COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 12, 2019) – The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team finished the U21 Pan American Cup with two straight, five-set victories in Lima, Peru and a fifth-place finish.
On Friday, the U.S. Men’s Junior Team came back from 0-2 to beat Peru, 20-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-11.
On Saturday, the team held off a comeback from Dominican Republic to win, 17-25, 14-25, 25-20, 26-24, 15-12.
Three U.S. players won individual awards. Garland Peed was named Best Libero. Outside hitter Ryan Wilcox earned Best Receiver and opposite Brett Wildman notched Best Scorer.
U.S. players said they learned a lot from the tournament experience, which included cancelled flights, lost luggage and, during the Peru match, sawdust spread on the floor to soak up moisture after the third set when workers thought the match was over.
“I learned that communication is really important,” middle blocker Canyon Tuman said. “We are all different players from different teams. We all have different play styles. But once we learn to connect with each other we’re unstoppable.”
In the classification match against Peru, the U.S. dropped the first two sets, but came back to win the third. However, arena workers, thinking the match was over, dumped sawdust on the United States’ side of the court to absorb moisture. The match was delayed while the sawdust was removed.
“It was pretty cool that they figured out ways to compete and ways to win,” Head Coach Spencer McLachlin said. “It changed our offense. We couldn’t run with speed because we would slip. We would have to run high balls and take big three-step approaches.”
“I think the most important thing from this trip is embracing the adversity we’ve experience off the court and on the court,” Assistant Coach Michelle Chatman said. “Our players did a great job handling all that.”
Wildman started the final three sets against Peru and led the U.S. scoring with 14 points on 11 kills and three blocks. He played all five sets against Dominican Republic and led all scorers with 21 points on 16 kills, two blocks and three aces.
Cuba won the tournament with a win over Canada in the final. Puerto Rico took third place and will get a bid to the FIVB U21 World Championship.
U.S. STARTERS V PERU
Outside Hitters: Kevin Lamp and Devin Joslyn
Middle Blockers: Michael Sack and J.T. Martin
Setter: Kevin Kauling
Opposite: Luke Denton
Libero: Garland Peed
Substitutes: Ryan Wilcox (OH), Taylor Ittner (S), Brett Wildman (Opp), Canyon Tuman (MB)
U.S. STATISTICS V PERU
Kills: Wildman 11, Joslyn 8, Sack 7, Wilcox 6, Denton 3, Ittner 3, Lamp 2, Martin 2, Kauling 1, Tuman 1
Blocks: Wildman 3, Wilcox 2, Denton 2, Sack 1, Tuman 1
Aces: Sack 2, Kauling 2, Tuman 1, Joslyn 1, Wilcox 1
Digs: Peed 16, Joslyn 6, Wilcox 5, Ittner 3, Wildman 3, Lamp 2, Tuman 2, Denton 2, Kauling 1, Sack 1
U.S. STARTERS V DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Outside Hitters: Wilcox and Joslyn
Middle Blockers: Daniel Matheney and Tuman
Setter: Ittner
Opposite: Wildman
Libero: Peed
Substitutes: Kauling (S), Lamp (OH), Denton (Opp), Sack (MB)
U.S. STATISTICS V DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Kills: Wildman 16, Wilcox 11, Tuman 9, Joslyn 8, Matheney 3, Ittner 2, Lamp 1, Denton 1
Blocks: Wilcox 4, Ittner 2, Wildman 2, Joslyn 2, Tuman 1
Aces: Joslyn 3, Wildman 3, Tuman 2, Wilcox 2, Sack 1
Digs: Peed 17, Joslyn 6, Tuman 5, Wildman 3, Wilcox 3, Lamp 1, Ittner 1
Men’s Junior National Team for the Pan American Cup
No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
1 Kevin Kauling (S, 6-8, Naperville, Ill., committed to Lewis)
3 Garland Peed (L, 6-2, San Diego, Calif., UCLA)
4 Ryan Wilcox (OH, 6-2, Honolulu, Hawaii, UCSB)
8 Taylor Ittner (S, 6-4, Meadow Vista, Calif., CSUN)
9 Kevin Lamp (OH, 6-5, Lake Forest, Ill., committed to Stanford)
13 Brett Wildman (OH, 6-5, Virginia Beach, Va., Penn State)
14 Luke Denton (Opp, 6-6, Mesa, Ariz., Loyola Chicago)
15C Devin Joslyn (OH, 6-6, Angola, N.Y., Loyola Chicago)
17 Canyon Tuman (MB, 6-6, Sewickley, Pa., Penn State)
19 Daniel Matheney (MB, 6-7, Hawthorne, Calif., UCLA)
20 J.T. Martin (MB, 6-8, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Pepperdine)
21 Michael Sack (MB, 6-8, Burbank, Ill., committed to Lewis)
Head Coach: Spencer McLachlin (UCLA)
Assistant Coach: Michelle Chatman (USAV HP)
Second Assistant: Benjamin Duckworth (Lindenwood)
Team Manager: Paula Schwan
Statistician: Alex Hurlburt (Northwestern)
Physiotherapist: Tiara Rolle
Men’s U21 Pan American Cup
Schedule (All times CT)
Pool Play
May 5
Puerto Rico def USA, 27-25, 27-25, 21-25, 25-20
4 p.m. Canada v Chile
6 p.m. Cuba v Dominican Republic
8 p.m. Peru v Colombia
May 6
2 p.m. Colombia v Canada
4 p.m. Puerto Rico v Cuba
USA def Dominican Republic, 25-17, 25-21, 25-23
8 p.m. Peru v Chile
May 7
2 p.m. Chile v Colombia
4 p.m. Puerto Rico v Dominican Republic
6 p.m. Cuba def USA, 25-21, 25-15, 25-19
8 p.m. Peru v Canada
May 8
4 p.m. Chile def USA, 24-26, 17-25, 25-21, 26-24, 15-10
6 p.m. Puerto Rico def Colombia, 25-16, 25-20, 33-31
May 9
2 p.m. Classification 5-8
4 p.m. Classification 5-8
6 p.m. Semifinal
8 p.m. Semifinal
May 10
2 p.m. Classification 7-8
4 p.m. Classification 5-6
6 p.m. Bronze medal
8 p.m. Gold medal