Candice Kasischke
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 3, 2011) - The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team defeated Japan 25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19 and concluded first round pool play on Wednesday afternoon in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Junior World Championship Brazil 2011 held at Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Team USA, part of the four-team Pool A in the 16-team tournament, improves to a 2-1 standing as it heads into the second round which will be played from Aug. 5-7. The Americans’ second-round pool and opponents will be determined after the outcome of the Brazil versus Bulgaria match tonight.  Taylor Sander (Norco, Calif.) led the U.S. Men’s Junior Team with 23 points on 19 kills, three blocks and an ace. U.S. team captain Taylor Crabb (Honolulu) and Dylan Davis (Corona del Mar, Calif.) both contributed 11 points apiece. Crabb racked up his points with 10 kills and a block, while Davis scored eight kills and three blocks.

Eric Mochalski (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) added 10 points on seven kills, two blocks and an ace. Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif.) scored seven kills. Josh Taylor (Honolulu) contributed six points off of four kills and two blocks. Micah Christenson (Honolulu) scored three points with a kill and two blocks for Team USA.  “I am really proud of my team,” U.S. Men’s Junior National Team Head Coach John Hawks said. “We managed to react after being in a tough situation when we lost to Brazil last night. We watched Japan’s matches and decided to put a big block in front of Japan’s number five (Takashi Dekita) and it worked.”  Crabb added that Team USA is still out to achieve its main goal.  “We came to this tournament with one goal, that is fighting for the gold medal and we knew that winning this match was essential for that,” Crabb said. “We played badly against Brazil, but improved in this match.”  Dekita scored 19 points to lead Japan in scoring.  Henry Cassiday (Honolulu) contributed 12 digs and five excellent receptions for the U.S. team. Crabb added six digs and 12 excellent receptions on 28 attempts, while Sander had four digs and eight excellent receptions. Torres contributed seven digs. Christenson contributed 27 assists out of 76 total set attempts and had seven digs.  Hawks started Crabb and Sander at outside hitter, Davis and Mochalski at middle blocker, Christenson at setter and Torres as opposite. Cassiday was the designated libero. Taylor started in the third set and contributed court action in the second set. Connor Olbright (Orange, Calif.) and Brian Cook (Santa Cruz, Calif.) subbed in the second set.  Team USA racked up 56 kills on 111 attempts for 50.5 kill percent and .396 hitting efficiency. Japan was able to convert just 39.7 percent of its attacks with a .240 hitting efficiency. The U.S. team out-blocked Japan 13-4 and had 50 digs, while Japan had 44 digs. Both teams had 25 errors in the match.

“Congratulations to the Americans for not allowing us to play the way that we are used to,” Japan’s Head Coach Noriaki Sako said. “The U.S. setter (Christenson) played a great match with amazing distribution. My players were tired, as we played two five-set matches in the past two days.”  In the first set, the U.S. had a 5-2 lead when Taylor and Sander racked up consecutive kills to take the next two points. Team USA climbed to a 10-3 lead. The U.S. kept control, but Japan made a comeback to lessen the U.S.’s margin to 19-15. At this point, Japan served out of bounds and Mochalski made a block at 21-15. Japan battled to a 23-18 score, but Team USA capped the first set with a 25-20 victory.  In the second set, the two teams battled to win every point, tying six times before 8-all. Japan broke away to gain a two-point advantage, but a thunderous attack from Torres and an error from Japan evened out the score. At this point, Japan took a five-point run to gain a 16-10 edge. The teams battled to a 23-18 score. Mochalski made a kill from the middle to keep the set alive. The U.S. lessened the margin to 23-20, but Japan propelled to a 25-21 victory.  The U.S. and Japan fought tough in the third set and the score was tied up to 14-14. Team USA broke away to gain a 17-15 lead and carried it through to 22-18. Crabb and Davis made a block each and then Japan had a receiving error, giving the U.S. the last three points of the set to take a 25-18 victory.  In the fourth set, Team USA led 5-1 and carried it through to 14-10. Japan battled hard on defense, but couldn’t gain momentum to catch up with Team USA. A kill from Davis brought the U.S. to a 20-16 lead. Japan won the next two points, but Team USA’s offense couldn’t be denied. The U.S. won the match with a fourth set victory, 25-19. In Pool A’s other match on Wednesday, Bulgaria is set to face Brazil at 2:30 p.m. PT.

In other pool action on Wednesday, Puerto Rico defeated Tunisia 20-25, 25-13, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11 and Argentina defeated Spain 25-20, 22-25, 25-14, 25-8 in Pool B. In Pool C, India swept Egypt 25-17, 25-19, 25-18 and Russia defeated Germany 25-20, 24-26, 25-23, 25-23. In Pool D, Iran defeated Belgium 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 17-14 and Serbia will play Canada at 2:30 p.m. PT.

2011 U.S. Men's Junior National Team
Name (Position, Height, Hometown, HS Grad Year, Club/School, Region)
1. Henry Cassiday (L, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2010, USC, Southern California)
2. Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2011, Outrigger Canoe Club, Aloha)
4. Brian Cook (OH, 6-5, Santa Cruz, Calif., 2010, Stanford Univ., Southern California)
5. Taylor Crabb (OH, 6-1, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2009, Long Beach State Univ., Aloha)
6. Dylan Davis (MB, 6-9, Corona del Mar, Calif., 2009, UC Santa Barbara, Southern California)
8. Steven Irvin (OH, 6-5, Pacific Palisades, Calif., 2010, Stanford Univ., Southern California)
9. Scott Kevorken (MB, 6-8, Westlake Village, Calif., 2009, UC Irvine, Southern California)
10. Connor Olbright (S, 6-5, Orange, Calif., 2010, Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
11. Eric Mochalski (MB, 6-6, Manhattan Beach, Calif., 2010, Stanford Univ., Southern California)
15. Taylor Sander (OH, 6-5, Norco, Calif., 2010, BYU, Southern California)
17. Joshua Taylor (Opp, 6-7, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2011, Outrigger Canoe Club, Aloha)
18. Maurice Torres (Opp, 6-7, Riverside, Calif., 2009, Pepperdine Univ., Southern California)

Staff
Head Coach - John Hawks (Long Beach State)
Assistant Coach - Colin McMillan (Penn State)
Assistant Coach - David Hunt (Pepperdine)
Head of Delegation - Shawn Patchell (San Diego, Calif.)
Technical Coordinator - Randy Nako (Honolulu, Hawaii)

First Round (August 1-3)
Pool A (at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Aug. 1: USA def. Bulgaria, 25-22, 25-18, 25-21
Aug. 1: Japan def. Brazil, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 18-16
Aug. 2: Japan def. Bulgaria, 20-25, 20-25, 33-31, 25-18, 15-11
Aug. 2: Brazil def. USA 25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19
Aug. 3: USA def. Japan, 25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19
Aug. 3: Bulgaria vs. Brazil, 2:30 p.m. PT

Pool B (at Niteroi, Brazil)
Aug. 1: Argentina def. Puerto Rico, 23-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-17
Aug. 1: Spain def. Tunisia, 25-14, 25-18, 25-17
Aug. 2: Spain def. Puerto Rico, 25-7, 15-25, 25-18
Aug. 2: Argentina def. Tunisia, 25-17, 25-23, 25-22
Aug. 3: Argentina def. Spain, 25-20, 22-25, 25-14, 25-8
Aug. 3: Puerto Rico def. Tunisia, 20-25, 25-13, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11

Pool C (at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Aug. 1: India def. Germany, 19-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20
Aug. 1: Russia def. Egypt, 25-16, 25-16, 25-13
Aug. 2: Egypt def. Germany, 26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23
Aug. 2: Russia def. India, 25-23, 25-17, 25-18
Aug. 3: India def. Egypt, 25-17, 25-19, 25-18
Aug. 3: Russia def. Germany, 25-20, 24-26, 25-23, 25-23

Pool D (at Niteroi, Brazil)
Aug. 1: Iran def. Canada, 25-19, 25-19, 25-20
Aug. 1: Serbia def. Belgium, 25-21, 25-15, 25-16
Aug. 2: Serbia def. Iran, 23-25, 22-25, 30-28, 25-18, 15-13
Aug. 2: Belgium def. Canada, 25-23, 25-22, 25-17
Aug. 3: Iran def. Belgium, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 17-14
Aug. 3: Serbia vs. Canada, 2:30 p.m. PT

Second Round (Aug. 5-7)
Pool E: A1, B2, C1, D2
Pool F: B1, A2, D1, C2
Pool G: A3, B4, C3, D4
Pool H: B3, A4, D3, C4

Semifinals and Playoffs (Aug. 9)
E1 vs. F2 (gold semifinals)
F1 vs. E2 (gold semifinals)
E3 vs. F4
F3 vs. E4
G1 vs. H2
H1 vs. G2
G3 vs. H4
H3 vs. G4

Medal Rounds and Playoffs (Aug. 10)
- the winners of the semifinals will play the final for the 1st and 2nd position.
- the losers of the semifinals will play for the 3rd and 4th position.
- the winners of the play-off 5-8 will play for the 5th-6th position.
- the losers of the play-off 5-8 will play for the 7th-8th position.
- the winners of the play-off 9-12 will play for the 9th-10th position.
- the losers of the play-off 9-12 will play for the 11th-12th position.
- the winners of the play-off 13-16 will play for the 13th-14th position.
- the losers of the play-off 13-16 will play for the 15th-16th position.

COBRA SPORTS