Aug. 11, 2005
(Story taken from www.USAVolleyball.org)
VISAKHAPATNAM, India (Aug. 10, 2005) - Jayson Jablonsky scored a match-high 16 points to lead the USA Men's Junior National Volleyball Team to a 3-0 win over Tunisia in the 2005 FIVB Men's U-21 World Championships at Swarnabharati Stadium Wednesday morning.
Jablonsky (Yorba Linda, Calif.) had 14 kills, one block and one service ace in the 25-17, 25-14, 27-25 victory for the Americans, who with this match snatched their first win of the tournament.
"It was nice to finally get a win in the tournament. We certainly had our chances early during the competition versus the Netherlands and Brazil but couldn't quite make enough plays at the end of games," said Team USA head coach John Speraw, the head coach at UC Irvine.
"I think after playing the two toughest teams in the pool during the first two matches, we had a little let-down versus Iran, but we got better today," he added.
Paul Lotman (Lakewood, Calif.) added 14 points with 10 kills, two blocks and two service aces. USA team captain Jacob Schkud (Santa Monica, Calif.) contributed 11 points on nine kills and two blocks and David Smith (Saugus, Calif.) and Jonathan Winder (Irvine, Calif.) each added six points.
"We never thought that we would win by straight sets, but we were well prepared for a win," said Schkud. "We utilized the slow approach of the Tunisian team and were lucky to take the third set at 27-25."
The Tunisian team was led by Hichem Kaabi with 10 points on 10 kills.
On Thursday Team USA will take on Germany in the final round of pool play. The Americans need a win to have a chance to advance to the final round.
The 12-team tournament is broken up into two pools. Pool A is made up of host India, Cuba, Korea, Morocco Russia and Serbia and Montenegro. Pool B is composed of Brazil, Germany, Iran, the Netherlands, Tunisia and the USA.
FIVB Men's U-21 World Volleyball Championships
USA Pool Play Schedule/Results
Saturday, Aug. 6
Netherlands def. USA, 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-23)
Sunday, Aug. 7
Brazil def. USA, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 35-33)
Monday, Aug. 8
Iran def. USA, 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23)
Wednesday, Aug. 10
USA def. Tunisia, 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 27-25)
Thursday, Aug. 11
USA vs. Germany
USA Men's Junior National Volleyball Team Roster
Name, Position (Hometown)
Paul Beckwith, S (Pacific Palisades, Calif.)
Theodore Brunner, MB (Ridgefield, Conn.)
Jayson Jablonsky, OH (Yorba Linda, Calif.)
Tony Ker, L (Valencia, Calif.)
Paul Lotman, OH (Lakewood, Calif.)
Daniel Mathews, S (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Matthew McCarthy, MB (Wheaton, Ill.)
Jacob Schkud, OH/RS (Santa Monica, Calif.)
David Smith, MB (Saugus, Calif.)
Matthew Webber, RS (Brentwood, Calif.)
Jake Wiens, OH (Clovis, Calif.)
Jonathan Winder, S (Irvine, Calif.)
Head Coach: John Speraw Assistant Coach: Fred Chao Assistant Coach: Shane Davis Team Manager: Tom Tait Trainer: David Dyck
