Press release

Bahia Blanca, Argentina, August 27, 2011 – Defending champions Serbia and first visitors Spain will play on Sunday for the gold medal of the 2011 edition of the FIVB Boy’s Youth Volleyball World Championship at Osvaldo Casanova Gymnasium of Bahia Blanca.
In an earlier match on Sunday evening, Cuba and France will clash to determine the winner of the bronze medal.
In Saturday’s action Spain was the first to reserve the first-class seat to the final match carried on the shoulders of Andres Villena who had a memorable performance with 34 points against Cuba in the 27-25, 25-22, 16-25, 26-24 victory.
In the following match, the consistent Serbia made a fast job against France winning in straight sets by score of 25-23, 25-22, 25-18 to join Spain in the exclusive cabin.
In its first presentation in the tournament in Jesolo and Bassano del Grappa, Italy in 2009, Serbia took home the gold medal after winning a sensational five-set duel with Iran. Spain has had two previous appearances in the biennial competition for players under 19-years-old with a fifth place in 2009 to show for.
Argentina and Bulgaria will play for fifth place while the seventh place will be a decision between Greece and China.
In Almirante Brown, it will be Brazil v Iran (9th place), United States v Egypt (11th place), Russia v Korea (13th place) and Puerto Rico v Tunisia (15th place).

Semifinals

Spain 3, Cuba 1
Andres Villena scored a tournament-high 34 points carrying Spain to the gold medal match after a well fought victory over Cuba in four sets by score of 27-25, 25-22, 16-25, 26-24 on Saturday. They will meet for the gold against the winner of the match Serbia-France later. Villena scored with 32 attacks and two blocks while Miguel Fornes was the only other player of Spain in double digits with 14. Cuba’s Lazaro Fundora finished the night with 20 points and Yordan Bisset and Nelson Loyola added 18 and 14 respectively.

Serbia 3 France 0
Serbia will have the chance to defend the gold medal in the finals following the straight set victory (25-23, 25-22, 25-18) over France on Saturday. It was a very consistent outing for the Serbia side which controlled the match against a combative team of France. The Serbian team gave away 14 points via errors compared to 26 by the defeated side. Captain and star player Uros Kovacevic was the scoring leader of Serbia with 15 points followed by Luka Medic and Milan Katic with 14 and 10 points respectively. France’s Thibault Rossard and Trevor Clevenot registered 11 and 10 tallies.

Positions 5-8

Argentina 3, Greece 0
Argentina advanced to the match for the 5th position following a straight-set (25-22, 25-21, 25-21) over Greece on Saturday morning. Despite the close scores it was Argentina the team that controlled the pace of the game from start to finish. The home team held the advantage in blocks 12-8. Gonzalo Lapera with 17 points was the best scorer for the winners. Mauro Llanos added 11 including five blocks and Gonzalo Quiroga chipped in with 10. Menelaos Kokkikanis topped Greece with 10 points and Anestis Dalakouras tallied 8.

Bulgaria 3, China 0
Bulgaria scored a straight-set (25-20, 26-24, 25-18) over China to advance to a match with hosts Argentina for the fifth position. China will meet Greece in the contest for the seventh place. Ivan Ivanov collected 10 points including two blocks and two serving aces as the offensive leader of Bulgaria. Veselin Iliev and Krasimier Georgiev each registered 8 points to the winning effort. China’s Zhimin Leng had two aces, one block and ten attacks to finish with a match-high 13 points.

Positions 9-12

Brazil 3, United States 1
Brazil booked its ticket for the 9th place final after working against USA through four sets (25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16). The six-time champions earned their fourth win in a row, all of them after falling in the bottom half of the tournament. Brazil was led by Alan Souza and Jonatas Cardoso, with 15 and 13 points respectively. Joao Ferreira and Henrique Batagim shared the role as the other outside hitter, charting 11 and 10 points. In the losing side, both Austin Kingi and the injured Matthew Tarantino scored 13 tallies.

Iran 3, Egypt 0
With an unquestionable supremacy, Iran downed Egypt in straight sets (25-21, 25-14, 25-21) to advance to the final match for 9th place in Almirante Brown venue. The Iranian, last runner-ups, will decide with six-time champions Brazil the best team of the bottom half of the World Championship. Egyptian Islam Abdelkader hammered 15 points as the game's top scorer, while Iran's captain Pourya Fayazi nailed 14 for his side. No other players reached double numbers.

Positions 13-16

Russia 3, Tunisia 1
After a few disappointments in the tournament, Russia could prove its strength against Tunisia and celebrated in four sets (25-19, 21-25, 25-16, 25-20) the chance to fight for the 13th place in the final day. The Africans will look for a maximum 15th spot. Left-handed Konstantin Gavrilov was a continuous threat to Tunisia with 20 points. Colleague opposite Adam Oueslati scored 15 kills for the losing side. Both teams had great numbers in blocking, with Russia in front 20-13.

Korea 3, Puerto Rico 1
In a very exciting affair, Korea managed to overcome Puerto Rico in four sets (25-23, 18-25, 25-17, 32-30) to face Russia in the final match for the 13th position. The Puerto Ricans played their best match of the tournament but came out empty and now they will decide with Tunisia the places 15-16. The outstanding performance of Puerto Rico's Carlos Acosta, with 23 points, wasn't enough to give his side the first victory in Argentina. Ángel Pérez contributed with 18 tallies, but Puerto Rico gave away 38 points by mistakes, while Korea only dropped 20. In the Asian team, Jun-Young Kim reached the top with 14 kills.

Highest Scorer by Day
Day 1 (August 19): 29 points by Gonzalo Lapera (Argentina) in the 3-2 loss to Bulgaria
Day 2 (August 20): 32 points by Yordan Bisset (Cuba) in the 3-2 victory over Brazil
Day 3 (August 21): 30 points by Gonzalo Quiroga (Argentina) in the 3-0 victory over United States
Day 4 (August 24): 32 points by Gonzalo Quiroga (Argentina) in the 3-2 loss to Serbia
Day 5 (August 25): 27 points by Lazaro Fundora (Cuba) in the 3-1 loss to Serbia
Day 6 (August 26): 29 points by Lazaro Fundora (Cuba) in the 3-1 victory over Argentina
Day 7 (August 27): 34 points by Andres Villena (Spain) in the 3-1 victory over Cuba 

Top Scoring Performances

34 – Andres Villena (Spain) in the 3-1 victory over Cuba on August 27
32 – Yordan Bisset (Cuba) in the 3-2 victory over Brazil on August 20
32 – Gonzalo Quiroga (Argentina) in the 3-2 loss to Serbia on August 24
30 – Gonzalo Quiroga (Argentina) in the 3-0 victory over United States on August 21
29 – Gonzalo Lapera (Argentina) in the 3-2 loss to Bulgaria on August 19
29 – Uros Kovacevic (Serbia) in the 3-1 loss to Iran on August 20
29 – Gonzalo Quiroga (Argentina) in the 3-1 victory over China on August 25
29 – LazaroFundora (Cuba) in the 3-1 victory over Argentina on August 26

Top Blocking Performances

11- Zhejia Zhang (China) in the 3-2 victory over Russia on August 21
8 – Petar Nenkov (Bulgaria) in the 3-2 victory over Argentina on August 19
7 – Matthew Tarrantino (United States) in the 3-2 victory over Egypt on August 19
7 – Jhon Wendt (France) in the 3-1 victory over Greece on August 24
7 – Uros Kovacevic (Serbia) in the 3-1 victory over Cuba on August 25
7 – Zhejia Zhang (China) in the 3-1 loss to Argentina on August 25

Top Service Ace Performances

5 – Thiago Veloso (Brazil) in the 3-2 victory over Korea on August 19
5 – Yordan Bisset (Cuba) in the 3-2 victory over Brazil on August 20
5 – Gonzalo Lapera (Argentina) in the 3-1 victory over China on August 25
4 – Na Gyeong-Bok (Korea) in the 3-2 loss to Brazil on August 19
4 – Aaron Russell (United States) in the 3-2 victory over Egypt on August 19
4 – Milad Ebadipour (Iran) in the 3-1 victory over Serbia on August 20
4 – Kasandros Stingas (Greece) in the 3-0 victory over China on August 20
4 – Yordan Bisset (Cuba) in the 3-2 victory over China on August 24
4 – Sinisa Zarkovic (Serbia) in the 3-1 victory over China on August 26

Top Set Score

36-34 (Egypt versus United States) in first round on August 19 in Almirante Brown
32-30 (Greece versus Russia) in first round on August 19 in Bahia Blanca
30-28 (Iran versus Serbia) in first round on August 20 in Bahia Blanca
30-28 (Spain versus Greece) in second round on August 26 in Bahia Blanca
29-27 (Egypt versus United States) in first round on August 19 in Almirante Brown
29-27 (Francia versus Korea) in first round on August 20 in Almirante Brown
29-27 (United States versus Bulgaria) in first round on August 20 in Almirante Brown

Top Scoring Matches
245 – United States def. Egypt 25-16, 25-21, 27-29, 34-36, 17-15 in first round on August 19 in Almirante Brown
216 – Cuba def. Brazil 21-25, 19-25, 25-21, 27-25, 15-13 in first round on August 20 in Almirante Brown
215 – China def. Tunisia 26-24, 21-25, 25-27, 25-21, 15-8 in first round on August 19 in Bahia Blanca
215 - Cuba def. Korea 24-26, 25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 15-13 in first round on August 21 in Almirante Brown
212 – Serbia def. Argentina 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 15-9 in second round on August 24 in Bahia Blanca