U.S. Men to Play in Quarterfinals after Loss to Cuba

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 20, 2021) – The U.S. Men’s National Team finished second in Pool B at the NORCECA Championship after a loss to Cuba on Friday, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-20).

The U.S. Men (2-1) will play Canada (1-2), which finished third in Pool A, in Saturday’s quarterfinals at 4 p.m. PT. Puerto Rico (2-1) will face Dominican Republic (1-2) in the other quarterfinal. Mexico (3-0) and Cuba (3-0) won their respective pools and advanced straight to the semifinals.

U.S. outside hitter Spencer Olivier, making his first start of the tournament, led the U.S. Men with 10 points on nine kills and one block.

OFFICIAL STATISTICS * TEAM STATISTICS

“We did a pretty good job just putting the ball in, taking good swings,” Olivier said. “We need to do a better job picking up some balls before they drop to hit the floor.”

Cuba led the U.S. Men in kills (36-25), blocks (10-6) and aces (1-0). The U.S. hitting efficiency was .371 behind setter Josh Tuaniga. Cuba hit .397. The U.S. scored 35 points on Cuban errors while committing 28.

“I thought we played even better than yesterday although the result was not as good,” U.S. Head Coach Andy Read said, referring to the U.S. Men’s win over the Dominican Republic on Thursday. “I am proud of how we executed things. We were right there (23-25 in the first two sets). We could have won one of those two sets in one play.”

Opposite Jalen Penrose also made his first tournament start on Friday and finished with eight points on six kills and two blocks. Middle blocker Keenan Sanders scored five points on three kills and two blocks. Outside hitter Brett Wildman scored on four kills.

Middle blocker Merrick McHenry, who subbed in the second set and started the third for starter Tyler Mitchem, scored three points on two kills and one block. Middle blocker Austin Wilmot played as a substitute and scored with a kill.

Libero Kyle Dagostino was credited with four digs and 18 positive receptions. Olivier led in digs with seven.

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
Puerto Rico def Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-18)
Dominican Republic def Guatemala, 3-1 (29-31, 25-16, 25-19, 25-19)
Cuba def USA, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-20)
Mexico def Canada, 3-0 (25-21, 28-26, 25-21)

August 21
4 p.m. USA vs Canada
6 p.m. Dominican Republic vs Puerto Rico

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