COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 7, 2019) – The U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team did not lose a set heading into the gold medal match of the NORCECA Continental Championship in Winnipeg. That included a 3-0 victory over Cuba in pool play.
But Cuba (5-1) found its footing in the final and defeated the U.S. Men, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20 on Saturday. The U.S. Men (4-1) finished the tournament with the silver medal.
Outside hitter T.J. DeFalco was named Best Spiker. Kyle Dagostino was named Best Libero and Best Digger. Middle blocker Jeff Jendryk was named Second-Best Blocker.
Cuba led in kills (46-34) and dominated from the service line (10-5 in aces). The U.S. Men held their own in blocking, leading 11-7. The U.S. hit .252 and Cuba hit .303.
“They served really well, as we expected, and I think offensively they were just a little sharper than they were the other night (when the U.S. won their pool play match),” U.S. Head Coach John Hawks said of Cuba. “We didn’t pass as well as we did. We lost the serve/pass game.
“Leaving here with the silver medal is great, but we want gold. We’re proud of the effort, but in the end, we just weren’t sharp enough, so credit to Cuba, they played great.”
DeFalco and opposite Kyle Ensing led the U.S. Men in scoring with 12 points apiece. Each player finished with 10 kills, one block and one ace.
Jendryk added eight points on five kills and a match-high three blocks.
“Overall, we played great I thought,” Jendryk said. “It’s unfortunate we got second. But we had a lot of young guys coming in and we played really well together.”
U.S. STARTERS VS CUBA
Outside hitters: T.J. DeFalco and Brenden Sander
Middle blockers: Jeff Jendryk and Mitch Stahl
Opposite: Kyle Ensing
Setter: Micah Ma’a
Libero: Kyle Dagostino
Substitutes: Joe Worsley (S), David Wieczorek (OH), George Huhmann (MB)
U.S. STATISTICS VS CUBA
Kill: DeFalco 10, Ensing 10, Sander 5, Jendryk 5, Stahl 3, Ma’a 1
Blocks: Jendryk 3, Stahl 2, Ma’a, Ensing 1, DeFalco 1, Huhmann 1, Sander 1
Aces: Ensing 1, DeFalco 1, Sander 1, Ma’a 1, Wieczorek 1
Digs: Dagostino 4, Ensing 1, DeFalco 1, Ma’a 1
U.S. Roster for the NORCECA Championship
Sept. 2-7 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
4 Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola of Chicago)
5 Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State)
6 Mitch Stahl (MB, 6-8, Chambersburg, Pa., UCLA)
8 T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
11 Joe Worsley (S, 6-1, Moraga, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii)
12 Tommy Carmody (MB, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Pepperdine)
14 Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA)
15 Brenden Sander (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., BYU)
18 Cody Kessel (OH, 6-5, Colorado Springs, Colo., Princeton)
19 David Wieczorek (OH, 6-8, Chicago, Ill., Pepperdine)
20 George Huhmann (MB, 6-11, St. Louis, Mo., Princeton)
22 Gage Worsley (L, 6-2, Moraga, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii)
24 Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Fla., Stanford)
25 Kyle Russell (Opp, 6-9, Loomis, Calif., UC Irvine)
Head Coach: John Hawks
Assistant Coach: Sam Shweisky
Assistant Coach: Joaquin Acosta
Team Manager: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Jackie Chan
U.S. Schedule/Results
(All times PT)
Pool Play
Sept. 2
Cuba def Guatemala, 25-13, 37-35, 25-14
USA def Dominican Republic, 25-14, 25-17, 25-14
Sept. 3
USA def Guatemala, 25-22, 25-21, 26-24
Cuba def Dominican Republic, 25-20, 25-17, 25-15
Sept. 4
Dominican Republic def Guatemala, 29-27, 25-19, 25-27, 25-18
USA def Cuba, 25-17, 25-21, 25-22
Sept. 5
QF: Mexico def Dominican Republic, 25-19, 25-21, 17-25, 25-17
QF: Cuba def Puerto Rico, 25-21, 25-22, 28-26
Sept. 6
Puerto Rico def Dominican Republic, 23-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-23, 15-6
Cuba def Canada, 17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19
USA def Mexico, 25-18, 25-16, 25-23
Sept. 7
Dominican Republic def Guatemala, 28-30, 25-13, 28-26, 25-19
Canada def Mexico, 25-14, 25-18, 25-12
Cuba def. USA, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20