U.S. Men Fall to Canada in Five

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 3, 2017) – When the U.S. Men’s National Team last played Canada, it was in the opening match of the 2016 Olympic Games and Canada won, 3-0.

On Saturday, Canada continued its winning ways as it defeated the U.S. Men’s National Team, 23-25, 25-19,18-25, 25-23, 15-11 in an FIVB World League match in front of a nearly empty arena in Novi Sad, Serbia.

The United States fell to 0-2 and will face Belgium on Sunday. Saturday’s match will be shown Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

It was a big day for BYU as former Cougars Taylor Sander, Jake Langlois and Ben Patch all started for the United States. UC Irvine alums David Smith and Dan McDonnell also got the start along with Micah Christenson of USC and Erik Shoji of Stanford.

Langlois and Loyola’s Jeff Jendryk made their World League debuts in the match.

In the first three sets, the U.S. seemed to clean up the serving and passing problems it suffered in the loss to Serbia. But Canada’s blocking and hitting came on strong in the fourth and fifth sets and the U.S. passing couldn’t keep up. The U.S. led in blocks (10-8) and aces (9-8). Canada led in kills (62-56). Each team finished with 28 errors.

Patch led the U.S. with 17 points on a match-high 17 kills. Middle blocker Smith added 14 points on 10 kills, three blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Garrett Muagututia started the final three sets in place of Sander and scored 11 points.

Middle blocker Jendryk started the final three sets in place of Dan McDonnell and scored nine points.

Canada also has some new players and has had to adopt a new system under first-year Head Coach Stephane Antiga, formerly the head coach of Poland’s national team. Canada’s star opposite Gavin Schmidt retired after the Olympics but opposite Bradley Gunter led Canada in his place, scoring 17 points.

In the first set, the U.S. trailed by as many as six points at 14-8 and trailed by five at 17-12.  “We just need to play better volleyball. We just need to be a lot more sharp,” U.S. Head Coach John Speraw told the team during a timeout. The U.S. rallied to tie the score at 21-21. At 22-22, the U.S. scored on a Smith attack and block by Patch. Canada scored once more before a kill by Patch won the set.

A kill from Smith and a Sander ace put the U.S. ahead at 15-14 in the second set. Canada tied it with a kill off the block then took the lead with a block, an ace and a kill. The U.S. never recovered.

The U.S. Men jumped to an 8-4 lead in the third set and eventually increased it to 14-7. The U.S. reached set point at 24-16. Canada scored twice before the U.S. Men won on Canada’s service error.

The U.S. led the fourth set 5-1 and went into the first technical timeout leading 8-4. Canada came back to tie the score at 10-10. Tough serving and hitting gave Canada the 16-12 lead at the second TTO. The U.S. used a serving run by Kawika Shoji to pull to within one at 16-15. The U.S. tied the score at 19-19. It was still tied at 22-22 when Canada reached set point on two straight attacks. Garrett Muagututia scored with an attack to pull the U.S. to within one, but Canada won on a U.S. serving error.

The U.S. led the fifth set 5-4 on a kill from Muagututia and Canada’s hitting error. Canada scored twice on two U.S. errors and then got an ace to go up by two. The U.S. never held the lead again.

U.S. Starters vs Canada

Outside hitters: Taylor Sander and Jake Langlois

Middle blockers: David Smith and Dan McDonnell

Sitter: Micah Christenson

Opposite: Ben Patch

Libero: Erik Shoji

Statistics vs Canada

Kills: Patch 17, Smith 10, Muagututia 10, Jendryk 7, Sander 5, Langlois 4, McDonnell 2, DeFalco 1

Blocks: Smith 3, Christenson 3, Langlois 2, DeFalco 1, McDonnell 1

Aces: Sander 2, Jendryk 2, Christenson 2, Langlois 1, Muagututia 1, Smith 1

Digs: E Shoji 5,Christenson 4, Patch 4, Langlois 2, Sander 1, Muagututia 1, DeFalco 1

2017 FIVB World League

June 2-4 in Novi Sad, Serbia

U.S. Men’s Roster

1. Tommy Carmody (MB, 6-9, Orland Park, Ill., Pacific/Pepperdine)

3. Taylor Sander (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., BYU)

4. Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola of Chicago)

7C. Kawika Shoji (S, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)

9. Jake Langlois (OH, 6-10, San Jose, Calif., BYU)

11. Micah Christenson (S, 6-6, Honolulu, Southern California)

13. Dan McDonnell (MB, 6-6, Glendale, Ariz., UC Irvine)

14. Ben Patch (Opp, 6-8, Provo, Utah, BYU)

15. Carson Clark (Opp, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Irvine)

17. TJ DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)

18. Garrett Muagututia (OH, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA)

20. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)

21. Dustin Watten (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
22. Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)

Staff

Head Coach: John Speraw

Team Leader: Mike Wall

Assistant Coaches: Matt Fuerbringer and Robert Neilson

Sports Psychologist: Andrea Becker

Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo

Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock

Strength Coach: Tim Pelot

Consultant Coach: Anton Brams

TV Schedule and Results