Dos Pueblos alum and current UC Irvine player Micah Goss and UC Santa Barbara’s Riggs Guy were part of USA Volleyball history on Sunday as members of the Under-21 team at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championships in Jiangmen, China.
The Americans won their first-ever medal at the U21 worlds (men or women), claiming the bronze with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 sweep of Czechia.
Team USA rebounded from a 3-0 semifinal loss to eventual champion Iran on Saturday. Iran defeated Italy for the gold medal.
“Last night was our first loss in two years together, so it was difficult for the guys to process, but we had a bigger goal in mind and that was getting on that stand. I’m so happy for the guys that they accomplished that,” said head coach John Hawks, who guided the Men’s U21 team to its previous best fourth-place finish in 2011. “The Chinese people have been so welcoming to us (he said as the players were signing autographs). The season has been great; the tournament has been well-rounded and professional. We made U.S. history.”
The U.S. finished with advantages in kills (42-36), blocks (8-5) and aces (4-3). They made only 13 errors in the match, eight fewer than Czechia.
Captain and outside hitter Sean Kelly led all players with 19 points on match-bests of 14 kills and three blocks. He shared match-high honors with a pair of aces and led the U.S. with seven successful receptions. Setter Tread Rosenthal ran the U.S. offense that hit an incredible .467 as a team with just seven errors to go with 42 kills in 75 attacks.
Team USA went 8-1 in the tournament.
Story includes information from USA Volleyball.
