Mitch Stahlexperienced an eventful rookie season with Paris Volley. Much of that excitement was due to the uncertainly of his club, and that probably led him to join Scott Kevorkenat Tours VB. Stahl was the starting middle blocker on a team that finished the regular season in third position before reaching the semifinals of the playoffs. They lost 2-0 to Chaumont 52 VB in a best-of-three semifinals series.
Much of the excitement in the spring of 2018 was tied to financial problems with the club. “Financial oddities” found during an audit first they were ruled out of the playoffs. They French Commission denied their appeal, but a second round of appeals caused the delay of the French Ligue A playoffs. After the playoffs concluded, the National Directorate of Support and Management Control (DNACG) decided that Paris Volleywould be relegated to Ligue B for the 2018-2019 season. The club’s appeal to the DNACG was not successful.
Stahl is one of the many players to leave Paris in the wake of their administrative relegation. He is moving to one of France’s most successful clubs. They were the 2018 champions, and have won the title in the French Ligue A six of the last ten seasons. Tours VB have also won the French Cup 6 of the last 10 seasons as well. In addition to the French Ligue A and the French Cup, they have qualified for the 4th Round of the CEV Champions League.
Prior to his rookie season at Paris Volley, Stahl played his collegiate volleyball at UCLA. He was named Second-Team AVCA All-American as a senior and Honorable Mention AVCA All-American as a junior. Stahl was also First-Team All-MPSF as a senior and Second-Team All-MPSF as a junior. He finished his career at number 3 on the list of most aces in a career at UCLA and number 2 in blocks assists and total blocks.
Antwain Aguillard is back in top-flight volleyball after spending a season in the French Ligue B. Aguillard, a middle blocker from Las Vegas, Nevada has signed to play with AOK Kifissia in the Hellenic Volleyball League of Greece. Kifissia has finished last season in 5th place. They have actually spent the last 5 seasons in 4th or 5th position. Kifissia resigned Canadian opposite, Taylor Hunt, who was voted as the best opposite in the league last season. Aguillard is the first American player to play with the club since Chris Austin did so during the 2014-2015 season.
Aguillard played for AS Cannes last season. He helped the club win the Ligue B title and earn promotion back to Ligue A. This is his 6th club since leaving Long Beach State in 2011. During his professional career his has played in Finland twice (Etta in 2013-2014 and Tiikerit in 2016-2017), Italy (Padova in 2014-2015), Romania (CS Banatul Caransebeş in 2015-2016), and France (AS Cannes in 2017-2018).
Aguillard and Austin have a few similarities in their background before arriving at Kifissia. Both of the players come from the Las Vegas area (Austin hailing from the suburb of Henderson, NV). Both of the players also started their collegiate career at Long Beach City College before making the jump to NCAA Division I teams (Austin played at UC Irvine). Austin took his playing career to the beach, partnering up with Kristopher Johnson for 2 AVP events this season. Aguillard has remained indoors, playing in some of the better leagues in the world.
Aguilliard and Kifissia will open the season on October 13th against AE Komotinis. They have been drawn into a group with Olympiakos, Fonikos Syrous, and Pamvochaikos in the League Cup. The fixtures for that tournament have not been announced yet.
Matt West, two-time AVCA All-American and All-MPSF as a setter at Pepperdine, will be playing for a new team in 2018-2019. He will be heading to Finland to play with Hurrikaani-Loimaa. West even took part in a friendly match last week against Akaa-Volley.
Hurrikaani finished 4th place in the regular season of the Finnish Mestaruusliiga. They then made it to the finals of the playoffs, losing to VaLePa 4-0 in a best-of-7 series. Hurrikaani will take part in the CEV Cup in addition to the domestic competitions in Finland.
Initially it was reported that West will be staying in the Czech Republic to play for Brno. He was announced by the club back in August. West spent the last season as a part of the Kladno Volejbal CZ team that finished 3rd in the regular season of the Czech Extraliga and reached the finals of the playoffs.
This is West’s fourth squad in four years as a professional. After he graduated in 2015, he played for SWD powervolleys Duren in the German Bundesliga. The next season he spent at Abiant Lycurgus in the Dutch Eredivisie and the CEV Champions League. Just last year he moved over to the Czech Republic to play for Kladno.
As with yesterday’s match, Italy started off slow against China before bouncing back to get a 3-1 (27-29, 25-18, 25-21, 25-21) win in front of 3,600 spectators at the PalaEstra in Siena. This is the last friendly match for the Azurri before the curtain raises on the 2018 FIVB World Championships. Italy will open the tournament on September 9th against Japan in Pool A at the Foro Italico in Rome.
Italy got stronger in attack as the match progressed. Though they fell to a 6-2 deficit in the first set, they were able to push China to a 27-29 finish. Their success rate in attack finished at 68%, up from 54% in the first set. Ivan Zaytzev led the charge for Italy with 16 points. Filippo Lanza was right behind Zaytzev with 14 points. The other outside hitter, Osmany Juntorena, followed up his 16-point performance yesterday with 13 points on Thursday. Simone Anzani led the match in the middle for Italy with 8 points. Simone Gianelli started the match at setter.
In the fourth set an entire new lineup was utilized, giving every player on the bench time on the court. Gabriele Nelli and Luigi Randazzo led the charge for Italy in the final set with 6 points each.
“Their departure a bit surprised us, but I liked how the guys stayed focused and playing ball on the ball put the race on the right tracks, winning deservedly,” said GianlorenzoBlengini. “Beyond the victory, which in general is always a pleasure, we have seen good things alternated with others to improve. The merit is also of China which is a level formation. We are all focused on our goal, aware of the difficulties that await us. It will be a long and full of pitfalls tournament, it is a World Championship and it would be strange if it were not.”
Italy’s setter, Simone Gianelli said, “Even tonight I saw good things, we all know that there is always the possibility to improve, but I think that getting to the World Championships with a bit of wind in the stern will not hurt us. We all have our feet firmly planted on the ground and we know what we have to work on, but at the same time we are aware of our value and the value of the shirt we wear. We’ll see. After many hours spent in the gym, we can not wait to start.”
Jiang Chuan led China again with 12 points in the match.
China: Jiang C. 12, Mao TY 4, Du H. X 6, Liu LB 9, Rao S. H 3, Miao RT 8, Tong JH (L)., Ji DS 11. Coach: Lozano
Referees: Pasquali, Cesare
Duration: 32 ‘, 24’, 30 ‘, 25’
Spectators: 3600
Lube Civitanova played their first preseason match against Sieco Service Ortona, a team in the Serie A2 on Wednesday, September 5th. While many Lube players have not reported due to their obligations to their respective national teams, over 500 fans showed up to see the debut of Yoandry Leal and Robertlandy Simon in a Lube shirt. Leal started at the outside hitter position, and Simon was placed at opposite, where he is expected to play until Tsvetan Sokolov recovers from a knee surgery from earlier in the summer.
Simon led the math with 16 points in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-19) sweep over Ortona. Leal was right behind him with 15 points. Dragan Stankovic started at middle and scored 5 points. Their other middle blocker, Enrico Diamatini finished with 11 points. Pier Partenio ran the offense at setter.
Christoph Marks, a German outside hitter, led Ortona with 12 points. Michelle Simoni scored 9 points in the middle. Mattia Sorenti scored 12 points from the other outside hitter position.
Lube held a 62% to 40% advantage in attack for the match. They also held an advantage in service receptions of 68% to 46%. Lube had 8 service aces to 5 aces for Ortona. After the match the two teams chose to play an extra set for practice purposes.
Cuba took care of business on Saturday, September 1, 2018 on their way to winning their sixth NORCECA U-21 Championship. That is twice as many championships as the United States, the team with the second-most titles. The United States were kept off the medal stand after a lost to Canada, who won the bronze. Cuba claimed the only ticket available to the 2019 FIVB U-21 World Championships.
CHAMPIONSHIP: CUBA DEF. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 3-0
Cuba defeats the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-20)
Cuba wins the gold medal and books a ticket to the 2019 FIVB U-21 World Championships; Dominican Republic wins their second silver medal in this competition (their second medal ever as well)
Jose Gonzalez made quick work of the Dominican Republic. He led all scorers with 16 points on 13 kills and 3 aces. His 3 aces tied Julio Morales as a match-high. Morales also scored 9 points on kills to finish with 12. Raico Saroza and Carlos Aida scored 7 and 5 points respectively in the middle for Cuba. Lazaro Najarro led the match with 9 digs as Cuba’s libero.
Bayron Pena led the match for the Dominican Republic with 14 kills. He also added a block to finish with 15 points. Jairo Bello scored 9 points on 8 kills and 1 block. Jose Mendez led the scoring in the middle with 2 kills, 3 blocks, and 1 service ace.
3RD PLACE: CANADA DEF. UNITED STATES 3-1
Canada defeats the United States 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 25-27, 25-17)
Canada wins the bronze medal, their ninth overall medal and third bronze, the United States finishes fourth; the first time they have not won a medal at this event
Jaylen Jasper may have led the match with 22 points, but that was not enough to keep the United States from their first-ever medal-less performance at the NORCECA U-21 Championships. He also posted match-highs with 17 kills and 4 service aces. Kevin Lamp was right behind with 18 points on 16 kills and 2 aces. Devin Joslyn replaced J.P. Reilly in the third set on the outside and finished the match with 7 points.
Xander Ketrzynski led Canada with 18 points. His points came from 15 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace. Brodie Hofer scored 14 points on 11 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace. Fynnian McCarthy had 6 points in the middle on 1 kill, 3 blocks, and 2 aces. Michael Dowhaniuk contributed 10 points on 9 kills and 1 ace. Mathias Elser set Canada to a .393 hitting percentage in the win.
Argentina claim the crown at the 2018 Pan Am Cup for the second consecutive year and the second time in their country’s history. They did so in a dramatic fashion, beating Brazil in the tie-break. Cuba took the bronze after beating Puerto Rico 3-1, and Mexico placed 5th by virtue of a 3-1 victory over Canada.
Argentina defeats Brazil 3-2 (25-27, 25-17, 25-22, 25-27, 15-10)
Argentina wins the gold medal for the second time; Brazil wins their first silver medal at this event
Argentina was close to ending this match in a sweep, but Brazil hung tight in the first and fourth sets to force this match to a tie-break. In the end the outside attack of Argentina was too much for Brazil to overcome. Ezequiel Palacios, the tournament MVP, led the scoring with 21 points on 19 kills, 1 block and 1 ace. The outside hitter did not commit and attack error and hit a blistering .588 for the match. Luciano Palonskywas right behind with 17 kills and 2 aces with a .364 hitting percentage. Nicolas Brunowas a stalwart in serve receive, and scored 17 points on 16 kills and 1 ace. He hit .387 for the match.
Joaquin Gallego led the match with 4 blocks in the middle of Argentina. He also put away 6 kills to finish with 10 points. Gaston Fernandez, the other middle blocker, scored 9 points on 8 kills and a block. Franco Massimo led Argentina in passing and digs (13). Matias Sanchez set Argentina to a .428 attack average as a team.
Alan Souzadid not start in the second set (he started in every other set), but led Brazil with 19 points. His points came from 16 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace while hitting .315. Henrique Honorato led Brazil in kills with 18, accounting for all of his points. They used Leonardo Nascimento, Victor Cardoso, and Gabriel Pessoaat the other outside hitter role. They accounted for 4, 3, and 8 points respectively.
Flavio Gualberto scored 11 points in the middle on 9 kills and 2 blocks. They used Leandro Santos and Matheus dos Santos at the other middle blocker position. They scored 4 and 7 points respectively. Thiago Veloso led the match with 14 digs and set Brazil to a .351 hitting percentage.
Cuba wins the bronze medal, a repeat of their performance last year, Puerto Rico finishes in fourth place
After a slow start in the first set against Puerto Rico, Cuba put their foot on the gas and never let up. Marlon Herrera did not start the match for Cuba, but he came on partway through the first set and never looked back. He was the leading scorer in the match with 18 points on 13 kills, 4 aces and 2 blocks. Jaime Herrera led the match with 5 service aces. The opposite for Cuba finished the match with 16 points. Miguel Castro led Cuba with 14 kills and contributed 3 aces to finish the match with 17 points.
Maurice Torres was the lone shining star for Puerto Rico. The opposite from Pepperdine University scored 18 points on 15 kills, 1 block, and had his team’sonly 2 service aces. Pablo Guzmanscored 9 points on 9 kills. Jessie Colon scored 9 points on the middle in the defeat form 7 kills and 2 blocks.
Mexico finishes in fifth place and qualifies for the 2019 Pan Am Games; Canada takes sixth place
Daniel Vargascame up big for Mexico with 18 points on 15 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace. Jorge Barajas scored 14 points all on kills. Pedro Rangel, Mexico‘s setter, led the match with 4 blocks. He was the team’s third-leading scorer with 11 points. Jonathan Garcia scored 5 points in the middle on 2 blocks, 1 ace, and 2 kills. Jesus Rangel led the match with 23 digs.
Blake Scheerhoorn led Canada with 17 points on 14 kills, 2 aces and 1 block. Andrew Richards and Terrel Bramwell, a substitute at opposite, both finished with 8 kills. Bramwell also contributed 2 kills and 1 ace to finish with 11 points. Justin Duff led the charge in the middle for Canada with 8 points. Deenan Gyimah came off the bench to play middle for Canada in the second set and scored 7 points on 4 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace.
Head Coach John Speraw has announced the 14 players he will be taking with him to the 2018 FIVB World Championships. Speraw has gone with a primarily veteran staff. Matt Andersonand Dave Smithhave played in a pair of Olympics: London in 2012 and Brazil in 2016. Anderson, Smith, Taylor Sander, Micah Christenson, Max Holt, Erik Shoji, and Kawika Shoji all won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero, Brazil and were on the roster at the 2014 FIVB World Championships in Poland.
All of the 14 players except for Jeff Jendryk played this past season professionally. Jendryk finished his senior season at Loyola University in Chicago. Matt Anderson won a FIVB Club World Championship, CEV Champions League gold medal, Russian Super League title, Russian Cup title, and the Russian Super Cup with Zenit Kazan. Aaron Russell won the Italian SuperLega title with Perugia. Taylor Sander and Micah Christenson won silver medals in the FIVB Club World Championships, the CEV Champions League, the Italian SuperLega, the Coppa Italia, and the Italian SuperCoppa at Lube Civitanova. Dan McDonnellwon the Polish Cup with Lotos Trefl Gdansk.
There are not many notable surprises on this roster when looking back at the team composition from the FIVB Volleyball Nations League, the 2017 FIVB Grand Champions Cup, and the 2016 Olympic Games. One surprise to some fans is the lack of T.J. DeFalco on the roster. The outside hitter starting his senior year at Long Beach State was the fourth-leading scorer at the Volleyball Nations League with 93 points on 72 kills, 15 blocks, and 6 aces. Speraw chose to only take 3 outside hitters and 5 middle blockers. One might think that Matt Anderson might be used as an outside hitter at one point instead of his listed position of opposite. Anderson played outside hitter in college and currently plays that position for his club team.
The current roster left on Monday, September 3rd for Ljubljana, Slovenia for a a warm-up tournament from September 6-8 with Slovenia, Canada, and Iran. They will then head to Bari, Italy for Pool C of the World Championships with Russia, Serbia, Australia, Tunisia, and Cameroon. They will open the tournament against Serbia on September 12th. The United States will be looking to win only their second title at this event. They last won the gold medal in 1986.
Head Coach: John Speraw Assistant Coaches: Rob Neilson and Brian Thornton Team Manager: Nate Ngo Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock Team Psychologist: Andrea Becker Team Doctors: Andrew Gregory and David Dyck Scout Coach: Jon Parry Consultant Coach: Mike Wall Strength Coach: Tim Pelot
Argentina and Brazil both won their semifinal matches on Saturday to set up a South American final of the Pan Am Cup on Sunday.
ARGENTINA DEF. CUBA 3-1
Argentina defeats Cuba 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-20)
Argentina advances to the final, Cuba will play for 3rd place
Ezequiel Palacios may have been the leading scorer for Argentina, but Matias Sanchez orchestrated quite a balanced attack in the first semifinal. Palacios finished with 17 points on 16 kills and 1 block in the win. Nicolas Bruno continued to shine with 14 points on 14 kills. Luciano Palonsky came on to replace German Johansen in the second set and finished the match with 12 points on 9 kills and 3 blocks. Joaquin Gallego produced a match-high 4 blocks to go with his 6 kills.
Raul Roamy and Javier Rojas both scored 12 points for Cuba in the loss. Roamy finished with 9 kills and 3 blocks. Rojas contributed 2 blocks and 10 kills. Jaime Herrera came off the bench in the second and third sets while starting the third. In that limited amount of time he still scored 9 points on 8 kills and 1 ace.
BRAZIL DEF. PUERTO RICO 3-1
Brazil defeats Puerto Rico 3-1 (25-27, 25-14, 25-20, 33-31)
Brazil will play in the final, Puerto Rico will play for 3rd place
Alan Souza took the reigns and guided Brazil to another finals appearance in the Pan Am Cup. Souza finished with a match-high 26 points on 22 kills, 3 blocks, and Brazil’s only service ace. Flavio Gualberto scored 16 points in the middle for Brazil. He put away 9 kills, and led the match with 7 blocks. Leonardo Nascimento contributed 12 points on 10 kills and 2 blocks. Those were the only players to break into double-digit scoring for Brazil. Douglas Pureza, the libero, led the match with 16 digs.
Eddie Rivera was the leading scorer for Puerto Rico with 14 points on 14 kills. Maurice Torres scored 10 points on 9 kills and an ace, though he was replaces by Juan Vasquez in the third set. Vasquez finished the match and scored 3 points. Jessie Colon scored 9 points in the middle for Puerto Rico from 7 kills and 2 blocks.
United States defeats Chile 3-1 (26-24, 25-18, 27-29, 25-22)
United States finishes in 7th place
James Shaw again played at the opposite position for the United States and led all scorers with 21 points. He finished with match with 18 kills, 1 block, and 2 service aces. He hit .275 for the match. David Wieczorek was right behind Shaw with 16 points on 15 kills and a service ace. Matthew Pollock also had 16 points. The middle blocker had 11 kills and a match-high 5 blocks. Kupono Fey contributed 7 kills and 1 block in the win. Jonah Seif set the United States to a .378 hitting percentage.
Vicente Parraguirre was the star for Chile with 20 points on 15 kills, 3 blocks, and 2 service aces. Simon Uteau tied the match-high mark of 5 blocks and also put away 8 kills to finish with 13 points. Tomas Parraguirre finisehd with 17 points on 13 kills, 3 blocks, and an ace. Though he also committed 12 attack errors and hit .022. Chile hit .247 on the night behind Estean Solteau’s setting.
Colombia was able to outlast the Dominican Republic in three tight sets to prevail in the sweep and take 9th place. Gustavo Larranhondo scored points on 10 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace for Colombia. Carlos Llanos was right behind with 11 points on 9 kills and 2 blocks. Kevin Cabral produced a match-high 5 blocks and 5 kills to end up with 10 points. Ivan Hurtado scored 9 points in the Colombian victory.
Henry Capellan was the only player for the Dominican Republic to score in the double-digits. He finished with 10 points on 7 kills and a match-high 3 aces. Jose Gomez was the second-leading scorer for the Dominican Republic with 8 points on 8 kills. The Dominican Republic actually finished with a 6-2 advantage in service aces in the defeat.
