COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 28, 2019) – Outside hitter Francesco Sani scored a match-high 22 points, but the U.S. Boys Youth National Team fell in an epic five-set battle with Brazil Wednesday at the FIVB U19 World Championship in Tunisia.
U.S. and Brazil, playing in a 9th-16th classification match, traded sets, with Brazil winning, 24-26, 25-23. 21-25, 25-17, 15-10. The U.S. will next play Germany in a 13th-16th classification match at 3 p.m. MT on Thursday, Aug. 29.
Brazil outblocked the USA 11-2 but the U.S. had 59 kills to Brazil’s 57. Both teams had three aces, and Brazil led in digs, 22-19. Brazil scored 39 points on U.S. errors and committed 37.
Sani scored his 22 points on 18 kills, two blocks and two aces. Outside hitter Alex Knight scored 13 points on 13 kills. Middle Gavin Julien scored eight points on seven kills and one ace while fellow middle Ethan Hill scored six points on six kills. Clarke Godbold, who started the fifth set at opposite, scored five points on five kills.
Opposite Akinola Akinwumi made his first start of the tournament and scored four points on four kills. Opposite James Hartley also scored four, and setter Kevin Kauling scored two.
Related: FIVB U19 Worlds Home | Match Stats
U.S. STARTERS VS BRAZIL
Outside hitters: Alex Knight and Francesco Sani
Middle Blockers: Ethan Hill and Gavin Julien
Opposite: Akinola Akinwumi
Setter: Kevin Kauling
Libero: Mason Briggs
Substitutes: Clarke Godbold (Opp), James Hartley (Opp), Joseph Karlous (S)
2019 U.S. Boys Youth National Team
Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, Region, College Commit)
1 Kevin Kauling (S, 6-8, Naperville, Ill., Great Lakes, committed to Lewis)
3 Mason Briggs (L, 5-11, Valencia, Calif., So Cal, signed with Long Beach State)
4 Joe Karlous (S, 6-0, Costa Mesa, Calif., So Cal, signed with Pepperdine)
8 Akinola Akinwumi (Opp, 6-6, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., So Cal, signed with Pepperdine)
9 Clarke Godbold (Opp, 6-5, San Pedro, Calif., So Cal, committed to Long Beach State)
10 James Hartley (OH, 6-6, Waxhaw, N.C., Carolina, signed with Princeton)
11 Rico Wardlow (MB, 6-5, Bolingbrook, Ill., Great Lakes, signed with Purdue University Fort Wayne)
12 Alex Knight (OH, 6-6, Culver City, Calif., So Cal, signed with UCLA)
13 Ethan Hill (MB, 6-7, San Clemente, Calif., So Cal, signed with UCLA)
14 Francesco Sani (OH, 6-8, Bethesda, Md., Old Dominion, committed to UC Irvine)
15 Joe Deluzio (OH, 6-6, Windermere, Fla., Florida, committed to Pepperdine)
17 Gavin Julien (MB, 6-8, Whitefish Bay, Wis., Badger, signed with BYU)
Head Coach: David Hunt (Pepperdine men’s volleyball head coach)
Assistant Coach: Nick MacRae (Long Beach State men’s assistant coach)
Assistant Coach: Colin McMillan (Penn State men’s associate head coach)
Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo (U.S. Men’s National Team)
Team Manager: Gabby Lutjen
Doctor: David Dyck
Schedule/Results (All times MT)
Aug. 21: USA def Dominican Republic, 25-18, 31-29, 25-17
Aug. 22: Korea def USA, 25-27, 25-17, 25-20, 25-22
Aug. 23: USA def Nigeria, 25-22, 25-19, 25-20
Aug. 25: Russia def. USA, 25-12, 25-19, 25-12
Aug. 27: Argentina def. USA, 25-20, 25-19, 25-14
Aug. 28: Brazil def. USA, 24-26, 25-23, 21-15, 25-17, 15-10
Aug. 29: USA vs. Germany, 3 p.m.