COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 28, 2018) – The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team (MJNT) improved to 2-0 at the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship on Tuesday with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-17 win over Haiti.
The MJNT will conclude pool play on Wednesday against Canada (2-0) at 4 p.m. ET.
The U.S. led Haiti in kills (40-21) and aces (11-3) while Haiti led in blocks (6-2).
“Credit to their outsides, especially Jean Bayol, who challenged us to adjust and adapt as the match went on,” Head Coach Jonah Carson said of Haiti’s opposite. “I give credit to our coaching staff which did video analysis and prepared our team for the match today.”
Opposite Jaylen Jasper led all scorers with 12 points on a match-high four aces and eight kills.
Outside hitter J.P. Reilly scored on a match-high nine kills (.533 efficiency) and one ace. Outside hitter Devin Joslyn added 10 points on eight kills, one block and one ace.
Middle blockers Kyler Presho and Sam Lewis each scored seven points.
“I thought the game went really well,” Presho said. “I thought we executed on what we wanted to really well and everyone played their role.
“Yesterday was a day to shake off the rust. I want to play the rest of the tournament like I did today.”
Setter Blake Crisp helped the team to a .440 hitting efficiency. Libero Garland Peed was credited with eight excellent receptions.
Carson said he expected Wednesday’s match to be more of a battle.
“Canada is going to challenge us with more attackers in a variety of zones,” Carson said. “Our mental preparation for each match is going to have to increase as we get deeper into the tournament.”
U.S. STARTERS VS HAITI
Outside hitters: J.P Reilly and Devin Joslyn
Middle blockers: Sam Lewis and Kyler Presho
Opposite: Jaylen Jasper
Setter: Blake Crisp
Libero: Garland Peed
Substitutes: Luke Denton (Opp), Kevin Lamp (OH), James Martin (MB), Spencer Olivier (OH), Joe Kelly (S)
U.S. STATISTICS VS HAITI
Kills: Reilly 9, Jasper 8, Joslyn 8, Lewis 6, Presho 4, Crisp 2, Martin 2, Denton 1
Blocks: Presho 1, Joslyn 1
Aces: Jasper 4, Lamp 2, Presho 2, Lewis 1, Joslyn 1, Reilly 1
Digs: Jasper 1
U.S. Men’s Junior National Team Roster
Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
2 Blake Crisp (S, 6-3, Westlake Village, Calif., Signed to UC San Diego)
3 Luke Denton (Opp, 6-6, Mesa, Ariz., Signed to Loyola Chicago)
7 Jaylen Jasper (Opp, 6-8, Annapolis, Md., Stanford)
8 Devin Joslyn (OH, 6-6, Angola, N.Y., Loyola Chicago)
10 Kevin Lamp (OH, 6-4, Lake Bluff, Ill., Committed to Stanford)
11C Sam Lewis (MB, 6-10, Long Beach, Calif., USC)
12 J.T. Martin (MB, 6-8, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Signed to Pepperdine)
14 Spencer Olivier (OH, 6-6, Tustin, Calif., Long Beach State)
15 Garland Peed V (L, 6-2, San Diego, Calif., UCLA)
16 Kyler Presho (MB, 6-8, San Clemente, Calif., Stanford)
19 J.P. Reilly (OH, 6-5, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Stanford)
22 Joe Kelly (S, 6-2, El Segundo, Calif., Princeton)
Head Coach: Jonah Carson (USAV High Performance and Mountain View Volleyball Club)
Assistant Coach: Kris Berzins (USAV High Performance and D1 Volleyball Club)
Assistant Coach: Sam Shweisky (Princeton University men’s volleyball)
Team Manager: Aldis Berzins (Stevenson University Men’s Volleyball)
Technical Coordinator: Jeremy DeRoche
Team Doctor: Denise Wunderler
Preliminary Phase Schedule:
(All times ET)
Aug. 27
Dominican Republic def Barbados, 25-21. 25-21, 25-18
Canada def Haiti, 25-14, 25-17, 25-18
United States def Nicaragua, 25-23, 25-15, 25-15
Cuba def Guatemala, 25-17, 25-18, 25-13
Aug. 28
Dominican Republic def Guatemala, 25-23, 25-19, 25-22
Canada def Nicaragua, 25-16, 25-20, 25-15
United States def Haiti, 25-20, 25-18, 25-17
6 p.m. Cuba v Barbados
Aug. 29
Noon: Guatemala v Barbados
2 p.m. Nicaragua v Haiti
4 p.m. Canada v United States
6 p.m. Cuba v Dominican Republic