Libero Gage Worsley closed out the FIVB U21 World Championship with another double-digit dig performance — it just wasn’t enough to get the United States a win.
The Hawai’i incoming freshman had a team-high 13 digs as the United States lost to Japan 23-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-20 in the 13th-place finals on the last day of the tournament Sunday in the Czech Republic.
This was the third World Championship match that Worsley finished with at least 10 digs. In addition, Worsley concluded the tournament fourth among all players with a 2.79 digs per game average.
Along with Worsley, his Hawai’i teammates and U.S. outside attackers Brett Rosenmeier and Austin Matautia both had a team-high 10 kills against Japan (5-3). Long Beach State All-American opposite Kyle Ensing contributed nine kills in the loss.
These were the only three U.S. players to more than for kills. The United States (2-6) also had a worse offensive efficiency than Japan at 46.67 percent to 37.04 percent.
Japan outside attacker Yudai Arai in the victory led all players with 19 kills.
The United States held Japan outside attacker Kento Miyaura to five kills and a negative attack percentage. Miyaura entered the tournament finale as one of five players at the World Championship with more than 100 kills.
Despite the loss, the United States extended its streak to four consecutive matches with double-digit blocks.
The United States out-blocked Japan 12 to 5. In addition, Ensing and UC Irvine Freshman All-American middle attacker Scott Stadick each finished with a match-high four blocks.
With this loss, the United States ended the 16-team World Championship in 14th place. It is the country’s worst finish in its nine all-time appearances at the bi-annual tournament.