Women's U21 Team Claims Gold at Pan American Cup

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 12, 2022) – The U.S. Women’s U21 National Team defeated Argentina 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14) on Sunday to win the Pan American Cup at La Paz Arena in Baja California Sur.

It is the second time the U.S. has won the title. The last time was in 2017.

Both the U.S. Women (5-0) and Argentina (4-2) qualified for the 2023 FIVB U21 World Championship.

OFFICIAL STATISTICS

U.S. opposite Merritt Beason was named tournament MVP and Chloe Chicoine of the United States was named Best Spiker.

Beason led the U.S. in scoring on Sunday with 17 points on a team-high 14 kills and a team-high three blocks. Middle blocker Bekka Allick added 14 points on 12 kills and two blocks.

“Going into the third set after losing the second, our minds were set on working hard, focus on the controllable and loving hard on each other because we are all such competitive, independent strong women that uplift one another,” Allick said. “When I’m given the opportunity, I always take advantage, everyone gets their moments, I’m on a great team.”

U.S. libero and Team Captain Lexi Rodriguez was credited with 24 digs and 12 excellent receptions.

Overall, the U.S. Women led Argentina in kills, 53-42. Argentina led in aces 6-4 and blocks 12-9. The U.S. scored 30 points on Argentina’s errors and committed 21 errors.

The U.S. won the first set without much trouble. Argentina turned up the pressure with its serving and blocking in the second set and the U.S. struggled to respond.

“I think the players were feeling a little tense for a while, but we worked through it and settled down in our reception,” U.S. Head Coach Dan Fisher said. “We also got some nice energy from players coming off the bench and ended the fourth set playing good volleyball. Argentina is very good and put a lot of stress on us with their serves, but that’s what good teams do.”

Argentina rode the momentum into the third set where it opened a 5-0 lead. Argentina still led at 16-13 when the U.S. scored three straight points behind the serves of middle blocker Bre Kelley to tie the score at 16-16. Trailing 18-19, the U.S. used another serving run by Chicoine to lead 21-19 and it did not trail again in the set.

The U.S. held an 8-6 lead at the first technical timeout of set 4 and did not relinquish it.

Kelley finished with 10 points on eight kills, one block and one ace. Chicoine added seven points on six kills and one ace.

Outside hitter Mckenna Wucherer, who entered the match as a substitute in the second set and started the third and fourth, scored seven points on six kills and one block.

Outside hitter Devin Kahahawai played as a substitute and scored five points on four kills and one block. Setter Alexis Stucky, who played as a substitute, scored three points on one kill and a team-high two aces.

Outside hitter Norah Sis started the first and second sets and scored two points on a kill and a block. Outside hitter Elia Rubin, who played as a substitute, scored one point with a kill.

Starting setter Rachel Fairbanks combined with Stucky to set the U.S. to a .234 hitting efficiency. Argentina hit .123.

U.S. Women’s U21 National Team
No. Name (position, height, hometown, HS grad year, USAV region, college or college commitment)

1 Lexi Rodriguez (L, 5-5, Sterling, Ill., 2020, Great Lakes, Nebraska)
3 Chloe Chicoine (OH, 5-10, Lafayette, Ind., 2023, Hoosier, Purdue)
4 Rachel Fairbanks (S, 6-0, Santa Ana, Calif., 2021, Southern California, Pitt)
6 Elia Rubin (OH, 6-1, Brentwood, Calif., 2022, Southern California, Stanford)
7 Mckenna Wucherer (OH, 6-1, Brookfield, Wis., 2022, Badger, Minnesota)
8 Raven Colvin (MB, 6-1, Indianapolis, Ind., 2021, Hoosier, Purdue)
9 Norah Sis (OH, 6-2, Papillion, Neb., 2021, Great Plains, Creighton)
11 Alexis Stucky (S, 6-2, Laramie, Wyo., 2022,  Rocky Mountain, Florida)
15 Merritt Beason (OPP, 6-3, Gardendale, Ala., 2020, Southern, Florida)
16 Bekka Allick (MB, 6-3, Waverly, Neb., 2022, Great Plains, Nebraska)
18 Bre Kelley (MB, 6-4, Rockwall, Texas, 2020, North Texas, Florida)
19 Devin Kahahawai (OH, 6-4, Kailua, Hawaii, 2022, Aloha, Texas)

Head Coach: Dan Fisher (Head Coach, University of Pittsburgh)
Assistant Coach: Jon Newman-Gonchar (Head Coach, University of New Mexico)
Assistant Coach: Heather Olmstead (Head Coach, BYU)
Performance Analyst: Virginia Pham (Technical Coordinator, USC)
Team Leader: Kyle Thompson (Director of Volleyball Operations, Maryland)

Women’s U21 Pan American Cup Schedule
(All times PDT)

Pool Play
June 7
Puerto Rico def Dominican Republic, 3-2 (25-23, 27-29, 25-22, 24-26, 16-14)
Argentina def Canada, 3-0 (25-17, 25-8, 25-22)
United States def Costa Rica, 3-0 (25-8, 25-4, 25-8)
Mexico def Honduras, 3-0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-8)

June 8
Cuba def Puerto Rico, 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 29-27, 25-22)
Argentina def Costa Rica, 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-11)
United States def Canada, 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-22)
Mexico def Chile, 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-20)

June 9
Canada def Costa Rica, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-11)
Dominican Republic def Cuba, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-17)
Chile def Honduras, 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-7)
United States def Argentina 3-1 (25-16, 25-21, 22-25, 27-25)

June 10
Dominican Republic def Costa Rica, 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-18)
Canada def Honduras, 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-9)
QF1: Argentina def Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-13)
QF2: Chile def Cuba, 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 27-25)

June 11
Costa Rica def Honduras, 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-17)
Canada def Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-22)
United States def Chile, 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-9)
Argentina def Mexico, 3-1 (26-24, 27-25, 28-30, 25-7)

June 12
Class 5/6: Cuba def Puerto Rico, 3-2 (17-25, 25-15, 25-13, 18-25, 15-11)
Bronze: Mexico def Chile, 3-0 (26-24, 25-11, 25-19)
Gold: USA vs Argentina, 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14)