’95 Australian Youth Boys V’s Makasan
Match 5 (Quarter Final Cross Over) – Thailand National U21 Championships 2011
AUS lost to Makasan 0:3 15-25, 23-25, 22-25

AUS Starting Line-up (and points scored):
Brisbane (2), Stone (0), Dunn (1), Walker (14), Murch (8), Stevens (0), McDonald (Libero)

Substitutes:
Barry (0), Colotti (0), Beveridge (4), Farman (0), Marsh (1)

Today we played the second of our quarter final matches at the Thailand National U21 Championships against Makasan. The Australians showed the true Anzac spirit battling through illness to play a strong match against a polished Thai opposition, who in the previous day pushed the Thai Army team to their limits.

The match started point for point with the young Australians hitting and blocking confidently. Kill hits by Murch and Walker and solid blocking by Dunn saw the Australians lead 8-7. However, the Thai’s turned up the heat with some slick combination attacks to steal the lead 9-12. The gap was closed when Walker and Murch chimed in with some good kill hits in attack followed by Brisbane with a stuff block 12-13. Accurate aggressive serving and attack by the Thai’s forced errors from the Australians to close out the set 15-25.

The second set started in the same way as the first with both teams going point for point. Strong blocking and hitting by Beveridge and accurate tactical serving by the Australians saw them keep up with the Thai’s 10-11. A couple of forced errors created a mini break for the Thai’s 12-15. However, excellent transition attacks by Walker and Murch and a stuff block by Brisbane pressured the Thai’s 23-24. Though a kill attack by the Thai’s ended the set 23-25.

The third set started strongly for the Australians with accurate serving by the team, and stuff blocks and attack kills to Walker 11-8. An attack kill to Murch and a quick attack by Marsh saw the Australians hold the lead mid way through the set 14-12. However, some unforced errors and a strong Thai attack saw the lead change 14-17. Even though the Australians attacked well for the rest of the set through Murch, Beveridge and Walker; they couldn’t close the gap and saw the Thai’s take the match 22-25.

With this loss the Australian Youth Boys are now out of the tournament with only the top 4 teams qualifying for the semi-finals but finished as the first Australian youth team to make top 8 in this tournament, a significant result in their first ever competitive experience together and in an U21 age group.

The Youth team will now train tomorrow and then offer support for the Junior team as they continue their journey in this tournament and hopefully qualify for the Gold Medal match.

Statistics:
Attack – Team 34% kill 22% error (12%ke), Walker 50% kill 14% error (22), Murch 44% kill 22% error (18)
Block – Team 6 kills 4 controls 2 error
Passing – Team 1.93 41% perfect 6 errors, McDonald 2.10 (29) 48% perfect, Murch 2.00 (8) 50% perfect
Serving – Team 1.72 1 ace 7 errors, Walker 2.17 (12), Brisbane 2.00 (8), Marsh 2.00 (7)

Best players – Murch, Walker

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