Men's Sitting Team Takes Silver at Zonal Championship

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 13, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s Sitting Team fell to Brazil on Saturday 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-19) in the final of the ParaVolley Pan America Zonal Championship, winning the silver medal but missing a chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

The U.S. Men finished with a 3-2 record. Outside hitter Zach Upp was named Best Server and Nicholas Dadgostar took Best Libero.

Their next chance to qualify for the Paralympics will be Nov. 11-18 at the World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Cup in Cairo, Egypt.

“We still have work to do,” U.S. Team Captain Roderick Green said. “I mentioned in an earlier interview that we needed to run the table and get back to Brazil and play them in the final with fewer mistakes.

“We ended up having the same amount or even more mistakes. They got the same result and so did we. We need to go back and start doing things that we normally don’t do to get better.”

Upp led all scorers with 18 points on a match-high 15 kills, a match-high two aces and one block. Opposite Eric Duda scored 10 points on nine kills and one block.

Middle blocker Chris Seilkop scored six points on six kills. Outside hitter James Stuck scored six points on a match-high four blocks and two kills.

Green at middle blocker scored three points on three kills. Ben Aman played as a substitute and scored two points on two blocks. Setter John Kremer scored with an ace. Dadgostar was credited with 24 receptions, 88 percent positive.

Brazil led the U.S. in kills (40-35) and blocks (9-8) while the U.S. Men held the edge in aces (3-2). Brazil had nine scoring errors while the U.S. Men had 22.

“Brazil minimized their errors,” said U.S. Head Coach Greg Walker. “They get so many balls back over the net. For us, we just weren’t able to get enough ball control on our side.”

U.S. Men’s Sitting Team Roster
No Name (Position, Height, Hometown, Region)
1 Travis Ricks (L, 5-7, San Diego, Calif., Southern California)
2 Dan Regan (OH, 6-0, St. Louis, Gateway)
3 Nicholas Dadgostar (L, 6-0, Sidney, Neb., Chesapeake)
4 Ben Aman (OH, 6-5, Edmond, Okla., Oklahoma)
5 Eric Duda (S/OH, 6-5, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Florida)
7 Robbie Gaupp (Opp/OH, Havre De Grace, Md., Chesapeake)
8 James Stuck (S/OH, 6-5, New Kensington, Pa., Keystone)
9 Dandy Wilson  (Opp/OH, Alexandria, Va., Old Dominion)
11 Roderick Green (MB, 6-3, West Monroe, La., Bayou)
12 Patrick Young (OH, 6-4, Albuquerque, N.M., Sun Country)
14 John Kremer (L, 5-9, Buford, Ga., Southern)
15 Chris Seilkop (OH, 6-6, Deland, Fla., Florida)
17 Zach Upp (OH, 6-5, Bartlett, Ill., Great Lakes)
49 Sam Surowiec (OH, 6-2, Everett, Wash., Evergreen)

Head Coach: Greg Walker
Assistant Coach: Joe Skinner
Assistant Coach: Julie Allen
Performance Analyst: Sydnie Mabry
Athletic Trainer: Brian Farr
Team Leader: Kyle Homeyer

Men’s Schedule (All time PT)
May 9: Brazil def. USA 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 19-25, 23-25)
May 10: USA def. Canada, 3-1 (28-26, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23)
May 11: USA vs Argentina, 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-13, 25-15)
May 12 semifinal: USA def. Canada, 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 27-25, 22-25, 15-12)
May 13 final: Brazil def USA, 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-19)