Sander Ends Run With US Junior National Team

PROVO, Utah - BYU men's volleyball All-American Taylor Sander spent the majority of his summer in Brazil, participating with the U.S. Junior National Team at the World Championships, and helping the team advance further than they ever have before in the program's history.

Before this year, team USA had never even won a second-round match. Sander was recorded in numerous games with team-and game-high kills while helping propel the team through the first and second rounds, and all the way to a championship match to play for a bronze medal. 

The team played eight matches in 10 days over the course of the tournament. The bronze medal match was won by Serbia in four sets (25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 25-13) while USA committed a tournament-high 38 errors, and Sander was the only player to record double-digit kills.

Other schools with players on the team include Pepperdine, Long Beach State, Stanford, UC Irvine, UCSB and USC.

Click on the link's below to see team USA's journey:

-How they qualified, with a win at the NORCECA championships in Canada

-First Round Pool A win vs. Bulgaria (pic)

-First Round Pool A loss vs. Brazil (pic)

-First Round Pool A win vs. Japan (pic)

-Second Round Pool E win vs. top-ranked Iran 

-Second Round Pool E win vs. Spain (pic)

-Second Round Pool E loss vs. Russia (pic)

-Semifinal Round loss vs. Argentina (pic)

-Bronze Medal Championship loss (another link here) vs. Serbia (pic)