The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team is one win away from being guaranteed its first medal finish at the World Championship.
No. 9 United States will play No. 1 Argentina in the World Championship semifinals at 11:30 a.m. (EST) Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The winner of this match will play the winner of the No. 2 Russia and No. 5 Serbia semifinals match for the gold medal Wednesday. The two losers of the semifinal matches will play each other for the bronze medal Wednesday.
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An All-American and national leader in kill per game average is considering not returning to Hawai’i for his junior season.
Hawai’i outside attacker Jonas Umlauft will remain in his native Germany for the fall semester and is undecided on returning to the Warriors for the 2012 season during the spring semester, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Monday.
Umlauft was a 2011 First-Team All-American and led the nation with a 5.57 kills per game average — the only player to average more than five kills per game. He also was named an Academic All-American ending the spring semester with a 3.93 culumative grade point average.
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The match-ups and start times for the World Championship semifinals are now set.
No. 9 United States and No. 1 Argentina will play in the first semifinal match at 11:30 a.m. (EST) Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, while No. 2 Russia and No. 5 Serbia will play in the other semifinal match at 3 p.m. (EST) Tuesday.
The semifinal matchups will pit the first-place team from Pool E against the second-place team from Pool F and the first-place team from Pool F against the second-place team from Pool E.
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Despite a two-game lead, the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team was unable to close out No. 2 Russia and win its second-round pool at the World Championship.
Russia rallied to remain undefeated in the tournament as it defeated No. 9 United States 19-25, 27-29, 25-21, 25-17, 15-13 on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to win the Pool E title.
Both the United States (4-2, 2-1 Pool E) and Russia (6-0, 3-0 Pool E) entered their second-round finale having already clinched top two spots in Pool E and berths to the World Championship semifinals. However, the Russia victory dropped the United States into second place in the final Pool E standings and it will have a lower seed for the semifinals.
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The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team having already clinched a berth in the World Championship semifinals will now attempt to win its second-round pool.
With No. 9 United States trailing No. 2 Russia by one point for first place in Pool E, the two teams will play each other in their final second-round match Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Both the United States and Russia have clinched the two Pool E spots in the semifinals. However, the outcome of today’s match will have significant ramifications on the semifinal seeding.
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No. 11 Spain could only contain Taylor Sander for so long before the BYU All-American outside attacker unloaded and help lift the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team to the World Championship semifinals.
After being held to five kills in the first two games, Sander ended with a match-high 25 kills as the No. 9 United States defeated Spain 25-21, 20-25, 26-24, 28-30, 15-11 on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
With this second-round victory the United States (4-1, 2-0 Pool E) clinched a spot in the semifinals for the first time in the tournament’s 40-year history. The United States previous best finish at a World Championship in the last 10 years was seventh place in 2007.
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One more win is all the U.S. Men’s Junior National team needs to make the World Championship semifinals.
After upsetting No. 4 Iran to open the second round, No. 9 United States will continue second-round play with a match against No. 11 Spain on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The United States is one of four teams in Pool E at the World Championship. The top two teams in the pool after the three second-round matches will advance to the semifinals.
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Pepperdine incoming freshman outside attacker Joshua Taylor made the most of his chance in the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team’s second-round opener at the World Championship.
Coming off the bench midway through the first game, Taylor had a team-high 12 kills as No. 9 United States upset No. 4 Iran 22-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-17 on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro.
Taylor replaced Pepperdine outside attacker Maurice Torres with the United States (3-1, 1-0 Pool E) trailing in the first game and remained on the court the rest of the match. Prior to this match, Taylor had started one game in the United States’ first three matches at the tournament.
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Three matches in the next three days will determine if the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team reaches the semifinals for the first time in World Championship history.
No. 9 United States will play its World Championship second-round opener against No. 4 Iran on Friday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In addition to Iran, the United States will play the other two Pool E teams — No. 2 Russia and No. 11 Spain — this weekend. The top two teams after the three second-round matches will advance to the semifinals.
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College men’s volleyball coaches will be heading south next summer.
USA Volleyball announced Thursday that it selected Dallas to host the 2012 USAV Boys’ Junior National Championships.
The USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National Championships is the top boy’s volleyball tournament in the nation and is comprised open and club divisions for 14 to 18 year olds. In addition, numerous men’s volleyball college head coaches traditionally attend this tournament each year for recruiting purposes.
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