Men's U21 Team Defeats Chile to Begin 2025 Pan Am Cup

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 5, 2025) – The U.S. Men’s U21 National Team started the 2025 NORCECA U21 Men’s Pan American Cup in impressive fashion with a 3-0 (25-15 25-14, 25-15) blanking of Chile in Calgary, Canada.

The U.S. returns to action tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 6, at 1:30 p.m. PT. against Barbados.

The U.S. finished with huge advantages in kills (33-23), blocks (12-1) and aces (10-1). The U.S. hit at a .483 efficiency percentage as a team with just five errors in 58 total attacks.

“It was a really great team win to start the tournament. I thought we were smooth. We didn’t have a lot of errors and our offense ran pretty well for the most part,” said U.S. head coach John Hawks. “We served really tactically. We just put a lot of pressure on them. We made some plays at the net. These guys just love playing with one another, so it was a fun team win.”

Outside hitter Sebastiano Sani led all scorers with 12 points on six kills, a match-high four blocks and two aces. Opposite Kainoa Wade also reached double digits with 10 points. Setter Trent Taliaferro ran the powerful offense while contributing seven points on three blocks, three aces and a kill.

Middle blocker Micah Goss totaled nine points with a match-high four aces to go with three kills and two blocks. Libero Kellen Larson led the U.S. with five successful receptions and five digs. Outside Victor Loiola contributed six points on four kills, one block and an ace.

Middle Tre Jordan finished with five points on three kills and two blocks, while outside Marek Turner registered four kills in the third set.

Wade and Sani each scored three quick points as the U.S. took an 8-4 lead to open the match. Consecutive blocks by Sani and Jordan stretched the lead to five, 12-7. A Loiola kill made it 17-10 and his ace gave the U.S. an eight-point lead, 21-13, forcing Chile to take its final timeout. A Taliaferro ace ended the set in which the U.S. hit .609 (15 kills, one error, 23 attacks) and added four blocks and three aces. Sani led the U.S. with seven points on four kills, two blocks and an ace.

Another Taliaferro ace put the U.S. in front 6-1 in the second set, prompting an early Chile timeout. A Sani block pushed the lead to seven points, 16-9. Goss recorded the team’s ninth block for an 18-11 lead and put the U.S. up 23-12 with four consecutive aces. Goss recorded two kills to finish the set with seven points. The U.S. totaled seven kills, five blocks and five aces in the set.

A Sani ace put the U.S. ahead 9-3 in the third set. Back-to-back Taliaferro blocks extended the lead to eight, 14-6, and led to a Chile timeout. The lead was still eight points when Wade delivered a kill for a 21-13 lead. A kill by middle blocker Joshua Aruya, his second of the set, brought up match point and a Chile service error ended the match. Turner led the U.S. with four kills.

2025 Men’s U21 National Team

Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, School/Club, USAV Region)

1 Kellen Larson (L, 5-9, Irvine, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
5 Marek Turner (OH, 6-6, Long Beach, Calif., Team Rockstar, Southern California)
6 Victor Loiola (OH, 6-4, Manhattan Beach, Calif., N/A, Southern California)
7 Trent Taliaferro (S, 6-5, San Clemente, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
8 Jacob Little-Phillips (S, 6-2, Winter Park, Fla., Winter Park HS, Florida Region)
9 Tre Jordan (MB, 6-10, Mesa, Ariz., Grand Canyon, Arizona)
10 Johnny Dykstra (L, 6-2, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Univ. of Southern California, Southern California)
15 Joshua Aruya (MB, 6-9, Mission Viejo, Calif., UC Santa Barbara, Southern California)
17 Riggs Guy (OH, 6-3, Newport Beach, Calif., UC Santa Barbara, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
18 Kainoa Wade (OPP, 6-10, Kailua, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii, Aloha Region)
22 Sebastiano Sani (OH, 6-8, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Long Beach State, Chesapeake)
23 Micah Goss (MB, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Irvine, Southern California)

Alternates
2 Roan Alviar (L, 5-11, Hayward, Calif., Princeton, Northern California)
4 Aidan Klein (MB, 6-10, Evanston, Ill., Loyola Chicago, Great Lakes)
11 Finn Kearney (OH, 6-5, Phoenix, Ariz., Univ. of Hawaii, Arizona)
14 Justin Todd (MB, 6-7, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii, Aloha)
19 Grayson Bradford (OPP, 6-11, Redondo Beach, Calif., Mira Costa HS, Southern California)
24 Kahale Clini (OH, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)

Coaches
Head Coach: John Hawks (UCLA)
Assistant Coach: Donan Cruz (Ball State)
Assistant Coach: Matthew Pollock (Pepperdine)
Performance Analyst: Thomas Shaffer (Loyola Chicago)
Athletic Trainer: Hazel Peterson (USOPTC)
Team Lead: Brandon Oswald (NTDP)

Schedule

All times Pacific

Aug. 5: USA def. Chile, 3-0 (25-15 25-14, 25-15)
Aug. 6: USA vs. Barbados, 1:30 p.m.
Aug. 7: USA vs. Canada, 6 p.m.
Aug. 8: USA vs. Mexico, 3:30 p.m.
Aug. 9: USA vs. Puerto Rico, 3:30 p.m.
Aug. 10: Medal Matches and Classification