2006 World Championships   More World Championship news       Tournament info: Puerto Rico

USA clinch top seed for semifinals

Caguas, Puerto Rico, August 26, 2005 – Riley Salmon scored a team-high 11 points as USA clinched the top seed for the semifinals of the 2006 Men’s World Championship second round tournament (NORCECA D) following a 3-0 win over Mexico on Friday.

Salmon had 10 kills and one block in the 25-19, 25-20, 25-21 victory for the United States, who finished pool play at the five-team tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. The Americans did not lose a set in the four matches (12-0).

“We are very happy to get through pool play unbeaten,” said Team USA head coach Hugh McCutcheon. “This win gives us the best possible match-up in the semifinals to advance to the World Championships in Japan next year. We are excited to finally get to the qualification phase of the tournament.”

Setter Donald Suxho had 34 assists and five points on three kills and two blocks for the USA Men, who posted a hitting percentage of .500 for the match (44 kills, 9 errors, 70 attempts).

Dave McKienzie added nine points, Jim Polster scored eight points and Phil Eatherton tallied seven points for the Americans, who will now play Guatemala (1-3) in Saturday’s semifinals after Guatemala beat Barbados 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22) on Friday to claim fourth spot.

In Saturday’s other semifinal, second-seeded Puerto Rico (3-1) will challenge third-seeded Mexico (2-2).

The championship match in the tournament will not be played until Sunday, but the big prizes will be awarded on Saturday for the two semifinal winners. The top two finishers in the tournament will advance to the 2006 World Championship final round as members of the NORCECA zone.

Canada and Cuba secured the first two NORCECA slots for the World Championships at the “NORCECA E” World Championship Qualification Tournament in Havana on Sunday, Aug. 21.

In all, 24 teams will compete at the 2006 World Championships from Nov. 16-Dec. 3 – nine from Europe, five from Asia, four from NORCECA, two from Africa, two from South America, the host team (Japan) and the 2002 champion (Brazil).