U.S. Men Win Battle of Undefeated Teams at 2023 Final Six

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 22, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s National Team stormed back from a first-set loss to defeat Canada 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-17) Friday night at the 2023 NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six at the Flair Airlines Hangar, Edmonton Expo Centre.

The U.S. Men (4-0) will advance to Sunday’s championship match regardless of the outcome of their match with Cuba (2-2) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. PT.

OFFICIAL STATISTICS (PDF)

Despite the slow start in set one, the U.S. Men dominated the rest of the match. They led Canada in kills (45-37), aces (4-2), and blocks, with an outstanding 19 to Canada’s six. Andrew Rowan set the team to a .362 hitting percentage and contributed seven digs and a block.

Middle blocker and team captain Patrick Gasman led all scorers with 17 points on eight kills, one ace and eight blocks.

“We’ve played this team a lot, and they’ve always kind of of kicked us in the mouth,” Gasman said. “It took us like a minute to settle down and play within our system, and the system worked great in sets two, three and four.”

Canada led for all of set one, with the U.S. managing ties at 15-15 and 16-16 only. U.S. Head Coach Andy Read and his players regrouped before set two, and jumped out to an 11-2 lead before winning 25-14. Set three was closer, with the U.S. only pulling away late for the 25-20 win. In set four, the teams were tied at five before the U.S. won four straight to take a lead the Canadians could not overcome.

Jordan Ewert scored 14 points on 12 kills, one block and an ace. Ethan Champlin had 13 points (11 kills, two blocks), and Camden Gianni scored 12 with seven kills, four blocks and an ace. Matt Knigge scored eight with four kills, three blocks and an ace. Michael Marshman came off the bench for three kills.

Gianni led the U.S. with 10 digs. Libero Mason Briggs started his second consecutive match and had eight digs and 10 excellent receptions.

Cuba is the current Men’s Final Six Champion; Mexico won the first edition in 2021. In both editions, Canada has finished second and the United States has taken third.

The round-robin preliminary round will finish on Saturday, Sept. 23. The U.S. will compete for the gold medal on Sunday, Sept. 24 against an opponent to be determined, while third and fourth will play for the bronze medal, and the fifth and sixth place teams will play for fifth.

Matches will be livestreamed on: youtube.com/@TheVolleyballCanada

U.S. Men’s Roster for the Pan American Cup
No. Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, School, USAV Region)
2 Troy Gooch (L, 6-0, Buffalo, N.Y., UCLA, Western Empire)
4 Jordan Ewert (OH, 6-5, Antioch, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)
6 Bryce Dvorak (S, 6-4, Newport Beach, Calif., Pepperdine, Southern California)
9 Matthew Knigge (MB, 6-7, New Egypt, N.J., Vassar, Garden Empire)
10 Camden Gianni (Opp, 6-5, Carlsbad, Calif., Grand Canyon, Southern California)
12 Andrew Rowan (S, 6-7, 2003, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
13C Patrick Gasman (MB, 6-10, Clovis, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)
20 Zach Rama (OH, 6-8, 2004, Phoenix, Ariz., UCLA, Arizona)
21 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
22 Kyle McCauley (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., UC San Diego, Southern California)
23 Michael Marshman (MB, 6-7, Glenmont, N.Y., St. Francis Univ., Excelsior Empire)
25 Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
26 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas)
27 Jalen Penrose (OP, 6-8, Cambridge, Mass., Penn State, New England)