Hanes Scores Tourney-High 28 Points in U.S. Victory

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 19, 2021) – U.S. opposite Jake Hanes scored a tournament-high 28 points as the U.S. Men’s National Team beat the Dominican Republic, 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24) on Thursday at the NORCECA Championship in Durango, Mexico.

The U.S. Men improved to 2-0 and will play Cuba (2-0) for pool supremacy on Friday at 4 p.m. PT.

Thursday’s win came a day after the U.S. Men needed five sets to beat Guatemala.

OFFICIAL STATISTICS * TEAM STATISTICS

Hanes scored on a match-high 21 kills (.581 hitting efficiency), a match-high six aces and one block.

“We had solid communication and we came much faster today,” Hanes said. “It was easy to get it going offensively and defensively”.

U.S. outside hitter Brett Wildman and middle blocker Tyler Mitchem each scored 15 points. Mitchem scored on nine kills (.643), a match-high five blocks and one ace. Wildman scored on 11 kills (.478), three blocks and one ace.

The U.S. Men led Dominican Republic in kills (57-32), blocks (12-7) and aces (9-3). Setter Josh Tuaniga helped his team to a .423 hitting efficiency. Libero Kyle Dagostino was credited with 17 digs. The U.S. was charged with 42 scoring errors while the Dominican Republic had 21.

“I was so proud of our effort today as we followed yesterday’s win with another victory against an experienced team from the Dominican Republic,” U.S. Head Coach Andy Read said. “We have only been together a little over a week. In every training session and match, we continue to improve on multiple parts of our game.”

Among other scorers, middle blocker Keenan Sanders scored nine points on seven kills, one block and one ace. Outside hitter Spencer Olivier, who started the third and fourth sets for Will Rottman, finished with six points on five kills and one block. Rottman scored three points on two kills and one block. Tuaniga scored with two kills.

2021 U.S. Men’s NORCECA Championship Roster

No Name (Pos, Height, Hometown, College, Region)
3 Spencer Olivier (OH, 6-6, Tustin, Calif., Long Beach State, So. Cal.)
5 Camden Gianni (OH, 6-5, Carlsbad, Calif., Grand Canyon, So. Cal.)
6 Samuel Kobrine (S, 6-3, Newport Beach, Calif., USC, So. Cal.)
7 Will Rottman (OH, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford, So. Cal.)
8 Tyler Mitchem (MB, 6-11, Bolingbrook, Ill., Lewis, Great Lakes)
9 Jake Hanes (OP, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State, Great Lakes)
12 Brett Wildman (OH, 6-5, Virginia Beach, Va., Penn State, Old Dominion)
13 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas )
15 Jalen Penrose (OP, 6-8, Cambridge, Mass., Penn State, New England)
16 C Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, So. Cal.)
19 Keenan Sanders (MB, 6-6, San Diego, Calif., UCSB, So. Cal.)
20 Austin Wilmot (MB, 6-10, Valley Village, Calif., Pepperdine, So. Cal.)
24 Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Fla., Stanford, Florida)
25 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State, So. Cal.)

Head Coach: Andy Read
Assistant Coach: Keith Smith
Assistant Coach: Galen Dodd
Athletic Trainer: Jackie Chan
Team Manager: Jon Parry

2021 Men’s NORCECA Schedule (All times PT)
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August 18
USA def Guatemala, 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 15-10)
Puerto Rico def Canada, 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-19)
Cuba def Dominican Republic, 3-1 (25-17, 29-31, 25-21, 25-19)
Mexico def Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-8)

August 19
Canada def Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-14)
Cuba def Guatemala, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-19)
USA def Dominican Republic, 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24)
Mexico def Puerto Rico, 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-18)

August 20
11 a.m. Puerto Rico v Trinidad & Tobago
1 p.m. Guatemala v Dominican Republic
4 p.m. USA v Cuba
6 p.m. Mexico v Canada

August 21
4 p.m. Quarterfinal
6 p.m. Quarterfinal

August 22
11 a.m. Classification 5-8
1 p.m. Classification 5-8
4 p.m. Semifinal
6 p.m. Semifinal

August 23
11 a.m. Classification 7-8
1 p.m. Classification 5-6
4 p.m. Third-place match
6 p.m. First-place match