Quick hits: 5 things to take away from U.S. in World Championship

The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team finished the U-21 FIVB World Championship in 11th place on Sunday.

Check out the five things to take away from the U.S. matches at the international tournament.



Group of death wrecks havoc — The United States was relegated to the consolation bracket after going winless in its first-round pool-play matches against Russia, Poland and Argentina. All four teams from this group of death, though, went a combined 12-0 during their second-round pool-play matches. Both Russia and Argentina also reached the gold-medal match.

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4-4 again for United States — This was the third consecutive World Championship that the United States ended at 4-4. The United States finished the bi-annual international tournament in 11th place in 2013, while it had a nation-best fourth-place finish in 2011.

Benesh force in the middle — USC middle attacker Andy Benesh led the United States in kills in three of its eight World Championship match, including having a match-high 17 kills against silver-medalist Argentina. He also finished with both a match-high 12 kills and five blocks as the United States beat Japan to win the Pool G championship.

U.S. libero shines late in tournament — UC Santa Barbara libero Hayden Boehle had double-digit digs in four of the United States’ final five matches. Among those late-tournament matches included the Freshmen All-American having a tournament-best 20 digs in a four-game victory against Japan.

Hatch provides consistent offense — UCLA Freshmen All-American outside attacker JT Hatch led all U.S. players with at least 10 kills in five matches during the tournament. In addition, Hatch had a team-high 11 kills and zero attack errors in a four-game loss to France in the ninth-place semifinals on Saturday.