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Another 20-kill performance from Long Beach State All-American opposite Kyle Ensing was not enough to keep the United States in contention for a top-10 finish at the FIVB U21 World Championship.
Ensing for the second consecutive match led all players with 20 kills as the United States lost to Egypt 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19 in a de-facto play-in match for the ninth-place semifinals on Thursday in the Czech Republic.
Both the United State (1-5, 1-2 Pool G, 2 points) and Egypt (2-4, 2-1 Pool G, 6 points) entered the second-round finale with a chance to earn their consolation pool’s final berth to the tournament’s ninth-place semifinals. With the loss, the United States will finish in the bottom half of the four-team pool and will be relegated to the 13th-place semifinals.
Ensing in the loss finished with a .325 attack percentage and led the United States with a 50.00 percent offensive efficiency. The All-American entered the match already among the top 10 at the World Championship with a 48.76 percent offensive efficiency.
Along with his offensive performance, Ensing finished with 14 digs and was one of three U.S. players with double-digit digs.
Hawai’i libero Gage Worsley had a match-high 16 digs, while Hawai’i outside attacker Brett Rosenmeier contributed 10 digs.
Rosenmeier also had 14 kills on a 40.00 percent offensive efficiency. Both Ensing and Rosenmeier were the only U.S. players to have more than six kills against Egypt.
The United States committed 29 errors — 15 more errors than Egypt. In addition, Egypt finished with a better offensive efficiency than the United States at 47.32 percent to 41.54 percent.
Opposite Omar Aly in the victory had both a team-high 18 kills and three aces.
Egypt finished with nine aces and committed seven service errors throughout the entire match. This was the most aces the United States has allowed in any of its six World Championship matches.
Despite the loss, the United States out-blocked Egypt 13 to 7 with Princeton Freshman All-American middle attacker George Huhmann having a match-high five blocks. UC Irvine Freshman All-American middle attacker Scott Stadick also added four blocks against Egypt.
The United States following this loss will likely play Morocco or Japan in the 13th-place semifinals on Saturday.
The United States will be assured its worst finish at the 16-team tournament in the nation’s nine all-time appearances at the World Championship.