Speraw Serves As Head Coach Of U.S. Men's Volleyball Team At Pan Am Games
October 03, 2011 | Men's Volleyball
SPERAW HEADS U.S. PAN AMERICAN TEAM: UC Irvine head coach John Speraw will serve as head coach for the U.S. men's volleyball team at the Pan American Games Oct. 24-29 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The U.S. team will begin competition on Oct. 24 in Group B with Brazil, Canada and Puerto Rico. Group A will include Argentina, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela.
UC Irvine All-American Jordan DuFault, who graduated in 2011, is a member of the team, while current UCI players Jeremy Dejno, Carson Clark and Scott Kevorken are alternates.
ANTEATERS FINISH EIGHTH AT THE IRVINE INTERNATIONAL VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT: UC Irvine finished eighth at the Irvine International Volleyball Tournament presented by ST/COMP Quiksilver last week at Crawford Court.
The Anteaters opened the tournament with a 3-1 win over Beijing BAIC Motor from China. That was the only win of the tournament as UCI went 0-4 the rest of the way. The win against the Chinese was the second win for UCI in three years of the tournament.
Drean Bolivar from Argentina, the 2009 champion, battled SADA Cruizero from Brazil, the 2010 winner, in the championship match with SADA Cruzeiro winning their second consecutive title in a 3-1 victory.
SPERAW SAID: Head coach John Speraw talked about the Irvine International Tournament.
"I thought it was a great tournament in so many ways. The level of volleyball was very high. Our players got to see it and play against it. We came close in some matches, but fell short. We were a serve away from playing in the semifinals so it was disappointing in that respect."
"We learned a lot about our team. We have the chance to be a great team next year. The experience from this tournament will be helpful in fulfilling our goal."
"I thought all of outside hitters did a nice job. It was nice to see some young guys come into their first match, like Michael Brinkley and Zack La Cavera and do a good job."
"In general, Daniel Stork did a really nice job during this tournament."
UP NEXT: The Anteaters will entertain Brandon University on Dec. 29 at 7:00 p.m. and the University of Alberta on Dec. 31 at 2:00 p.m. in exhibition matches at Crawford Court.
The regular season begins on Jan. 4 with UCI hosting Cal Baptist at 7:00 p.m. in Crawford Court.
