Men's U21 Team Falls to Cuba at Pan Am Cup

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 7, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s U21 National Team fell to Cuba at the NORCECA U21 Pan American Cup on Wednesday 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 22-25, 25-21, 11-15) in Havana, Cuba.

MATCH STATISTICS (PDF)

Down 2-1, the U.S. won the crucial fourth set off an ace for set point by setter Gabe Dyer. Facing an early deficit in the fifth with the score at 4-12, the U.S. rallied to draw within three at 10-13. Cuba regained control to stop the run and shut the door with an 11-15 final score in the deciding set.

“I am very proud of our team,” U.S. head coach Andy Read said. “We fought the whole way. We changed our rotation, we had guys doing different things and they gave it everything they had. That’s all I could ever ask for, I am super proud of what they did. I think they (Cuba) at times served better than us more consistently and their opposite had a very strong match.”

Opposite Trent Moser led the U.S. with 25 kills for a .441 hitting efficiency through the five sets. As a team, the U.S. had a .381 hitting efficiency. Cuba had ten more kills than the U.S. and held the 6-5 advantage in aces.

“We came in knowing Cuba was a very tough team,” Moser said. “It was going to be hard to beat them in their home. We fought to the end. I think it was a good match for us.”

Middle blocker Owen Rose and outside hitter Alex Rottman contributed eight and seven kills respectively to the scoring effort. Setter Tyler Morgan added two aces from his match tally. Rottman also led the team defensively with three blocks.

The U.S. Men’s U21 National Team will return to the court June 8 at 11 a.m. PT with the opponent yet to be determined.

U.S. Roster for the 2023 Men’s U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup
No. Name (Position, Height, Birth year, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1 Ryan Merk (L, 6-0, 2003, Chicago, Ill., Penn State, Great Lakes)
4 Dane Hillis (OH, 6-2, 2003, San Clemente, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
7 Gabe Dyer (S, 6-5, 2003, San Clemente, Calif., UC San Diego, Southern California)
8 Kyle Teune (OH, 6-6, 2003, Downers Grove, Ill., Ohio State, Great Lakes)
10 Tyler Morgan (S, 6-7, 2003, Dike, Iowa, Lewis, Iowa)
13 Shane Wetzel (Opp, 6-7, 2004, Wekiwa Springs, Fla., Ohio State, Florida)
16 Nyherowo Omene (MB, 6-8, 2003, South Holland, Ill., Princeton, Great Lakes)
17 Trent Moser (OH, 6-8, 2003, Gilbert, Ariz., BYU, Arizona)
19 George Bruening (Opp, 6-10, 2004. Newport Beach, Calif., UCSB, Southern California)
22 Owen Rose (MB, 6-8, 2003, Long Island, N.Y., Penn State, Garden Empire)
23 Alex Rottman (OH, 6-7, 2004, Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
24 Micah Wong Diallo (MB, 6-9, 2004, Los Angeles, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)

Head Coach: Andy Read (Long Beach State)
Assistant Coach: Rory Prager (University of Southern California)
Assistant Coach: Taylor Hammond (UC San Diego)
Performance Analyst: Michael Bouril (Purdue)
ATC: Cherryl Bueno
Team Lead: Donovan Martinez (USAV NTDP)
International Referee: Michelle Prater (Southern Region)

Alternates
2 Christopher Connelly (L, 5-10, 2003, Naples, Fla., Long Beach State, Florida)
3 Jacob Reilly (L, 6-0, 2003, Cypress, Texas, Concordia University-Irvine, Aloha)
6 Island Doty (S, 6-5, 2003, Colorado Springs, Colo., Long Beach State, Rocky Mountain)
9 Ben Putnam (OH, 6-5, 2004, Needham, Mass., Ohio State, New England)
14 Nicodemus Meyer (MB, 6-10, 2003, Franklin, Wis., Loyola of Chicago, Badger)
15 Markus Olsson (MB, 6-8, 2003, Cupertino, Calif., Univ. of Southern California, Southern California
18 Patrick Rogers (OH, 6-7, 2004, Rutherford, N.J., St. Francis College, Garden Empire)
25 Theo Snoey (OH, 6-8, 2004, Berkeley, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)

U.S. Schedule for the 2023 Men’s U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup
All Times PDT

June 5  USA def. Nicaragua 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-8)
June 6 USA def. Guatemala 3-0 (32-30, 27-25, 25-21)
June 7 Cuba def. USA 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 22-25, 25-21, 11-15)
June 8 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Quarterfinals
June 9 at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. Classification matches
at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Semifinals
June 10 at 7 a.m. Seventh-place match
at 9 a.m. Fifth-place match
at 11 a.m. Bronze-medal match
at 1 p.m. Gold-medal match