Florida International University
August 03, 2008 to August 08, 2008
News
August 8, 2008- Costa Rica defeated U.S. Virgin Islands for 5th Place
Costa Rican Jose Murillo was the only player of the match who reached double figures in scoring with 19 points. Tabari Williams was the top scorer for the Virgin Islands with 9 tallies. The Central Americans, who saved one set-point in the first frame, overmatched their opponents 6-0 in the serving category. August 7, 2008 - USA Boys' Youth National Team Punches Ticket to 2009 World Championships August 7, 2008 - Puerto Rico secured a ticket to the World Championship | ||
MIAMI, Florida, August 7, 2008.- Puerto Rico secured a ticket for next year's U-19 FIVB World Championship in Italy by defeating Guatemala in consecutive sets and moving to the gold medal match of the NORCECA Boys Continental Tournament. The Puerto Ricans, who won by score of 25.-17, 25-20, 25-15, were to meet on Friday the winner of the other semi final match between Mexico and United States. Jorge Lopez once again led Puerto Rico with 17 points followed by Jose Ribas and Josue Rivera with 11 and 10 respectively. Jeyson Flores was the best for Guatemala with 8 tallies. Coach Angel Rivera of Puerto Rico: "I am very happy because we achieved the goal we set to ourselves since we started training in early January. Now that we have qualified to the World Championship our next goal is to defend the gold medal we won two years ago." Coach Jorge Paz of Guatemala: "I have to congratulate my boys for their great effort against a team like Puerto Rico which is seated in a different level than us." |
MIAMI, Florida, August 8, 2008.- Mexico captured the bronze medal at the NORCECA U-19 Continental Boys' Tournament by defeating Guatemala in straight sets. The score was 25-22, 25-21, 25-17.
Costa Rica defeated U.S. Virgin Islands 26-24, 25-16, 25-21 and thus finished in the sixth position at the U-19 NORCECA Boys' Continental Tournament. 
August 7, 2008- El Salvador downed Costa Rica
El Salvador scored an impressive come-from-behind victory over Costa Rica and qualified in the fifth position at the U-19 NORCECA Boys' Continental Tournament.
The Salvadorians erased a 0-2 deficit and edged their Central Americans neighbours by score of 20-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-20, 15-12.
Rodrigo Chavez and Wilfredo Alvarez carried El Salvador with 24 and 23 points respectively, and Luis Chavez (9) and Carlos Serrano (8) also contributed. José Murillo (23), Hernan Chavez (20) and Jorge Bonilla (11) topped Costa Rica.
"It was a great reaction from our boys," said Marvin Tax, the coach of El Salvador. "They followed the instruction and performed with a lot of desire."
"It was like removing a thorn off our body," said captain Kevin Sanchez. "They beat us during the last Central American Tournament."
August 6, 2008- Guatemala prevailed against Costa Rica
Jeyson Flores and Aldo Barrios had 13 and 11 points t olead the Guatemalans, while Luis Garcia and Hector Juarez added 8 and 7 respectively. Jose Murillo had 15 points for Costa Rica and Hernan Chavez and Adrian Alegria contributed 8 apiece.
"We achieved the goal of finishing among the top four," said Jorge Paz, the coach of Guatemala. "We won the match but also failed too many serves. Costa Rica couldn't keep the consistency in the fourth set."
"We had the fourth set almost in our hands and let it escape. We lost the concentration. Our goal was also to be among the top four and now we have to settle for the fifth position," said Briance Venegas, the coach of Costa Rica.
August 6, 2008- Mexico to play USA for semi finals
The Mexicans, who lost in five sets to Puerto Rico one day earlier, rolled over their opponents in the first set and then relied mostly on their bench players in winning by score of 25-10, 25-20, 25-23.
Jorge Cabrera led Mexico with 13 points, Jose Garza had 8 and Alfredo Ceron, Omar Lerma and Juan Revuelta each added 7. Rodrigo Chavez of El Savador topped all the scorers with 15 points.
"We have to get our confidence back after the painful loss of last night," said Mario Becerra, the Mexican coach. "Today I tested all the people and rested some important players for the match againt USA which is going to be a tough one."
"We will do our best against United States," said Jorge Barajas, the captain of Mexico. "United States is the taller team of the tournament and they have also good technique. But we want to qualifiy and will try our best."
"We played much better today," said Marvin Tax, the coach of El Salvador. "After the first set, Mexico rested their regulars but had to use them at the end."
August 5, 2008- U.S. Boys' Youth National Team Downs El Salvador to Earn NORCECA Semifinal Berth
Weston Nielsen (Corona del Mar, Calif.) scored a match-high 14 points as the U.S. Boys' Youth National Team picked up a commanding 25-8, 25-9, 25-22 win over El Salvador to close pool play in the preliminary round of the NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship in Miami, Fla., on Tuesday evening.
With the victory, the U.S. improves to 2-0 in pool play and automatically advances to Thursday's semifinals, along with Puerto Rico who finished preliminary play atop Pool B with a 3-0 mark.
El Salvador (0-2) will play in Wednesday's quarterfinals versus Mexico (2-1), who finished second in Pool B, at 4 p.m. Guatemala, who went 1-1 in Pool A play to finish second, will take on Pool B's third-placing Costa Rica (1-2) at 6 p.m.
"I like how we served, especially Connor Olbright and Dylan Davis. They served really well, and Weston Nielsen played really well," said Team USA head coach Andy Read. "El Salvador came out and played a very fast game one and we had to make an adjustment passing. The guys have trained really hard for three weeks, and when we play in the semifinals, they have to realize it's for an opportunity to play in the world championships. I guarantee we will play with great focus, great attention and that we will play very well.
"We practice tomorrow and we'll continue to work on ourselves. We know we have to go hard, we have to play all the points. We'll have a great practice because we have some guys competing for starting spots. They're all very good players and start all the time on their own teams, so they're very good for us. But I think we will play very hard and very well in the semifinals, and if we do that I always like our results."
Team USA took advantage of its considerable height advantage versus El Salvador, and used a 20-1 run - including four kills from Nielsen (Corona del Mar, Calif.) and a pair of service aces from Olbright (Orange, Calif.) over that span - en route to a commanding 25-8 set one win.
Multiple errors from El Salvador helped contribute to an early 9-1 lead for Team USA in set two. However, the U.S. didn't need to rely on its opponents' mistakes and used strong play from Nielsen, Dalton Ammerman (Parker, Colo.) and Michael Dye (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) to power to the 25-9 set two victory.
El Salvador scored five-straight points to take the 8-4 lead in set three, however the U.S. battled back and used an 8-2 run for the 16-12 advantage. Team USA would lead by as many as five points over the remainder of the set and went on to claim the match with a 25-22 set three win.
Nielsen finished with a match-high 12 kills and two services aces for his 14 points, while Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif.) added nine points on eight kills and a block. Olbright had a match-high three aces for Team USA - who had the 8-1 advantage in service aces - and added 15 assists, a pair of blocks and a kill for six points.
Scott Kevorken (Westlake Village, Calif.) posted eight points on six kills and a pair of aces, while Dye finished with six kills and one block for seven points. Ammerman recorded a team-high five digs and five kills for Team USA, while Oliver Deutschman (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) registered a match-high 17 assists.
In addition to building the advantage in service aces, the U.S. also out-blocked El Salvador 4-1 and hit 61 percent, while keeping El Salvador to just 19 percent.
The U.S. started Olbright at setter, Dye and Davis at middle and Ammerman, Nielsen and Torres at outside hitter. Evan Mottram (Leona Valley, Calif.) - who finished with four digs - was Team USA's designated libero.
Carlos Serrano led El Salvador with five points on four kills and one ace.
2008 U.S. Boys' Youth National Team
# - Name (Pos, Grad Year, Hometown, Club, Region)
1 Dalton Ammerman (OH, 2009, Parker, Colo., Front Range VC, Rocky Mountain)
4 Dylan Davis (MB, 2009, Corona Del Mar, Calif., Balboa Bay VC, Southern California)
5 Oliver Deutschman (S, 2009, Pacific Palisades, Calif., Pacific Palisades, Southern California)
6 Michael Dye (MB, 2009, Manhattan Beach, Calif., SCVC, Southern California)
7 Scott Kevorken (MB, 2009, Westlake Village, Calif., Pacific Palisades, Southern California)
8 Jake Kneller (OH, 2009, Westlake Village, Calif., Pacific Palisades, Southern California)
10 Evan Mottram (L, 2009, Leona Valley, Calif., Pacific Palisades, Southern California)
11 Weston Nielsen (OH, 2010, Corona del Mar, Calif., Balboa Bay VC, Southern California)
12 David Connor Olbright (S, 2010, Orange, Calif., Balboa Bay VC, Southern California)
15 Taylor Sander (OH, 2010, Norco, Calif., Orange Coast VB, Southern California)
16 Ian Satterfield (OH, 2009, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Pacific Palisades, Southern California)
18 Maurice Torres (OH, 2009, Riverside, Calif., OC Riptides VC, Southern California)
Head Coach: Andy Read
Assistant Coach: John Hawks
2008 NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship (U19)
Pool A: El Salvador, Guatemala, USA
Pool B: Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
Pool A
United States 2-0
Guatemala 1-1
El Salvador 0-2
Pool B
Puerto Rico 3-0
Mexico 2-1
Costa Rica 1-2
Virgin Islands 0-3
Pool Play Matches
August 3: Mexico def. Virgin Islands, 25-8, 25-13, 25-9
August 3: Puerto Rico def. Costa Rica, 25-12, 25-12, 25-11
August 3: USA def. Guatemala, 25-16, 25-15, 25-16
August 4: Puerto Rico def. Virgin Islands, 25-17, 25-21, 25-11
August 4: Mexico def. Costa Rica, 25-13, 25-14, 25-10
August 4: Guatemala def. El Salvador, 25-19, 25-13, 25-20
August 5: Costa Rica def. Virgin Islands, 25-6, 25-19, 25-16
August 5: Puerto Rico def. Mexico, 21-25, 28-26, 20-25, 32-30, 22-20
August 5: USA def. El Salvador, 25-8, 25-9, 25-22
Quarterfinals
August 6: El Salvador (3A) vs. Mexico (2B), 4 p.m.
August 6: Guatemala (2A) vs. Costa Rica (3B), 6 p.m.
Classification 5
August 7: Losers of August 6 matches, 2 p.m.
Semifinals
August 7: Puerto Rico vs. Quarterfinal winners, 4 p.m.
August 7: USA vs. Quarterfinal winners, 6 p.m.
Classification 6-7
August 8: Classification 5 Losers vs. Virgin Islands, 2 p.m.
Classification 3-4
August 8: Semifinal Losers, 4 p.m.
Final
August 8: Semifinal Winners, 6 p.m.
August 5, 2008- Lopez and Rivera carried Puerto Rico over Mexico
Jorge Lopez scored a tournament-high 39 points and Josue Rivera added 25 leading Puerto Rico to the victory in a five-set thriller over Mexico to win Pool B at the NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship.
The 21-25, 28-26, 20-25, 32-30, 22-20 win in the battle of 2 hours and 6 minutes, moved Puerto Rico to the semi final round of the competition, a qualifier to the 2009 FIVB World Championship.
Juan Revueltas led five Mexican players in double figures with 26 tallies. He was joined by Jose Mendoza (18), Jorge Cabrera (15), Jorge Barajas (11) and Hector Burgos (10).
"I have to take my hat off before my boys," said Angel Rivera, the Puerto Rican coach. "This match was a volleyball classic. Our months of work paid off today. I have to give credit to the Mexicans for their great defense but once again I congratulate my kids."
"It was a great match and I want to congratulate Mexico," said Captain Rivera. "It was a great match and the most important thing is that we kept the calm in the key moments. Now we can concentrate in winning the gold medal."
"The inexperience was a factor against us," said Mario Becerra, the Mexican coach. "We couldn't close the second and fourth sets when we were ahead in the late moments. Now we have to face the United States in the semi finals and that will be a difficult task."
Mexico led 8-3 and 16-12 at the technical stops of the first set on the shoulders of Revuelta and widened the gap to six points (18-12). Puerto Rico came back within tree-points behind the attacks of Lopez, but one kill from Cabrera restored the order and Mexico went on to win it.
Puerto Rico took an 8-6 lead in the second set, but Mexico recovered and was ahead at the second stop 16-14 relying on the serves of Cabrera. Puerto Rico tied up at 23-all with ace of Lopez and block by Ribas and finally won it with a spike by Lopez.
Mendoza's spikes carried Mexico to an 8-2 lead in the third set and the Mexicans increased the lead to 15-6 before Puerto Rico reacted and reduced the margin to 16-10 at the second pause. The attacks of Lopez neared Puerto Rico to a three-point distance at 23-20 but Revueltas and Burgos closed it for Mexico.
A couple of blocks by Lerma gave Mexico the advantage 8-7 in the fourth set. The battle continued with Mexico leading 15-14 until Rivera and Ribas parlayed spikes for a 16-15 lead of Puerto Rico. Revuelta recharged batteries and gave his side a 22-19 lead but the Puerto Ricans came back and closed the gap to 24-23 with a block by Ribas and tied with a mistake of Mexico. The long battle ended 32-30 in favor of Puerto Rico with one spike by Rivera.
Puerto Rico led 8-6 when teams traded courts in the tie-breaker with serve and spike of Lopez being the difference. Block by Molina and attack by Lopez extended the lead to 13-10. Attack and block by Burgos neared Mexico 13-12. The score tied at 14-all and the war continued with Rivera carrying the load of Puerto Rico until the end.
August 5, 2008- Costa Rica defeated U.S. Virgin Islands
Costa Rica defeated U.S. Virgin Islands in the first match of Day Three at the NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship, winning in straight sets by score of 25-6, 25-19, 25-16.
The victory enabled the Costa Ricans to qualify in third position of Pool B and thus to secure a berth in the quarterfinal round.
Jose Murillo led Costa Rica with 13 points followed by Hernan Chavez (9), Rodrigo Gutierrez (7) and Jorge Bonilla (6). Tabari Williams topped the Virgin Islands with 10 points.
"Our previous matches against the strong teams of Mexico and Puerto Rico helped us to prepare well for this match," said Briance Venegas, the Costa Rican coach. "Our defense worked very good today."
"I think the Costa Rican team really came out to play and our team, on the other hand, seemed surprised at the level they played today in comparison to the other matches. We just didn't play well," said Sean O'Loughlin, the coach of Virgin Islands.
August 4, 2008- Guatemala evened its record at 1-1
Guatemala evened its record at 1-1 in the NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship by defeating El Salvador in straight sets on Monday. The score was 25-19, 25-13, 25-20.
The Guatemalans, who lost to USA in opening day, relied on their potent attacks to dominate their younger and smaller opponents.
Fernando Garcia and Jeyson Flores led Guatemala with 17 and 15 points. Aldo Barrios added 9. The best of El Salvador was Rodrigo Chavez with 10 tallies.
"The team worked very well today," said Jorge Paz, the coach of Guatemala. "In general, we played better than yesterday and we performed better as a team."
"We are very satisfied with our performance and all the plays functioned well," said captain Hector Juarez. "We went out very confidente and very hungry."
"This is a very young team and we are using the tournament to watch the pieces we can use in the next important tournament in Central America next September," said Marvin Tax, the coach of El Salvador.
Captain Kevin Sanchez added: "Our attitude was not good. We can play better. When tried to react was too late."
August 4, 2008- Mexico tied with Puerto Rico in first place of Pool B
Mexico remained tied with Puerto Rico in first place of Pool B at the U-19 NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship. Both teams show unbeaten records of 2-0.
Mexico swept Costa Rica (0-2) in straight sets by score of 25-13, 25-14, 25-10 on Monday and will meet Puerto Rico tomorrow in a battle for a direct spot in the semi finals of the event.
Jorge Cabrera led Mexico with nine points while Costa Rican Jose Murillo topped all the scorers in the match with 12 tallies.
"Today we used all our guys to get them into rhythm and they are getting it," said Mario Becerra, the Mexican coach. "Tomorrow's match against Puerto Rico will be a tough one. I think that the team with more desire and patience will win it."
Captain Edward Cruz of Costa Rica said: "The important thing is that we are doing the effort. The conditions under we came here are not the best, but I hope tomorrow we come out with better attitude."
August 4, 2008- Puerto Rico Improves to 2-0 Mark
Puerto Rico improved its win-loss record to a perfect 2-0 in Pool B of the U-19 NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship following its victory in straight sets over U.S. Virgin Islands on Monday by score of 25-17, 25-21, 25-11.
Jose Ribas and Jorge Lopez were the top Puerto Rican scorers wih 12 and 9 points respectively. Steven Morales and Josue Rivera each contributed six points. Tabari Williams had 9 for the losers.
The spikes of Lopez carried Puerto Rico past its rivals in the first set, when they were behind 2-4 before he sparked a five-point rally. Ribas capped the opening frame with two bombs. In the second, U.S. Virgin Islands dominated most of the time and were ahead 19-18 but a streak of errors combined with the spikes of Rivera, Morales and Lopez gave the win to Puerto Rico. In the third set, Ribas put his side on the path to the victory and they never stopped.
"We did not have a great match because of a lot of errors in the first two sets," said Angel Rivera, the coach of Puerto Rico. "I can forgive all the other mistakes to a young team but not the services we failed. We need to work on that part of our game."
"We entered the court with an excess of confidence," said Captain Rivera. "At the end we played hard as we had to do in the whole match and reduced the errors from 15 in each of the first two sets, to only 5."
"I think we played a bit more relaxed and came out with some adjustments in our lineup and game plan from yesterday," said Sean O'Loughlin, the coach of Virgin Islands.
Captain Tabari Williams added: "It was a well played game. We came out with more intensity but lost our focus in the third set."
August 3, 2008 - US Boys' Youth National Team Sweeps Guatemala in NORCECA Opener
August 3, 2008- Puerto Rico was Impressive in Deput
Puerto Rico recovered from a slow start and straightened up their game in route to an impressive victory in consecutive sets against Costa Rica by score of 25-11, 25-12, 25-11 in Pool B of the U-19 NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship.
The serves and blocking of Puerto Rico proved to be the difference in the second match of the opening day. The Puerto Ricans scored 18 aces, with Jose Irrizarry producing 5 and Kevin Martin and Reinaldo Molina contributing four apiece. Josue Rivera was their best scorer with 10 tallies and Irrizarry added eight.
Teams were tied at 9-9 in the first set when the defending champions Puerto Ricans won 11 of the next 12 points for a 20-10 lead and never looked back.
"We knew the opponent was a good one," said Briance Venegas, the coach of Costa Rica. "I hope we can learn from this match and play the following ones with more confidence."
"After a shaky start, which is natural for boys having their first international experience, we caught our rhythm and played very well both serving and blocking," said Angel Rivera, the coach of Puerto Rico.
August 3, 2008- Mexico crushed U.S. Virgin Islands at Boy's U-19
Mexico scored an easy victory over U.S. Virgin Islands in Day One of the U-19 NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship being played at the Florida International University.
The Mexicans were the superior team on the court while dominating their opponents with a better all-around game in a match of Pool B. The score was 25-8, 25-13, 25-9.
Juan Revuelta and Jorge Cabrera led the Mexican attack with 11 and 10 points respectively. The winners outscored their rivals in the serve category 10-1 as Cabrera and Jorge Barajas had five and three aces.
"We increased the strength of our serves step by step and at the end we were doing some damage," said Captain Barajas.
"The opponent didn't give us the opportunity to show everything we got but it was a good match to catch our rhythm," said Mario Becerra, the Mexican coach.
"The other team was very good and our passing was a little shaky," said Tabari Williams, the captain of U.S. Virgin Islands.
"It is a new experience for us and the guys looked a little nervous since it is their first time in a tournament like this one," said Sean O'Loughlin, the coach of the Islanders.
August 2, 2008- Puerto Rico is Ready to Defend the Crown
The team of Puerto Rico is ready to defend the crown they won two years ago in the Dominican Republic as they are the squad with longer preparation before the U-19 NORCECA Boys' Continental Championship which serves off on Sunday at the Florida International University Gymnasium.
The Puerto Ricans have had seven months of training and they are, along with the host team of USA, the favored teams to win the two berths available in this competition for the 2009 FIVB Boys' Youth World Championship.
The coaches of the seven participating teams, expressed their goals and expectations after the General Technical Meeting held on Saturday at the Marriott Dadeland Hotel in Miami.
Andy Read (USA): "We are excited to be the host country for the NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship. Our goals are to play very well every match and qualify for next year's World Championship."
Angel Rivera (PUR): "Our purpose is to win the gold medal again while defending the title and to qualify for the World Championship, The team has trained for seven months and we are prepared for those challenges."
Briance Venegas (CRC): "To get experience for the boys. This is the first time they come to a NORCECA event. We have four players who will be under 19 in the next Central American Tournament. We hope to perform well and to learn from the more experienced teams."
Mario Becerra (MEX): "The teams is completely new. We have worked since three months ago for this event and our goal is to qualify for the World Championship. The team is taller compared to those of previous years.
Marvin Tax (ESA): "We have a team from high school which are giving a follow-up. There are some of them who played in the past U-21 in El Salvador, so this is another competition for them to get experience and to prepare us for the next Central American."
Sean O'Loghlin (USV): "I think we have very talented players coming from such small population and we expect to compete and perform really well."
Jorge Paz (GUA): "We hope to finish among then top four teams and our squad has been preparing for that goal. We won the Central American Tournament in 2007 and have had two matches of preparation against Cuba so the team is ready, both physically and mentally."
