CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 9, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s National Team started slowly but picked up speed in beating the Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-14) in the semifinals at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Saturday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
The U.S. Men (4-0) will play Canada (3-0) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday in the gold medal match.
The United States led in attacks (43-25), blocks (7-3) and aces (6-3). The USA scored 19 points on Dominican errors while giving up 17.
Although Head Coach John Speraw did not start his usual roster, he said that with the Olympic qualifying tournament looming in a few weeks, he needs the roster to be interchangeable.
“I know that we can go to anyone on our bench and have a great performance like we did tonight,” Speraw said. “I think this summer, maybe more than any, you don’t think of starters and bench. It’s literally, ‘Hey, we’re a team and we’re going to get wins,’ and we did that tonight.
“We had troubles early in the first set. Their opposite did a really nice job. We didn’t line him up as well as we needed to. Late in the set we started to figure that out and then we got better from there.”
Outside hitter Garrett Muagututia led the U.S. with 14 points on 11 spikes, on block and two aces. Middle blocker Taylor Averill scored 11 points on six attacks, a match-high four blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke scored 10 points on eight attacks and two aces.
Matt Anderson started at opposite and scored six points on three kills, two blocks and one ace. Jake Hanes took over in the second set and finished with eight points on eight kills.
Middle Jeff Jendryk scored four points on four kills and setter Micah Ma’a added three points on three kills. Ma’a set the team to a .534 hitting efficiency.
Libero Erik Shoji was credited with 10 digs and four excellent receptions.
Tickets for the 2023 Continental Championship are still available online. For those who can’t make it to Charleston, matches will be livestreamed at youtube.com/@VolleyballSource.
U.S. Men’s Roster for the 2023 NORCECA Continental Championship
No. Player (Position, Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1 Matt Anderson (Opp, 6-10, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State, Western Empire)
2 Aaron Russell (OH, 6-9, Ellicott City, Md., Penn State, Chesapeake)
4 Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)
6 Timothy McIntosh (L, 6-0, Miami, Fla., Sacred Heart, Florida)
8 T.J. DeFalco (OH, 6-5, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
9 Jake Hanes (OPP, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State Univ., Great Lakes)
11 Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Southern California, Hawaii)
12 Max Holt (MB, 6-10, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State, Ohio Valley)
14 Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)
17 Thomas Jaeschke (OH, 6-6, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)
18 Garrett Muagututia (OH, 6-5, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
19 Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)
20 David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., Univ. of California Irvine, Southern California)
22 Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford Univ., Hawaii)
Head Coach: John Speraw
Assistant Coaches: Matthew Fuerbringer and Javier Weber
Performance Analyst and Technical Coordinator: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock
Team Leader: Nate Ngo
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot
Mental Performance Coach: Peter Naschak
Team Doctor: Daniel Green
U.S. Referee: Devonie McLarty
NORCECA Continental Championship Schedule
All times ET
Sept. 5
Canada def. Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-11, 25-8, 25-12)
Cuba def. Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-15)
USA def. Suriname, 3-0 (25-14, 25-9, 25-10)
Sept. 6
Cuba def. Suriname, 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-23)
Canada def. Mexico, 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-20)
USA def. Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-12)
Sept. 7
Puerto Rico def. Suriname, 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-21)
Dominican Republic def. Mexico, (25-21, 25-21, 25-21)
USA def. Cuba, 3-2 (25-22, 25-17, 24-26, 22-25, 15-12)
Sept. 8 Quarterfinals
Quarterfinal: Cuba def. Mexico, 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-23)
Quarterfinal: Dominican Republic def. Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 32-30)
Sept. 9 Semifinals and Classifications
Classification 5/7: Mexico def Puerto Rico, 3-1 (25-22, 27-29,
Semifinal: USA def Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-14)
Semifinal: Canada def. Cuba, 3-2 (18-25, 25-21, 25-17, 24-26, 15-13)
Sept. 10 Medal Matches and Classifications
3 p.m.: Classification 6/7: Puerto Rico vs Suriname
5 p.m.: Bronze Medal Match: Cuba vs Dominican Republic
7:30 p.m.: Gold Medal Match: Canada vs USA