USA on the ball at NORCECA Championships

GATINEAU, Canada, August 17, 2010 - The United States smoothed itself out after a bumpy start at the NORCECA men’s junior volleyball championships on Tuesday with a 25-14, 25-11, 25-11 victory over Martinique. The U.S. and Mexico (both 2-0) will battle Wednesday for first place in pool C.

For the second straight match, the U.S., points list was well spread out with 11 of the 12 players participating in the scoring.  Joshua Taylor was the only one to hit double digits with 10 and Taylor Crabb added nine.

“I thought we weren’t that crisp early on,” said U.S., head coach John Hawks.  “We missed some serves and we weren’t executing at the net.  But I give our guys credit for their resiliency.  I thought that they battled hard and we got back on track with a nice run of points.”

 “We know it’s going to be a lot tougher and we are going to have to go out with a lot more fire than we did tonight,” said American captain Dylan Davis, who chipped in seven points.  “That was not our best volleyball and we all know that.”

For Martinique (0-2) they provided a spirited effort.  It is their first ever participation at this tournament. Boris Zeline was the top scorer for Martinique with four points.

“Our players were a bit intimidated in the first set,” said Martinique head coach Eddy Salomon.  “But they realized they had nothing to lose in this match and started to relax.  When you play a team like the U.S., you need to keep it simple and play to the best of your abilities.”

“It’s a challenge but also a pleasure to play the U.S.,” said Martinique captain Geoffrey Zozor.  “We had a strong run in the first set and that feeling is what I’ll remember most about this match.”