Boys U19 Team Beats Costa Rica and Wins Pool

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 15, 2023) – The U.S. Boys U19 National Team finished pool play undefeated after defeating Costa Rica 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-17) at the NORCECA Pan American Cup on Wednesday in Guatemala City.

The U.S. Boys will get Thursday off and advance straight to Friday’s semifinals.

MATCH STATISTICS

U.S. Head Coach Matt Fuerbringer changed up his starting lineup and came away with another win.

“After the match I spoke to the team about completing our first stage, completing our goal of 3-0 and winning the stage,” Fuerbringer said. “Now it’s a lot about recovery. We must be smart to recover and get together to watch some video with the guys so everyone can get better, especially those whose first time on the court was today; get as much time as we can in this day-and-a-half to get ready for the medal round.”

Victor Loiola made his debut at starting outside hitter and led all scorers with 15 points on 13 kills, one block and one ace.

“We had some new faces in today, everybody did their job and capitalized on that energy from the start; we played a good match,” Loiola said. “As a team, we need to improve our pre-count checklist, going through what we must see on the other side of the net, what they are going to run and how we are going to stop it.”

Marek Turner made his debut as starting opposite and added 10 points on six kills, two blocks and two aces.

Setter Trent Taliaferro started the second and third sets and helped starter Tread Rosenthal set the team to a .326 hitting efficiency. Taliaferro scored two points on a kill and a block.

Middle blocker Josh Aruya scored 10 points on eight kills and two blocks. Outside hitter Sean Kelly started the first set and scored eight points on eight attacks. Outside hitter Sebastiano Sani started the second and third sets and added seven points on five kills, one block and one ace.

Middle blocker Gaige Gabriel started the first two sets and scored four points on three kills and one block.

Libero Kellen Larson was credited with eight receptions and two digs.

Overall, the U.S. led Costa Rica in kills (46-23), blocks (8-1) and aces (6-0).

2023 U.S. Boys U19 NORCECA Continental Championship Roster

Player (Pos., Height, Birth Year, Hometown, School, USAV Region)
1 Kellen Larson (L, 5-10, 2005, Irvine, Calif., Woodbridge HS, Southern California)
5 Marek Turner (Opp, 6-5, 2006, Long Beach, Calif., Woodrow Wilson HS, Southern California)
6 Victor Loiola (OH, 6-4, 2005, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mira Costa HS, Southern California)
7 Trent Taliaferro (S, 6-4, 2005, San Clemente, Calif., JSerra Catholic HS, Southern California)
10 Isaiah Preuitt (MB, 6-8, 2005, Portland, Ore., Central Catholic HS, Columbia Empire)
11 Finn Kearney (Opp, 6-5, 2006, Phoenix, Ariz., Sandra Day O’Connor HS, Arizona)
12 Sterling Foley (OH, 6-6, 2005, Newport Beach, Calif., Corona del Mar HS, Southern California)
13 Sean Kelly (OH, 6-6, 2005, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Loyola HS, Southern California)
14 Sebastiano Sani (OH, 6-8, 2005, Bethesda, Md., Walter Johnson HS, Chesapeake)
15 Josh Aruya (MB, 6-7, 2005, Mission Viejo, Calif., Mission Viejo HS, Southern California)
16C Tread Rosenthal (S, 6-7, 2006, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Mira Costa HS, Southern California)
18 Gaige Gabriel (MB, 6-8, 2005, Birdsboro, Pa., Exeter Township HS, Keystone)

Alternates
Roan Alviar (L, 5-11, 2006, Hayward, Calif., Bishop O’Dowd HS, Northern California)
Kahale Clini (OH, 6-3, 2005, Honolulu, Hawaii, Punahou School, Aloha)
Cole Hartke (OH, 6-10, 2006, Barrington, Ill., Barrington HS, Great Lakes)
Trevell Jordan (MB, 6-8, 2006, Mesa, Ariz., Desert Ridge HS, Arizona
Parker Tomkinson (MB, 6-10, 2006, Carlsbad, Calif., Carlsbad HS, Southern California)
Peter Zurawski (S, 6-6, 2005, Oak Park, Ill., Oak Park River Forest HS, Great Lakes)

Head Coach: Matt Fuerbringer
Assistant Coaches: Kevin Moore and Daniele Desiderio
Performance Analyst: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Cheryl Bueno
Team Leader: Cody Liner

U.S. Schedule for the 2023 NORCECA Boys U19 Continental Championship
All times PT
Matches will be streamed on Facebook at Fnvg Voleibol Guate.
View the full schedule on the NORCECA website.
March 13: USA def. Belize, 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-22)
March 14: USA def. Mexico, 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-20)
March 15: USA def Costa Rica, 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-17)
March 16 at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.: Quarterfinals
March 17: Classification matches and semifinals
March 18: Final classification matches and medal matches