Maurice Torres, a 6-foot, 7-inch opposite hitter for the Pepperdine University Men’s Volleyball team, was recently named to the U.S. Men’s Junior National team that will compete at the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior (U-21) World Championships Aug. 1-10 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This is a distinct honor for a collegiate athlete in the sport of volleyball.
Torres, 19, was a member of the 2010 Men’s Junior National Team that won the NORCECA Men’s Junior Continental Championship in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, which qualified the USA for the FIVB Men’s Junior World Championships. Now he will don the red, white and blue this summer in a setting comparable to the Olympic Games for amateur athletes.
“It means so much to me,” Torres said of his selection as one of 12 members on the team. “It’s quite an accomplishment to be named to the team. It’s definitely a blessing. I was really nervous because I didn’t want to be one of those guys who were left out. Once I got named to the team, I was ecstatic.
“We have great guys on the USA team and we have the potential to do some great things this summer. This is our chance to put USA Volleyball’s junior team back on the map. I think this summer we will prove that we can compete with some of the best teams in the world.”
A junior majoring in Public Relations, Torres finished his sophomore year at Pepperdine with a team-high 4.04 kills/set (376 total kills) and 35 service aces. As a freshman, he finished second on the team with 3.87 kills per game and was named to the MPSF All-Freshman team.
While he’ll be representing the United States in Brazil, Torres still has two more years to learn from one of the best in the business, legendary Waves Coach Marv Dunphy.
“It’s meant the world to me to be coached by someone like Marv,” Torres said. “Without Marv, I wouldn’t be the person who I am today.”
The U.S. Junior National Team will train July 11-23 at the GaREAT Sports Complex in Geneva, Ohio. On July 24, the squad travels to Buenos Aires, Argentina to play in exhibition matches against several international teams to prepare for the FIVB Men’s Junior World Championships.
They will then head off to Brazil on July 29 to compete with 15 other strong countries for the right to be named World Champion in the U-21 age group.
“It has been quite a journey,” Torres said of his career as a Wave and now Team USA. “I’m absolutely blessed to be where I am today.”
-By Dick Dornan,
Special to The Malibu Times