to one with an Olmstead kill and Hoag ace. Crabb came through with an attack for another point, but Canada responded with a spike to make it 10-9. Sander came back with a kill and got three more along with one from Torres in a 4-0 run. Hoag ended the run with a kill, but the U.S. scored twice more on attacks from Mochalski and Torres. The teams traded points until the U.S. led 17-12. Two straight aces by Sander increased the U.S. lead to 19-12 and caused Canada to all timeout. Hoag came back with two straight kills to cut the U.S. lead to five and cause Hawks to call timeout. That iced the serve of Canada’s T.J. Sanders who had a service error to give Team USA a 22-14 advantage. A Mochalski attack made it 23-14 before Hoag scored twice on an attack and ace. But it was too little too late. Dejno gave the U.S. match point with a kill and Taylor ended the match with an ace.

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
10th-place match: Trinidad and Tobago def. St. Lucia, 25-12, 26-24, 25-22
5th-place match: Dominican Republic def. Mexico, 26-24, 25-22, 29-27
Bronze medal match: Puerto Rico def. Cuba, 25-16, 22-25, 25-18, 25-22
Gold medal match: USA def. Canada, 25-14, 25-19, 25-16

Tags: 2010 U.S. Men's Junior National Team, Brian Cook, Dylan Davis, Eric Mochalski, Evan Mottram, Jeremy Dejno, John Hawks, Josh Taylor, Matt West, Maurice Torres, Men's Junior National Team, Micah Christenson, NORCECA, NORCECA Continental Championship, NORCECA Men's Junior Continental Championship, Scott Kevorken, Taylor Crabb, Taylor Sander