Men's U23 National Team Defeats Mexico for First 2025 Pan Am Cup Win

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (July 30, 2025) – The U.S. Men’s U23 National Team played another thrilling match at the 2025 NORCECA Men’s U23 Pan American Cup, earning its first win with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-18, 25-27, 25-23) victory over Mexico on Wednesday in Guatemala City, Guatemala. In its first eight sets of the tournament, the U.S. has played six sets decided by two points.

The U.S. (1-1) completes pool play against Belize (0-2) tomorrow at 3 p.m. PT.

The final statistics reflected the competitiveness of the match. The U.S. held slight leads in kills (47-45) and blocks (10-7), while Mexico served three more aces (6-3). The key number was the U.S. finishing with 11 fewer errors (34-23).

Four players reached double figures in the balanced U.S. attack. Theo Snoey, Jalen Phillips and Cam Thorne each recorded 11 kills. Snoey added a block and two aces to lead all players with 14 points, and Phillips contributed two blocks to total 13 points and shared the team lead with five digs.

Thorne posted a block to finish with 12 points and middle blocker Wesley Smith totaled 11 points on six kills and a match-high five blocks. Setter Nathan Flayter led the U.S offense to a .349 hitting percentage efficiency while scoring six points on four kills, a block and an ace. George Bruening recorded four blocks and five digs.

“We survived the day. We had sickness going through the team, so we had a couple of guys out of position,” head coach Nickie Sanlin said. “George Bruening really stepped up in his role of playing outside for us. We just managed the game really well; they executed the scout really well. We were throwing some different ideas at them as far as system stuff, and they did really well executing the plan. We’re still trying to figure out our lineup situation and this was a good start.  We want to continue to trend upward, move forward and get better every day.”

A Phillips tip on a back row attack put the U.S. ahead 9-8 in the first set, igniting a 6-2 run that made it 14-10. The U.S. held the lead until a Mexico block evened the score at 22. After the teams split the next two points, Thorne and Smith posted back-to-back blocks to give the U.S. the first set. Each finished with four points in the set.

The U.S. scored the first five points of the second set, including two kills by Snoey and another Smith block. Consecutive kills by Smith and Snoey pushed the lead to six, 13-7. The lead stayed at six at 16-10 on a Bruening kill. Mexico was not able to get close than four points after that. Thorne put down a ball on an overpass to give the U.S. set point and a Mexico hitting error followed. Phillips led all scorers with five points on four kills and a block.

Mexico jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the third set, prompting an early U.S. timeout. A Thorne kill and Snoey block brought the U.S. within a point, 14-13. The U.S. took the lead, 16-15, when Smith converted an overpass for a kill. A great up by Flayter led to a Snoey kill put the U.S. up by two.

Mexico rebounded by scoring the next two points before Bruening ended a long rally with a kill to put the U.S. ahead, 18-17. An ace by Mexico tied the set at 20 apiece, but a Phillips kill and a setter dump by Flayter gave the U.S. a 22-20 advantage.

After Mexico again came back by scoring two points in a row, another Flayter kill put the U.S. ahead 23-22. Mexico earned set point by scoring the next two points. Thorne saved the set point with a kill off the block. Mexico earned its third set point two points later and finished the set with a kill. Smith scored four points on two kills and two blocks.

The U.S. used a 5-0 run to take a 11-6 lead in the fourth set, starting with another Smith block. Trailing 15-10, Mexico went on an 9-1 run to take an 19-16 lead. After using its second timeout during the run, the U.S. started its own three-point run on a Phillips kill to tie the set at 19.

Snoey recorded back-to-back kills to give the U.S. a 21-20 lead. After a Mexico point, Snoey scored against for a 22-21 advantage. Thorne adjusted his body to produce a kill to make it 23-22. He delivered a more traditional kill to put the U.S. on the verge of victory, and a Mexico hitting error ended the set and match, 25-23. Snoey registered five kills in the set.

“I think that was some of the most diversity that I’ve seen in my career in terms of just weird lineup stuff; everybody was sick. Just the way last night went, it almost felt like everything that could be a negative was a negative,” Bruening said. “Going into this game, it’s tough to kind of flip that switch, especially when we’ve only played together for six days. But I think everybody had confidence. Nobody went into this letting these things affect us.

“Serve receive was surprisingly decent,” he continued. “I think we ran the middle of the court phenomenally. Wes (Smith) is a monster in the middle. Same thing with Cam (Thorne). Cam is just lights out and Nate (Flayter) did such a good job running them. The offense was just solid.”

USA Volleyball Men’s U23 Roster for Pan Am Cup

Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, College/Pro, Region)

1 Ryan Merk (L, 6-1, 2003, Chicago, Ill., Penn State, Great Lakes)
4 Nathan Flayter (S, 6-4, 2005, Hales Corner, Wisc., McKendree, Badger)
5 Cam Thorne (MB, 6-4, 2004, Hollywood, Fla., UCLA, Florida)
6 Ryan Barnett (OH, 6-5, 2003, Vero Beach, Fla., Pepperdine, Florida)
8 Jalen Phillips (OPP, 6-5, 2004, Anaheim, Calif., CSUN, Southern California)
9 Ryan McElligott (S, 6-6, 2004, Mundelein, Ill., Loyola Chicago, Great Lakes)
14 Nicodemus Meyer (MB, 6-4, 2003, Franklin, Wisc., Loyola Chicago, Badger)
18 Patrick Rogers (OH, 6-7, 2004, Rutherford, N.J., Ball State, Garden Empire)
19 George Bruening (OPP, 6-10, 2004, Newport Beach, Calif., UCSB, Southern California)
21 Wesley Smith (MB, 6-11, 2004, Encinitas, Calif., USC, Southern California)
22 Owen Rose (MB, 6-8, 2003, Merrick, N.Y., Penn State, Garden Empire)
25 Theo Snoey (OH/OPP, 6-8, 2004, Berkeley, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)

Alternates
2 Donovan Constable (S, 6-2, 2003, Clovis, Calif., CSUN, Northern California)
7 Andrew Deardorff (OH, 6-5, 2003, Itasca, Ill., St. Francis, Great Lakes)
10 Paul Wyszynski (L, 6-0, 2003, Northbrook, Ill.,  Miedzyrzeckie Towarzystwo Siatkarskie, Great Lakes)
13 D’Aaron McCraney (MB, 6-9, 2003, Las Vegas, Nev., McKendree, Southern California)
16 Nyherowo Omene (OPP, 6-7, 2003, Chicago, Ill., Princeton, Great Lakes)
17 Trent Moser (OH, 6-8, 2003, Gilbert, Ariz., BYU, Arizona)
23 Alex Rottman (OH, 6-7, 2004, Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)

Coaches
Head Coach: Nickie Sanlin (McKendree)
Assistant Coach: Reid Priddy (Indoor VC, Olympian)
Assistant Coach: Luke Reynolds (Pepperdine)
Performance Analyst: Mackenna Basore (Auburn)
ATC: Claire Pointer (LOVB Madison)
Team Lead: Will Berdecia (OTVA)

Schedule

All times Pacific

July 29: Dominican Republic def. USA, 3-1 (23-25, 26-24, 31-29, 25-16)
July 30: USA def. Mexico, 3-1 (25-23, 25-18, 25-27, 25-23)
July 31: USA vs. Belize, 3 p.m.
Aug. 1: Quarterfinals
Aug. 2: Semifinals/Classification Matches
Aug. 3: Medal Matches/Classification Matches