Men's U21 Grabs Gold in Mexico at 2024 NORCECA Championship

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 16, 2024) –The U.S. Men’s U21 National Team took home gold at the 2024 NORCECA Continental Championship with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 27-25) win over Canada on Sunday evening in Nogales, Mexico. The victory guaranteed the U.S. a spot in the 2025 FIVB U21 World Championship.

NORCECA Continental Championship Most Valuable Player Sterling Foley, who led all players with 16 points (13 kills and three blocks) and was also named the First Best Spiker at the championship, recorded a kill to even the third set at 25 and put the U.S. on the verge of the title with a block. Middle blocker Parker Tomkinson clinched the gold medal with his second block and the team’s 12th.

MATCH STATISTICS (PDF)

Outside Sean Kelly registered 12 kills and fellow outside Cole Hartke added 11 points on nine kills with a block and an ace.

“It feels amazing. We worked really hard for the past three weeks or so and we’re super happy to come out on top,” Kelly said.

Middle blocker Jackson Cryst, selected as the tournament’s First Best Blocker, finished with a match-high five blocks and contributed three kills. Tomkinson added four kills to his blocks to score six points.

For the second consecutive match, the U.S. Men’s U21 National Team finished with a 15-kill advantage, compiling 44 to Canada’s 29. The team’s 12 blocks were three more than Canada produced. The U.S. once again overcame 22 service errors.

Six players scored at least two points for the balanced U.S. squad in the first set. The U.S. went on a 10-4 run after the first technical timeout to take an 18-11 lead and never allowed Canada to get closer than six points the remainder of the set. Hartke and Cryst each scored four points.

A Cryst block gave the U.S. an early 7-3 advantage in the second set and the lead grew to six points, 14-8. Canada scored five of the next six points, culminating in a block, to pull within two points, but could get no closer. Foley led all scorers with seven kills in the set with Hartke and Kelly contributing five and four kills, respectively.

After taking an early 8-5 lead, the U.S. played most of the third set from behind. Canada used a 5-1 run to take the lead and extended the lead to three points on four occasions, as late as 21-18. The U.S. Men’s U21 team closed the gap to one point three times before a Hartke kill evened the set 23-23.

A block by Cryst set up match point, but Canada responded with a pair of points for set point before Foley and Tomkinson sealed the championship. Kelly led the U.S. with six kills in the set, while Foley scored his six points on four kills and a pair of blocks.

The gold medal for the U.S. is its first at the event since 2016. The 2024 edition marked the first NORCECA Men’s U21 Continental Championship since 2018 when the U.S. placed fourth.

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 USA def. Suriname, 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-15)
June 13 USA def. Mexico, 3-1 (25-13, 25-20, 22-25, 25-16)
June 14 Quarterfinals (USA received a bye)
June 15 Semifinals, USA def. Cuba, 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-16)
June 16 Gold Medal Match, USA def. Canada, 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 27-25)