U.S. Starts 2024 NORCECA Men's U21 Champs in Dominating Fashion

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 11, 2024) – The U.S. Men’s U21 National Team’s offense was firing on all cylinders in defeating Nicaragua at the NORCECA Continental Championship, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-12) on Tuesday in Nogales, Mexico. In its opening match of the championship, the U.S. hit an astounding .638 for the match, eclipsing the .600 mark in all three sets, and never trailed.

The U.S. (1-0) returns to play tomorrow, Wednesday, June 12 at 4 p.m. PT against Suriname. All matches are being livestreamed.

MATCH STATISTICS (PDF)

“I’m really pumped for the guys to get this first win under their belt,” said U.S. head coach Johns Hawks. “We had to learn how to play and win ugly volleyball. I thought we did that. We just missed too many serves (25 service errors), but we’ll go back tomorrow morning and work on it. We will keep getting sharper as we go.”

Seven players scored at least four points in the win, led by middle blocker Jackson Cryst’s 13 points and outside hitter Sterling Foley’s 11. Foley finished with a match-best 11 kills with no errors on 14 attacks for a .786 hitting efficiency. Cryst hit .700 (8-1-10) for the match and was the only player with multiple blocks, totaling three.

Outside Sean Kelly recorded six kills and seven points, with opposite Finn Kearney and middle blocker Aidan Klein both contributing five points. In addition to running the extremely efficient offense, setter Tread Rosenthal also finished with five points on three kills, one block and one ace. Outside hitter Cole Hartke shared match-high honors with Cryst with two aces and totaled four points.

Libero Roan Alviar led the team with seven successful receptions. Foley and Kelly added four apiece. Alviar registered a match-high five digs.

The U.S. Men jumped out to a 4-0 lead and led by at least three points throughout the first set. With 19 kills and just three errors in 26 attacks, the U.S. hit .615. Foley led all players with six kills.

Nicaragua cut the deficit to two points, 8-6, in the second set, but could get no closer. The U.S. totaled 13 kills with just one error in 18 attacks in the set. Kelly led the way with four kills and five points, while Foley, Rosenthal and Cryst each scored three.

A Hartke ace gave the U.S. a 7-2 lead early in the third set. Up by four points, the U.S. went on an 8-0 run to take a 17-5 lead and put the match away. Cryst led all players with six points on three kills, two blocks and an ace. Hartke finished with three points in the set, adding a kill and a block to his ace.

The U.S. finished fourth at the most recent NORCECA Men’s U21 Continental Championship in 2018 and last captured gold at the event in 2016.

2024 U.S. Men’s U21 National Team for the NORCECA Continental Championship

Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, School, USAV Region)
2 Roan Alviar (L, 5-11, Hayward, Calif., Princeton, Northern California)
3 Cole Hartke (OH, 7-0, Barrington, Ill., Pepperdine, Great Lakes)
6 Victor Loiola (OH, 6-4, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
7 Trent Taliaferro (S, 6-5, San Clemente, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
11 Finn Kearney (Opp, 6-5, Phoenix, Ariz., Univ. of Hawaii, Arizona)
12 Sterling Foley (OH, 6-7, Newport Beach, Calif., Univ. of Southern California, Southern California)
13 Sean Kelly (OH, 6-7, Manhattan Beach, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
15 Joshua Aruya (MB, 6-9, Mission Viejo, Calif., UC Santa Barbara, Southern California)
16 Tread Rosenthal (S, 6-9, Hermosa Beach, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Southern California)
19 Aidan Klein (MB, 6-10, Evanston, Ill., Loyola University Chicago, Great Lakes)
20 Parker Tomkinson (MB, 7-0, Carlsbad, Calif., Univ. of Southern California, Southern California)
21 Jackson Cryst (MB, 6-10, Long Beach, Calif., Sage Hill School, Southern California)

Alternates
Caleb Blanchette (S, 6-5, Franklin, Tenn., Univ. of Southern California, Southern)
Tre Jordan (MB, 6-10, Mesa, Ariz., Grand Canyon, Arizona)
Kellen Larson (L, 5-10, Irvine, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
Braydon Savitski-Lynde (Opp, 6-7, Roscoe, Ill., Ball State, Great Lakes)
Justin Todd (OH, 6-8, Honolulu, Hawaii, University of Hawaii, Aloha)
Marek Turner (OH, 6-5, Long Beach, Calif., Woodrow Wilson HS, Southern California)
Jameson Vaccaro (OH, 6-4, San Diego, Calif., Princeton, Southern California Region)
Kainoa Wade (Opp, 6-9, Kailua, Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools, Aloha)
Tristan Whitfield (MB, 6-7, Virginia Beach, Va., Princeton, Old Dominion)

Head Coach: John Hawks, Loyola Chicago
Assistant Coach: Donan Cruz, Ball State
Assistant Coach: Matthew Pollock, Pepperdine
Performance Analyst: AJ Ruttenberg, UCLA
Athletic Trainer: Dr. Christopher Cornell, Coduhi Clinic
Team Leader: Donovan Martinez, USAV NTDP

U.S. Schedule for the NORCECA Men’s U21 Continental Championship
(All times PT)

June 11 USA def. Nicaragua, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-12)
June 12 at 4 p.m. USA v Suriname
June 13 at 8 p.m. USA v Mexico
June 14 Quarterfinals if necessary
June 15 Semifinals and classification matches
June 16 Final, third place, and classification matches