Men's U21 Team Advances to Pan Am Cup Final With Win Over Canada

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 9, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s U21 National Team defeated Canada in the semifinals of the NORCECA U21 Pan American Cup on Friday 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 25-16) in Havana, Cuba.

The team earned a rematch with host Cuba in tomorrow’s final at 1 p.m. PT. Cuba handed the U.S. squad its only loss in the tournament in a thrilling five-setter in pool play.

MATCH STATISTICS (PDF)

The U.S. team finished the first set on an 8-3 run to capture the first set 25-17 and played a strong second set to take a 2-0 lead.

Canada forced a fourth set with a 25-21 victory, but the U.S. charged to an 8-1 lead in the fourth set and eventually extended the advantage to 12 points, 16-4, before clinching the match, 25-16.

“I think tonight was a really good example of us coming together, the trust showing that we’ve built over the past couple of weeks,” said opposite George Bruening. “We worked really hard through the ups and downs of these games, getting over some growing pains. I think we’re starting to peak.”

Outside hitter Alex Rottman led the U.S. with 20 kills and a phenomenal .741 hitting percentage with no errors in 27 attacks. Trent Moser contributed 16 kills and four blocks, while Bruening added 15 kills. The U.S. team registered a .521 efficiency for the match.

“I thought our guys executed what we wanted to do in every phase of the game. I thought our setter Gabe was very good at running our offense,” U.S. head coach Andy Read said. “Our offense was good and our block defense was right where we wanted it to be. We think we can be one of the best blocking teams in the world.”

Read was not concerned about dropping the third set.

“When you’re up 2-0 against a good team, they are going to respond. (Canada) did exactly what they should do,” he stated. “In the fourth set, we responded. The start of the fourth set basically sent them a message that we were going to finish this off.

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 Quarterfinals: USA def. Dominican Republic 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-10)
June 9 Semifinals, 1 p.m.: USA def. Canada 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 25-16)
June 10 at 1 p.m. Gold-medal match vs, Cuba