COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 29, 2018) – The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team (MJNT) won its pool at the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship on Wednesday when it beat Canada, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24 in Havana.
The U.S. will have Thursday off while quarterfinal matches are played. The U.S. will play the winner of either Dominican Republic vs. Nicaragua or Canada vs. Barbados in the semifinals. Cuba won the other pool and will play in the other semifinal.
U.S. Head Coach Jonah Carson said the players would rest and recover on Friday and the coaches would “go to work.”
The United States led Canada in kills (46-43) and aces (19-6). Canada led in blocks (7-5). The teams were roughly tied in errors. The U.S. scored on 29 Canada errors while committing 30.
“I thought we played excellent volleyball for some of the match and OK volleyball for a lot of the match,” Carson said. “We were fortunate that our excellent volleyball came at the right moments.”
The U.S. trailed in the fourth set 20-17, but came back to win.
U.S. opposite Jaylen Jasper led all scorers with 23 points on a match-high 11 aces, 11 kills and one block. Outside hitter J.P. Reilly added 15 points on a match-high 13 kills and two aces.
Middle blocker Sam Lewis had a team-high three blocks and 10 kills for 13 points.
“I thought Canada came out playing really, really well,” said U.S. outside hitter Devin Joslyn, who scored 10 points on nine kills and one ace. “I thought our training back in Chicago gave us a jump on that and the scouting report the coaches did really helped us.
“Canada had a lot of athleticism. I thought we matched up pretty well against them.”
Carson praised the training the U.S. players brought to the team.
“Any success this team has in due in part to the coaches they have had in previous years; in terms of technique, in terms of tactics, in terms of mental ability,” Carson said.
U.S. STARTERS VS CANADA
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), Joe Kelly (S)
U.S. STATISTICS VS CANADA
Kills: Reilly 13, Jasper 11, Lewis 10, Joslyn 9, Presho 3
Blocks: Lewis 3, Jasper 1, Denton 1
Aces: Jasper 11, Crisp 3, Reilly 2, Joslyn 1, Lamp 1, Presho 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
Cuba v Barbados, 25-13, 25-17, 25-11
Aug. 29
Barbados def Guatemala, 29-27, 19-25, 25-23, 25-17
Nicaragua def Haiti, 25-17, 17-25, 25-20, 25-13
United States def Canada, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24
Cuba def Dominican Republic, 26-24, 25-19, 25-17