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IRVINE, Calif. (Aug. 17, 2009)
– The United States qualified for the 2010 FIVB
World Championships in Italy with a 3-0 (25-16,
25-19, 25-15) victory over Dominican Republic on
Monday at the Bren Center on the campus of UC
Irvine.
Team USA finished the tournament with a 3-0
record. Dominican Republic finished 2-1 and will
travel to Guadalajara, Mexico later this month
for another qualifying tournament.
“Obviously the No. 1 goal was to qualify for the
World Championships,” said U.S. Head Coach Alan
Knipe. “But I thought along the way we played
some really good volleyball.”
The United States’ Evan Patak was named the
tournament Most Valuable Player. Jose Caceres of
the Dominican Republic won the Best Scorer
award. Sean Rooney of the United States was
named Best Spiker. Team USA’s David Smith was
named the Best Blocker. Evan Patak of the United
States won Best Server. Rich Lambourne took Best
Libero, Best Digger and Best Receiver. Donald
Suxho was named Best Setter.
Patak led all scorers on Monday with 16 points
on 10 kills, a match-high five aces and one
block. Rooney added 15 points on 12 kills and
three aces. David Lee scored 12 points on eight
kills, a match-high three blocks and one ace.
Caceres led Dominican Republic with 14 points on
a match-high 13 kills and one block. Elvis
Contreras added six points on four kills and two
blocks.
Team USA out-served DR, with an 11-2 ace
advantage. The United States had seven blocks to
DR’s three. The United States also completed 38
of 65 kill attempts with four errors. The
Dominican Republic completed 27 of 58 with seven
errors.
“Obviously we had some trouble with serving,”
said Dominican Team Captain Victor Batista. “We
only came together a couple of weeks ago. We
will go train in Mexico for a week before the
next qualifier.”
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