VOLLEYBALL COACH'S BELIEF IN NET RESULT FOR LONDON
Uriarte, who coached Australia to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, believes what the team showed in Iran was enough to convince him they can overcome the odds to win the Asian Group Qualifying tournament in Japan next June.
The Australians went down fighting three sets to love to Korea in the play-off for bronze 22-25, 25-16, 24-26, 20-25 after beating the Koreans and eventual silver medallists China in the preliminary rounds.
Notably for the team's performances at this championship were the results of some of the individual players with Nathan Roberts being awarded the best attacker award for the tournament, a huge honour and recognition of his excellent performance at this event.
Australia also had Travis Passier ranked third in blocking and serving and it is quite possible Aiden Zingel would have been the best blocker in the tournament but for his ankle injury in the team's fourth match v Sri Lanka at which time he was clearly leading the tournament blocking statistics.
Igor Yudin was ranked second best overall scorer for the tournament and had a fantastic season for VTAM in his first year as Captain.
Aiden Tutton finished the tournament with the third best defensive and reception statistics.
Uriarte revealed after the tournament the extent of the sickness and injury that beset the team throughout their 10-day tournament, which wound up the international season.
Coach Uriarte said after the match that he was very proud of the players and this team in what they had achieved throughout 2011 after only four months working together and 22 matches prior to commencing the Asian Championships tournament.
In addressing the team he also made special mention of the team's commitment to achieving their goal in this tournament under very tough physical conditions which saw all of the players suffering food poisoning at one time or another, including 10 of them being sidelined for between 24 and 48 hours with stomach cramps and vomiting.
In their final debriefing Uriarte was adamant that this team and this group of players absolutely has everything needed to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.
"Despite these hardships the players persevered and did what the team needed and it was a great testament to the squad that all 12 players played their role on court when needed," said Uriarte said.
"I also want to acknowledge the courage shown by Adam White (knee strain) and Aiden Zingel (ankle injury) who both played in the last two matches despite having suffered injuries during the tournament and who came back into the line-up to play important roles in the team's final matches.
"Any doubts that people might have had at the start of the season about your ability to match it with the best teams in Asia has well and truly been clarified with your performances this season."
Volleyball Team Australia's fourth place finish has secured their position in the 2012 Asian Olympic Qualification tournament to be held in June in Japan and will include the Asian zone teams of Iran, China, Korea, Australia and Japan as well as 3 countries from other zones."
Australia previously qualified through a similar process to the Athens Olympics in 2004 with Coach Uriarte at the helm and will be looking to repeat this result in 2012.
MATCH REPORT
Volleyball Team Australia played Korea in the Bronze medal playoff of the 16th Asian Men's Volleyball Championships and despite playing well in patches, did not produce their best volleyball when it counted and lost the match 1 set to 3.Australia started the match tentatively and missed early opportunities in block and attack that allowed Korea to take a lead a 2 point lead at both technical time-outs which they were able to maintain through to the end of the set with some very consistent siding of their own.
Australia played much better in the second set, serving well against the team's targeted receivers and blocking well creating five stuff blocks for the set and attacking at 50 percent kill. Australia lead 8-6, 16-10 and won the set easily 25-16.
The third set again saw Australia leading throughout the set, 8-6, 16-14, and 21-19 on the back of some excellent reception attack as the team found a good rhythm, but errors at the end of the set including three service errors after 20 proved very costly as the Korea fought hard to take the set 24-26.
The fourth set was a close affair with both teams vying for an opportunity to take the lead and Australia had opportunities to do so, but struggled to maintain consistency with their reception attack and to stop the Korean offence. In the end, Korea out attacked Australia in the fourth set 58 percent kill to 45 percent kill and this proved to be decisive, Korea taking the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.
This concludes the VTAM international season and the players now return to their professional clubs to begin their 2011 / 2012 club seasons.
TEAM STATISTICS
SERVE 0 Aces, 12 Errors, Proficiency 1.50
RECEPTION Proficiency 2.28, 53% Perfect, 3 Errors.
ATTACK 50% Kill, 19% Error, 31% Kill Efficiency
BLOCK 12 Stuff Blocks, 22 Control Blocks.
DEFENCE 15 Controlled Digs.