ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, CHINA AND RUSSIA, FOR THE TICKET TO THE FINALS

Tijuana, México, September 18, 2015 - The FIVB Men’s U21 Semifinals Round begin on Saturday at the Baja California High Performance Centre in Tijuana.

Meanwhile, in Mexicali, the classification round takes place at the State Auditorium.

Argentina, Brazil, China and Russia classified as the Top 4 teams of the Competition, after winning their tickets at the end of the Pools Second Round.

Argentina will play China, while Russia will match Brazil.

Previously, the classification round matches will take part in Tijuana as well as in Mexicali, where Japan and Egypt will start at noon in the round for places 13 to 16.

At that same hour in Tijuana, Turkey and Canada will face each other as part of the classification round for places 5 to 8.

The State Auditorium will also host matches at 2:00 PM for places 13 to 16. Cuba will face hosts Mexico, while in Tijuana, Italy and Slovenia will play in the round for positions 5 to 8.

The United States are scheduled to play at 5:00 in Mexicali against France. At that same hour, the first semifinal is expected to take part at the High performance Centre when Argentina and China face each other.

Actions in Mexicali will conclude on Saturday after the 7:00 PM match (in classification round for places 9 to 12) when Poland and Iran set the ball on play, meanwhile Russia and Brazil will play at the second semifinal of the tournament that finishes on Sunday.

IRAN TAKE DOWN MEXICO’S MISTAKES

Mexicali, Baja California, September 17 2015.- Farhad Nafarzadeh. Coach of Iran said his team came to the court mentally ready to win since their first set against Mexico. 

"I’m Happy with the volleyball we stand. This is the way we play, the team did things they had to do", Nafarzadeh remarked. 

Meanwhile, Eduardo Murguia, coach of Mexico mentioned: "I didn`t like the way the team played. For us, there is still a lot to improve."

Meanwhile, Mexican captain Enrique Ugalde remarked that their rivals played very well. 

"Their key was their order, and the way they did everything on the court,” Ugalde stated. “They were so disciplined and also showed a great strategy to serve."

Iran finished second in Pool G with seven points and will play Poland. Mexico finished fourth and will match Cuba. Both matches are scheduled on Saturday.

RUSSIA TO FACE BRAZIL IN SEMIFINALS

Tijuana, Mexico, September 17, 2015 - Russian coach, Mikhail Nikolaev thinks about in facing Brazil after the victory over Italy in the last match of second pool phase at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship.

“Today we played very well. We are at the semifinal. I’m very happy about the result we had today, so we prepare to face our next rival,” said after the match against Italy. “Brazil is a very strong team, so we must be prepared against them. If we play good we win.”

Italy fought hard against Russia in the second set. Captain Pavel Pankov, admitted that the moment was really difficult for the Russian team. “It was, Italian guys played very good tactical volleyball. It was not bad for us but really difficult for us to defend,” the player said.

“Now for the semifinals we feel we are ready and one hundred percent as we have the technical and physical preparation,” he added.

“Russia is very, very strong in service and block, and we tried to win this match. First of all we tried to play well. I asked my players to play a good match,” said Michele Totire, coach of Italy. “I know that Russians are so strong and maybe the strongest of the World Championship.”

However he feels satisfied because his player tried to go to the court and play good. “I hope for next match to improve, because we want the fifth place”.

Tiziano Mazzone the Italian captain also shared his opinion: “Today it was tough for us, but we played a good match, especially in the second set, and we gave all we had. But Russia defined concrete plays and on our side we could not get in tho the final four, however we will look ahead to finish fifth.”

DAY 6: TOP FOUR TEAMS OF FIVB MEN’S U21 WCH ARE READY FOR SEMIFINALS

Tijuana and Mexicali, Mexico, September 17, 2015 - The best four teams of the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship are ready as Argentina, Russia, China and Brazil claimed their tickets to semifinals once the second pools round finished at the High Performance Centre on Thursday.

Argentina 3-0 Slovenia
Argentina closed with a perfect march after winning all their matches in three sets. On Thursday they defeated Slovenia 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 29-27) and after clinching a berth in the Final Four, are waiting for their rival at the semifinals. 

Nicolas Lazo and Joaquin Gallego guided the South American team to the victory with 13 and 12 points respectively, while Stern Toncek topped for Slovenia with 16 points.

Russia 3-0 Italy
The Russian team won 3-0 (25-20, 28-26, 25-16) against Italy, that fought for the final ticket available. The Italians were so close in the second set when they even had the chance to convert the match points in a couple of times.

But Russia overcame by grabbing points from their errors and served for five aces, as well as they controlled the net with 14 blocks. Dmitry Volkov finished with 14 points for Russia, while Denis Bogdan scored 8.  Italy’s Andrea Argenta topped with 13 and Alberto Polo scored 11.

Brazil 3-2 Turkey
Brazil had a masterly comeback against Turkey in order to aspire to the Top Four at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship. The team coached by Leonardo Carvalho won in five sets (25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 20-25 and 15-9) with 24 points scored by Leonardo Ferreira, while Caio Oliveira finished with 17. 

Douglas Souza scored 15 and Robert Araujo tallied 8 units, also for Brazil. On the other side Cansin Ogbai Enaboifo topped Turkey with 26 points and Yasin Aydin finished with 11.

China 3-0 Canada
China defeated Canada in straight sets to close with a 2-1 record in Pool F. The Chinese team coached by Genyin Ju won by scores of 25-16, 25-16 and 25- 21. Zhejia Zhang topped with 13 points and he was followed by Runtao Xia with 10. 

For Canada, their captain, Ryan Nickifor scored 11 points while Brandon Koppers tallied 10.  China showed a very solid attack with a 40-29 difference, and also prevailed in blocking with a 6-3 advantage with a good work by their captain Yaochen Yu.

USA 3-1 Japan
The United States claimed their third victory at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship after beating Japan in four sets. The American team coached by Dan friend  won by scores of 25-23, 17-25, 25-20, 25-23 with 17 points by Andrew Benesh. 

Christopher Nugent also contributed with 14 points, while their captain, John Hatch scored 12 units. Jeffrey Jendryk Li also registered double digits, as he finished with 11 points. On the Japanese side of the net, Ataru Kumakura commanded the actions with 14 points, while Taishi Onodera, Kenta Takanashi and Tsubasa Hisahara scored 13 apiece.


Cuba 3-1 Egypt
Cuba finally got a victory at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship after beating Egypt in four sets. Scores were 25-18, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-21 in a match that lasted 1 hour and 44 minutes in Pool H.

Osmany Uriarte commanded the cuban offense with 24 points, while Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan scored 19. Luis Sosa also contributed with a total of 14 tallies for the Caribbean squad that finished with 58 spiking total points.

Egypt that still look forward to get a win, had their best weapon in Ahmed Saad, who was even the top scorer of the whole match by totalizing 22 points, 

Poland 3-1 France 
Mexicali, Mexico, September 17 2015.- In a match full of emotions in pool H, Poland won 25-16, 25-17, 28-30 and 25-19 against France at the State Auditorium.

Aleksander Sliwka and Rafal Szymura commanded the Polish attack after recording 19 points apiece. Bartlomiej Lemanski contributed with the blocking game with five succesful points for Poland.  

On the French side Timothée Carle figured with 20 points, 18 of in spikes and two aces, while Jean Patry contributed with 10 points after rising in front of the net. 

Iran 3-0 Mexico
Iran defeated Mexico in straight sets 25-19, 25-14, 25-16 in the last match celebrated at the State Auditorium in Mexicali.  Iranian service was lethal against the host team. 

Javad Karimisouchelmaei aced two of the five times when Iran had the ball in possesion. 

Allah Verdian Sahand was the top scorer for the Asian representative after recording 12 points, while Taghi Zadeh Rahman scored 9 and captain Valaei Akbar scored 8 points.

Mexican captain Enrique Ugalde was the best scorer for the host team as he recorded 7 points. Alexis Garay and Luis Gerardo Bojorquez finished with 6 apiece. 

RUSSIA INCREASE THEIR STREAK TO 6-0 IN BOTH ROUNDS

Tijuana, Mexico, September 17, 2015 - Russia had no problems to advance to the Final 4 in the last match of the second pools phase that came to an end at the Baja California High Performance Centre.

The Russian team won 3-0 (25-20, 28-26, 25-16) against Italy, that fought for the final ticket available. The Italians were so close in the second set when they even had the chance to convert the match points in a couple of times.

But Russia overcame by grabbing points from their errors and served for five aces, as well as they controled the net with 14 blocks. 

Dmitry Volkov finished with 14 points for Russia, while Denis Bogdan scored 8.  Italy’s Andrea Argenta topped with 13 and Alberto Polo scored 11.

IRAN BEAT MEXICO IN STRAIGHT SETS AND CLOSE SECOND IN POOL G

Mexicali, Mexico, September 17, 2015 - Iran defeated Mexico in straight sets 25-19, 25-14, 25-16 in the last match celebrated at the State Auditorium in Mexicali. 

Iranian service was lethal against the host team. Javad Karimisouchelmaei aced two of the five times when Iran had the ball in possesion. 

Allah Verdian Sahand was the top scorer for the Asian representative after recording 12 points, while Taghi Zadeh Rahman scored 9 and captain Valaei Akbar scored 8 points.

Mexican captain Enrique Ugalde was the best scorer for the host team as he recorded 7 points. Alexis Garay and Luis Gerardo Bojórquez finished with 6 apiece. 

Iran finished in second position with seven points in Pool G in the qualifying round for places 9 to 16. Mexico finished fourth with no points. 

SERVICE PUTS PRESSURE FOR BRAZILIAN MASTERLY COMEBACK

Tijuana, Mexico, September 17, 2015 - Brazil had a masterly comeback against Turkey in order to aspire to the Top Four at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship.

The team coached by Leonardo Carvalho won in five sets (25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 20-25 and 15-9) with 24 points scored by Leonardo Ferreira, while Caio Oliveira finished with 17. 

Douglas Souza scored 15 and Robert Araujo tallied 8 units, also for Brazil. On the other side Cansin Ogbai Enaboifo topped Turkey with 26 points and Yasin Aydin finished with 11.

Turkey worked hard with the blocking game and even overcome Brazil in this department with a 12-6 balance. However, Brazil put pressure by serving as Fernando Kreling and Douglas Souza aced two times apiece.

It took almost two hours to Brazil to get the match in their favor after the resilient performance that Turkey that will fight for a spot in the round to define fifth to eighth positions. Brazil will contend for a medal when the semifinals take part on Saturday.

TURKEY, NOT AN EASY OPPONENT ACCORDING TO CARVALHO

Tijuana, Mexico, September 17, 2015 - It was not easy to Brazil to overcome Turkey, a very creative and dangerous team at FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship.

According to coach Leonardo Carvalho, his team struggled against the Turkish squad.

“We began with two good sets on the first and two, but Turkey are a very great team. We made many unforced mistakes at the beginning of the third set,” said Carvalho. 

“When you let grow up a team like Turkey, their moral and enthusiasm goes up and it is too hard to stop. Fortunately we could put big pressure with our service,” The Brazilian coach commented.

“Turkey are a very difficult team. They played a good match, they have very good players. They have shown very good quality,” said Fernando Kreling, captain of Brazil. 

“We have started a new part at this competition. We have to work hard in our opponents, we have to study and concentrate a lot in our game plans to go for a good result,” Kreling added.

It was a sad moment for coach Baris Ozdemir and the Turkish team that played with very good attitude and with resilience. 

There is no question, Turkey have been one of the most spectacular and consistent teams of this tournament and now they have to fight por the best position between places 5 and 8.

“We couldn’t play our game in the first two sets, because of that we lost, and we realized we could do it, we could win and we did it in the next two ones”, said Cansin Ogbai Enaboifo, player of Turkey.

“But we did not start very well in the last match, in some points we lost the spirit, because our team work with the spirit. When we play, we play. When we don’t we go down, and because of that we lost. But general in the match we gave good fight, but that is not enough. Next time,” Enaboifo concluded.

VICTORY FINALLY COMES FOR CUBA

Mexicali, Mexico, September 17, 2015 - Cuba finally got a victory at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship after beating Egypt in four sets.

Scores were 25-18, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-21 in a match that lasted 1 hour and 44 minutes in Pool H.

Osmany Uriarte commanded the cuban offense with 24 points, while Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan scored 19. Luis Sosa also contributed with a total of 14 tallies for the Caribbean squad that finished with 58 spiking total points.

Egypt that still look forward to get a win, had their best weapon in Ahmed Saad, who was even the top scorer of the whole match by totalizing 22 points, while Ahmed Omar finished with 12. 

Abdelrahman Abouelella also scored 9 units for Egypt, that showed a good blocking performance against Cuba.

Both teams finished tied 13-13 as well as in services (2-2).

DAY 5: ARGENTINA BREAKS TURKEY’S UNDEFEATED STREAK WHILE RUSSIA REMAIN AS ONLY UNBEATEN TEAM

Tijuana and Mexicali, Mexico, September 16, 2015 - Russia are the only unbeaten team at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship while Turkey lost the undefeated streak on Wednesday after facing Argentina, that clinched a berth as part of the Top 4.

The squad coached by Alejandro Grossi  defeated Turkey 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-23) with a good control on the ball against one of the most dangerous team in the tournament.

Brian Melgarejo and Nicolas Lazo were the top scorers for Argentina with 12 points apiece and Joaquin Gallego finished with 8. Yasin Aydin was the best for Turkey with 15 units and their captain Vahit Emre Savas finished with 11 as well as Cansin Ogbai Enaboifo.

Russia 3-1 Canada

Russia kept their undefeated streak despite Canada won one of the four sets during the match between both nations at the Baja California High Performance Centre. 

The team coached by Mikhail Nikolaev won 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 23-25, 25-11) with a 9-6 block advantage. Segei Prainien topped for Russia with 15 points while Dmitry Volkov scored 12. Blake Scheerhorn was the best scorer for Canada after finishing with 14 points. He was followed by Brandon Koppers with 8 and Arthur Szwarc with 7.

 

China  3-0 Italy

China recovered from a loss against Russia suffered a night before and played a totally different match on Wednesday as they beat Italy in straight sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-22) in Pool F. 

Shuhan Rao was the top scorer with 13 points for China, including five blocks while Libin Liu, Runtao Xia and Zhejia Zhang scored 11 points each. Weiqi Lin also contributed with 8 units for the Asian team.

For Italy Andrea Argenta registered 7 points, while Sebastiano Milan and Marco Pierotti scored 6 apiece. China needed 1 hour and 16 minutes to gain their first win in the Second Pools Round.

Brazil 3-1 Slovenia

Despite a very well played second set by Slovenia, that had a very tied match in the beginning, Brazil took the lead to win 3-1  (25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 25-9) in Pool E.

Brazil needed only 18 minutes to outscore Slovenia, with a great work by Caio Oliveira, who tallied 22 points, while Douglas Souza finished with 13 (including 3 aces) and Romulo Silva as well as Rodrigo Leao scored 10 apiece. 

Toncek Stern and Jan Kozamernik were the bets two Slovenian weapons. Every one scored 11 points for the European team while Ziga Donik finished with 9.

France 3-1 Cuba

In Mexicali France took control of pool H after beating Cuba in four sets with by scores 25-23, 25-22, 19-25 and 25-16. Jean Patry and Timothée Carle finished with 15 points each as top scorers for France as the main weapons of the European team, while  captain Luka Basic registered 11 points. Nohoraii Paofai, also had a double digit match with 10 points.

Poland 3-1 Egypt

Poland defeated Egypt in four sets (23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-17) in a match between to coaches from the same country. Jakub Benaruk coach of Poland faced Grzegorz Rys at the State Auditorium. 

Victory was on Benaruk’s side after Egypt surprised by taking the first set. With 17 shots, Aleksander Sliwka eventually got 21 points for Poland, Rafal Szymura had 16 points for Poland, 

Iran 3-1 Japan 

Iran grabbed their second victory at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship. The team coached by Farhad Nafarzadeh won in four sets by scores of 27-25, 18-25, 25-19 and 25-21 in 1 hour and 59 minutes. 

Amin Esmaeilnezhad finished as top scorer for Iran with 17 points, while Verdian Sahand Allah scored 16 and Salim Cheperli ended with 10.  For Japan, Yuki Higuchi scored 14 and Kenta Takanashi 11, while Issei Otake finished with 10 as well as captain Tsubasa Hisahara. 

USA 3-0 Mexico

The United States won in three sets against hosts Mexico by scores of 25-23, 25-17 and 25-17 at the Mexicali State Auditorium. Fey Kupono scored 13 points for the American team, while Andrew Benesh finished with 8.

Richard Gevis, Jr. and captain  John Hatch closed with 7 points each. Ridl Alexis Garay Nava. Enrique Ugalde and Alan Gabriel Martinez, topped for the locals with 9 units apiece. 

Service was the key for USA, after the team coached by Daniel Friend aced 6 times (2 by Jennings Franciskovic) against only 1 (Ugalde) by Mexico. 

WE MUST GO FOR MORE, GROSSI REMARKS

Tijuana, Mexico, September 16, 2015 - To be part of the Best Four teams in a competition like a world championship is a big achievement. But the Argentinian team look for more as they close the second pools phase on Thursday.

The victory celebration is over and now there are some  things to fix.  

“I have mixed sensations. I am glad for winning, for qualifying to the semi finals at the World Championship, but not so happy with the level of game,”Alejandro Grossi, coach of Argentina said.

“Our match was not quite good, our level of game was not good as we played a match very nervous, not as we could play or we should. Turkey made us play  and we won, as we go for more.”

Captain Gaston Fernandez appreciated the support of the Argentinian fans who showed up at the Baja California High Performance Centre. 

“Thank you I appreciate their support, and also I want to say thank you to all the fans that have been following us in the web (watching the livestream broadcasts and in social networks), ” said Fernandez.

“We are happy for this win, it was again a 3-0 victory, Turkey are a great rival, they have always been such great opponents as we knew it was going to be a very tough match,” he said. 

“We always played our game we were loyal to it and took the best chances by serving or breaking, this was a great result”

Baris Ozdemir, coach of Turkey stated: “All the matches in the group have been tough first of all. Today we didn’t do all that we told before, we did simple mistakes in critical points, so we did lose really closed sets.”

Turkey still have one more chance as They have to work harder against Brazil. 

“Tomorrow is a very important match for us and for Brazil too, to decide who go to the final four. I know that there will be to teams that will do their best, but we want to do less mistakes as we want to move on,” Ozdemir concluded.

USA AGAINST MEXICO, A BATTLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Mexicali, Mexico, September 16, 2015 - Mexico and the United States always play interesting matches at the age group level and as part of the Norceca Confederation, both teams have seen each other several times.

The match celebrated in Mexicali was not an exception and the visitors tried to get the best at the second Pools round. 

Dan Friend's team have two wins in the classification round and they hope to finish with one more as his guys can get the chance to gain more experience and chances to play at this international level, according to the American coach.

For John Hatch, captain ot USA, finally a win has been important and tonight it was against the host team. Both squads had previously played at the Norceca qualifier one year ago in El Salvador

“We fought hard on the first set, but after that things did not work very well”, said Enrique Ugalde, captain of Mexico. “We hope to improve as we face Iran in our next match.”

Eduardo Murguia coach of the host team expects that the squad can regain the confidence and show what they did in their first match of the competition. 

The United States were a very tough rival that have increased their level of game, he considered. The American team will play against Japan and Mexico against Iran on Thursday.

WE HAD TO FOCUS ON PLAYING AGGRESSIVELY, FERNANDO KRELING SAYS

Tijuana, Mexico, September 16, 2015 - Slovenia was a very surprising team at this age group world championship. The Brazilian players noticed that, and they had to respond just in the right moment at the right time.

“We entered to play very and set the ball too high. That was difficult to Slovenia, they played very well today, especially in the second set,” said Fernando Kreling captain of Brazil that are 1-1 with one match away to finish the second pool phase.

“A lot of things happen during a tournament like this, many factors that can make a difference, but we returned on the third and fourth,” Kreling added.

“The third set was a reflection of the match it was very tough. Slovenia played an excellent second set and it was very difficult for us but we are glad because we have the chance to continue alive at this competition,” coach Leonardo Carvalho mentioned. 

“We have to prepare to face Turkey tomorrow, they are a good quality team and we have to study them if we want to advance to the semifinals,” he added.

For Iztok Ksela, coach of Slovenia, his team had some ups and downs as the service strategy failed when they tried to recover. 

“Today we didn’t start good in the game and Brazil played very well, after the first set we returned in to the game and played second set very well. The third one was also a good set but we had a disaster in our serve and we did too many mistakes,” Ksela commented.

Jernej Vrhunc, the Slovenian captain recapped: “We played well on the first and second set and after that we were out of our mind as we lost direction. We did what our coach said, but we lost the direction against a team like Brazil.”

Slovenia will match Argentina, while Brazil will play Turkey on Thursday. 

IRAN SET HIGH EXPECTATIONS ABOUT FACING MEXICO

Mexicali, Mexico, September 16, 2015.- After the victory over Japan in Pool G, Farhad Nafarzadeh, coach of Iran, stated that he and his team look ahead to continue winning and finish among the top 12.

“We hope to have a great atmosphere when we face Mexico at this venue, the fans support a lot their team, and it is going to be a very interesting match” said Nafarzadeh after the match against Japan, that Iran won 3-1.

“We look ahead to keep winning and can find a place between ninth and twelfth positions,” He added.

Akbar Valaei, captain of Iran agreed with his coach about the expectations to face Mexico. “I also hope a great atmosphere, we expect a great match against the hosts and winning against Japan was important,” Valaei remarked.

Sakai Shingo head coach of Japan expressed: “we had some fails with blocks. Iran played very well their blocking, we struggled”.

Tsubasa Hisahara, captain of Japan said: “we have to increase the support for the team and we have the commitment to accomplish better results.”

USA WIN IN THREE SETS AGAINST MEXICO

Mexicali, Mexico, September 16, 2015 - The United States won in three sets against hosts Mexico by scores of 25-23, 25-17 and 25-17 at the Mexicali State Auditorium. 

Fey Kupono scored 13 points for the American team, while Andrew Benesh finished with 8. Richard Gevis, Jr. and captain John Hatch closed with 7 points each. 

Ridl Alexis Garay Nava. Enrique Ugalde and Alan Gabriel Martinez, topped for the locals with 9 units apiece. 

Service was the key for USA, after the team coached by Daniel Friend aced 6 times (2 by Jennings Franciskovic) against only 1 (Ugalde) by Mexico. 

Daniel Friend's streak against Mexican teams improved to 2-1 in international duels, since the Lewis University coach has taken the national age groups squads for international tournaments for the last three years.