COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 29, 2019) – The U.S. Boys Youth National Team got 17 points from outside hitter Alex Knight, but couldn’t get past Germany and fell 25-19, 19-25, 25-19, 25-14 on Thursday at the FIVB U19 World Championship in Tunisia.

The Boys Youth Team (2-4) will play a final match against Chinese Taipei for 15th place on Friday at 1 a.m. PT.

Knight led the U.S. with 17 points on 17 kills. Opposite Akin Akinwumi added nine points on eight kills and one block.

Outside hitter Joe Deluzio scored seven points on four kills and three aces. Middle blocker Gavin Julien scored five points, including four aces.

Germany led the U.S. in kills (46-40), blocks (6-3) and aces (10-8). Germany scored 32 points on U.S. errors while committing 26.

STARTERS FOR U.S. BOYS YOUTH TEAM VS GERMANY
Outside hitters: Alex Knight and Francesco Sani
Middle blockers: Rico Wardlow and Gavin Julien
Opposite: Akin Akinwumi
Setter: Kevin Kauling
Libero: Mason Briggs
Substitutes: Joe Karlous (S), James Hartley (Opp), Joe Deluzio (OH)

2019 U.S. Boys Youth National Team

Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, Region, College Commit)
1 Kevin Kauling (S, 6-8, Naperville, Ill., Great Lakes, committed to Lewis)
3 Mason Briggs (L, 5-11, Valencia, Calif., So Cal, signed with Long Beach State)
4 Joe Karlous (S, 6-0, Costa Mesa, Calif., So Cal, signed with Pepperdine)
8 Akinola Akinwumi (Opp, 6-6, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., So Cal, signed with Pepperdine)
9 Clarke Godbold (Opp, 6-5, San Pedro, Calif., So Cal, committed to Long Beach State)
10 James Hartley (OH, 6-6, Waxhaw, N.C., Carolina, signed with Princeton)
11 Rico Wardlow (MB, 6-5, Bolingbrook, Ill., Great Lakes, signed with Purdue University Fort Wayne)
12 Alex Knight (OH, 6-6, Culver City, Calif., So Cal, signed with UCLA)
13 Ethan Hill (MB, 6-7, San Clemente, Calif., So Cal, signed with UCLA)
14 Francesco Sani (OH, 6-8, Bethesda, Md., Old Dominion, committed to UC Irvine)
15 Joe Deluzio (OH, 6-6, Windermere, Fla., Florida, committed to Pepperdine)
17 Gavin Julien (MB, 6-8, Whitefish Bay, Wis., Badger, signed with BYU)

Head Coach: David Hunt (Pepperdine men’s volleyball head coach)
Assistant Coach: Nick MacRae (Long Beach State men’s assistant coach)
Assistant Coach: Colin McMillan (Penn State men’s associate head coach)
Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo (U.S. Men’s National Team)
Team Manager: Gabby Lutjen
Doctor: David Dyck

Schedule/Results (All times MT)
Aug. 21: USA def Dominican Republic, 25-18, 31-29, 25-17
Aug. 22: Korea def USA, 25-27, 25-17, 25-20, 25-22
Aug. 23: USA def Nigeria, 25-22, 25-19, 25-20
Aug. 25: Russia def. USA, 25-12, 25-19, 25-12
Aug. 27: Argentina def. USA, 25-20, 25-19, 25-14
Aug. 28: Brazil def. USA, 24-26, 25-23, 21-15, 25-17, 15-10
Aug. 29: Germany def USA, 25-19, 19-25, 25-19, 25-14