Young U.S. Men's Team to Play for 2023 NORCECA Final 6 Title

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 18, 2023) – A young U.S. Men’s Team will compete for the NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six on Sept. 19-24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar, Edmonton Expo Centre.

The six teams competing are Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States.

With the U.S. Men’s Senior Team in Tokyo getting ready for the FIVB Road to Paris Olympic Qualifier, the Final Six tournament is a good chance to give young and up-and-coming players more international experience.

Setters on the team are Bryce Dvorak and Andrew Rowan. Liberos are Mason Briggs and Troy Gooch.

Opposites are Camden Gianni and Jalen Penrose. Outside hitters are Ethan Champlin, Jordan Ewert, Kyle McCauley and Zach Rama.

Middle blockers are Patrick Gasman, Matthew Knigge, Michael Marshman and Merrick McHenry.

Champlin, Gasman, Gooch, Knigge, Marshman, McCauley and McHenry played earlier this summer on the U.S. Men’s Team that placed fifth at the Pan American Cup.

Champlin, Gooch, McHenry, Rama and Rowan all won the NCAA Men’s Division I National Championship with UCLA in May. Rama and Rowan played for the U.S. Men’s U21 Team this summer and are headed into their sophomore years with the Bruins.

Dvorak is heading into his senior season with Pepperdine.

Andy Read will serve as the team’s head coach with assistance from Brandon Taliaferro and Jeremiah Estes.

Cuba is the current Men’s Final Six Champion; Mexico won the first edition in 2021. In both editions, Canada has finished second and the United States has taken third.

The round-robin preliminary round will run from Sept. 19-23. The top two teams will compete for the gold medal on Sept. 24, third and fourth will play for the bronze medal, and the fifth and sixth place teams will play for fifth.

Matches will be livestreamed on: youtube.com/@TheVolleyballCanada

U.S. Men’s Roster for the Pan American Cup
No. Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, School, USAV Region)
2 Troy Gooch (L, 6-0, Buffalo, N.Y., UCLA, Western Empire)
4 Jordan Ewert (OH, 6-5, Antioch, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)
6 Bryce Dvorak (S, 6-4, Newport Beach, Calif., Pepperdine, Southern California)
9 Matthew Knigge (MB, 6-7, New Egypt, N.J., Vassar, Garden Empire)
10 Camden Gianni (Opp, 6-5, Carlsbad, Calif., Grand Canyon, Southern California)
12 Andrew Rowan (S, 6-7, 2003, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
13C Patrick Gasman (MB, 6-10, Clovis, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)
20 Zach Rama (OH, 6-8, 2004, Phoenix, Ariz., UCLA, Arizona)
21 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
22 Kyle McCauley (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., UC San Diego, Southern California)
23 Michael Marshman (MB, 6-7, Glenmont, N.Y., St. Francis Univ., Excelsior Empire)
25 Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
26 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas)
27 Jalen Penrose (OP, 6-8, Cambridge, Mass., Penn State, New England)