COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 21, 2019) – The U.S. Men’s Pan American Cup Team rebounded from its quarterfinal loss to Argentina and beat Puerto Rico on Friday, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18 to finish fifth in Colima, Mexico.
U.S. libero Kyle Dagostino was named Best Digger (3.88 digs per set average) as the U.S. finished with a 4-2 record.
“It’s nice going back home with a win, even if it’s for fifth place,” U.S. Head Coach Milan Zarkovic said. “There are important lessons to learn. There is a lot to work on. We are looking forward to continue practicing as most of these players will be competing at the Pan American Games.”
Opposite James Shaw led all scorers with 15 points on a match-high 14 kills and one ace. Outside hitter Sam Holt added 14 points on 11 kills, two blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Colton Cowell scored 10 points on seven kills and three aces.
Middle blockers Brendan Schmidt and George Huhmann each scored seven points. Schmidt had a match-high four blocks.
The U.S. hit .388 behind starting setter Josh Tuaniga. Puerto Rico hit .140.
The U.S. out-hit Puerto Rico 44-30, out-blocked it 10-5 and led 4-3 in aces.
U.S. STARTERS VS PUERTO RICO
Outside hitters: Colton Cowell and Sam Holt
Middle blockers: Brendan Schmidt and George Huhmann
Opposite: James Shaw
Setter: Josh Tuaniga
Libero: Kyle Dagostino
Substitutes: Price Jarman (MB), Jonah Seif (S), Joe Worsley (S), Dave Wieczorek (OH), Cody Kessel (OH)
U.S. STATISTICS VS PUERTO RICO
Kills: Shaw 14, Holt 11, Cowell 7, Huhmann 5, Wieczorek 3, Schmidt 2, Tuaniga 1, Kessel 1
Blocks: Schmidt 4, Cowell 3, Holt 2, Huhmann 1
Aces: Schmidt 1, Huhmann 1, Shaw 1, Holt 1
Digs: Dagostino 24, Shaw 12, Cowell 4, Tuaniga 4, Holt 3, Huhmann 3, Kessel 3, Jarman 1, Worsley 1
Pan American Cup
June 16-21 in Colima, Mexico
2 Price Jarman (MB, 6-9, Las Vegas, Nev., BYU)
3 Jonah Seif (S, 6-6, Thousand Oaks, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
5 James Shaw (Opp, 6-8, Woodside, Calif., Stanford)
7 Joe Worsley (S, 6-1, Moraga, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii)
9 Colton Cowell (OH, 6-2, Makawao, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii)
10 Kyle Russell (Opp, 6-9, Loomis, Calif., UC Irvine)
12 Sam Holt (OH, 6-7, Cincinnati, Ohio, Cal State Northridge)
13C Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
14 David Wieczorek (Opp, 6-8, Chicago Ill., Pepperdine)
16 Brendan Schmidt (MB, 6-8, O’Fallon, Mo., McKendree)
17 George Huhmann (MB, 6-11, St. Louis, Mo., Princeton)
19 Kyle Dagostino (L 5-9, Tampa, Fla., Stanford)
22 Kupono Fey (L, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii)
23 Cody Kessel (OH, 6-5, Colorado Springs, Colo., Princeton)
Head Coach: Milan Zarkovic
Assistant Coach: David Hunt
Assistant Coach Shiari Morteza
Team Manager: Andrew Strick
Physiotherapist: Johnathan Leih
U.S. Schedule for Pan Am Cup (all times CT)
Pool Play
June 16
USA def Guatemala, 25-10, 25-17, 25-17
Chile def Dominican Republic, 25-18, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21
June 17
Dominican Republic def Guatemala, 36-38, 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 15-13
Chile def USA, 25-22, 19-25, 25-22, 25-19
June 18
Chile def Guatemala, 25-14, 25-17, 25-11
USA def Dominican Republic, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20
June 19
Classification 11-12: Trinidad & Tobago def Suriname, 25-12, 25-21, 25-16
Classification 7-10: Canada def Dominican Republic, 25-14, 25-21, 25-14
Classification 7-10: Peru def Guatemala, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21
Quarterfinal: Argentina def USA, 25-23, 25-22, 25-22
Quarterfinal: Chile def Puerto Rico, 25-19, 25-22, 25-21
June 20
1p 9th-place final: Dominican Republic vs Guatemala
4p 7th-place final: Canada vs Peru
6p Semifinal:
8p Semifinal
June 21
4p 5th-place final
6p 3rd-place final
8p Final