B.J. Hoeptner Evans - USA Volleyball July 31, 2009
usavolleyball.org/news/article/14713COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 31, 2009) – The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team opened the FIVB World Championships on Friday with a 3-1 (32-30, 21-25, 25-18, 30-28) pool play victory over Belarus at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune, India.
The seventh-ranked U.S. Men’s Junior Team will play its next pool play match against Tunisia at 1:30 a.m. PT on Saturday.
Tony Ciarelli (Huntington Beach, Calif.) paced Team USA on Friday and led all scorers with 23 points on 18 kills, four blocks and one ace. Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) added 15 points on 12 kills and three blocks. Murphy Troy (St. Louis, Mo.) chipped in nine points on seven kills, one block and one ace.
Nick Vogel (El Cajon, Calif.) scored eight points on three kills, four blocks and one ace.
“We are trying to start a little better, but I liked how our team adjusted after the slow start, especially in blocking,” U.S. Head Coach Shawn Patchell said. “I thought we also served well during the match. We were getting better as the match went on, and this is a huge win competing with a quality European opponent.”
Pavel Audochanka led Belarus with 22 points on 20 spikes and two blocks. Siarhei Busel contributed 14 points with a match-high nine blocks in the loss, while Artur Udrys provided tacked on 12 points.
Both teams tallied 15 blocks, while USA won the service battle with six aces while Belarus had two.
Among other U.S. scorers, Rusty Lavaja (St. Charles, Ill.) scored seven points on four kills, two blocks and one ace. Tri Bourne (Honolulu, Hawai’i) added seven points on seven kills. Tyler Jaynes (Granite Bay, Calif.) tallied three points on two kills and one ace. Joe Kauliakamoa (Las Vegas, Nev.) scored three points on one kill, one block and one ace.
Libero Erik Shoji (Honolulu, Hawai’i) was credited with 10 digs on 31 attempts and 18 excellent receptions with no faults on 27 attempts.
Kauliakamoa was credited with 30 running sets on 120 attempts.
“This is the first time we have won the opening match of the tournament, counting NORCECA events,” U.S. team captain Troy said. “All the guys came off the bench and contributed.”
Patchell started Jaynes and Vogel at middle blocker, Ciarelli and Troy at outside hitter, Sunder at opposite, Kauliakamoa at setter and Shoji at libero. Lavaja started the third and fourth sets for Jaynes. Bourne started the third and fourth sets for Troy.
In the first set, the U.S. rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to take a marathon 32-30 victory. Belarus’s Artur Udrys served an ace to go into the second technical timeout (TTO) up 16-15. Belarus obtained a two-point cushion at 18-16 and stretched its margin to three points at 20-17 forcing a U.S. timeout. Consecutive kills by Troy closed the deficit to 20-19. A Ciarelli kill and Jaynes ace tied the set at 20-all. Vogel put down an overpass to yield a 22-21 U.S. lead. Belarus earned the first set point at 24-23. A Belarus attack outside the antenna gave the U.S. its first set point at 26-25 after a Belarus service error. Belarus earned its third set point at 27-26. Team USA grabbed a 29-28 lead on back-to-back Belarus errors. The Americans ended the match at 32-30 on a Belarus attack into the net. Ciarelli led the U.S. with nine points to offset Audochanka’s 10 points for Belarus.
After falling behind 0-2 to start the second set, Team USA earned its first advantage at 6-5. Belarus went into the first TTO leading 8-7. Belarus gained a three-point cushion at 13-10 on a U.S. attack wide of the antenna and Belarus block forcing an American timeout. Belarus stretched the margin to four at 14-10 with another American miscue. Kauliakamoa and Troy connected for quick kills to close to within one at 15-14, then Ciarelli knocked down a kill to tie the set at 15-all. Andrei Radziuk powered a back-row kill and a Team USA yield stretched the gap to 15-18. Belarus’ Andrei Mikhnevich served an ace to extend the lead to 21-17. Busel formed a block allowing Belarus to assume a 23-18 advantage. Busel put up a block to give Belarus a 24-20 lead and its first set point of the second period, and Audochanka powered the final kill of the set at 25-21. Radziuk paced Belarus in the second set with four points, while the team put up six blocks and took advantage of 10 other USA errors.
Belarus gained a quick 4-2 lead in the third set. A Vogel ace was not enough for Team USA to keep pace in the early going as Belarus hit the first TTO up 8-5. A Belarus service error and long attack narrowed its lead to 8-7 out of the break and Lavaja tied it at 8-all with a block. On consecutive Belarus errors, Team USA took its first lead at 10-9. A long U.S. attack lifted Belarus back in front at 11-10. A Belarus four-touch call and Vogel block brought the U.S. back in front at 13-11. Team USA continued the scoring run with a Lavaja ace producing a 14-11 margin. The United States added another two more points to the run with consecutive kills at 16-11. Team USA increased its lead to 18-12. An American triple block and Belarus lift increased the scoreboard to 20-14. The U.S. ended the set with a comfortable 25-18 victory. Troy paced the Americans with five points in the set and the squad charted four blocks.
Sunder’s kill and block and a Vogel block put the U.S. in front 3-0 to open the fourth set, but Belarus rallied back with three consecutive points to tie the set at 3-all. Team USA answered with a 5-1 run, including four points from Ciarelli, to establish an 8-4 lead at the first TTO. Belarus responded with two unanswered points to slice the deficit in half at 8-6 and reached to within one at 9-8. A Ciarelli block lifted the U.S. in front 12-8. Belarus cut the gap to 13-10 on a Team USA error. The Americans built a 15-10 lead before the technical timeout, and then withstood two Belarus points before going into the break at 16-12. Belarus remained active in the late stages to move to within three at 18-15. Belarus continued to close the gap and forced a USA timeout at 19-18. Team USA answered with a couple kills off the Belarus block and Bourne powered a kill through the defense to go back up 22-19. Busel put up a block to help Belarus close to within one at 23-22, followed by a kill from the left side to tie the set at 23-all. Sunder gave the U.S. its first match point at 24-23 with a kill. Belarus saved the point and earned its first set point at 25-24 as the U.S. was called in the net with a joust of four players. The U.S. went up 28-27 with an errant Belarus attack. The U.S. ended the set and match at 30-28 with a Sunder block.
Live scoring, photos and other information are available on the FIVB web site by clicking here
www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/Competitions/Junior/men/2009/?Tourn=MJ2009
