Dominant Net Play Sends U.S. Men to 2026 Men's Pan Am Cup Semifinals

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 14, 2026) – The U.S. Men’s National Team used strong play at the net to defeat the Dominican Republic, 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-13) in Friday night’s quarterfinals in Cuernavaca Morelos, Mexico. The win sends the U.S. into tomorrow’s semifinals and guarantees it will play for a medal on Sunday.

The U.S. (4-1)  will play Mexico (3-1) in the semifinal round at 7 p.m. PT.

The U.S. finished with a 52-43 advantage in kills and served five of the seven aces in the match, but the keys statistic was a 12-3 edge in blocks.

Outside hitter Jacob Pasteur led all scorers with 16 points on 14 kills and two aces. Middle blocker Parker Tomkinson put together another outstanding effort with eight of his team’s 12 blocks, adding five kills and an ace for 14 points. He has recorded 20 blocks in the three matches in which he has played in the tournament.

Opposite Kyle Hobus scored 12 points on 11 kills and a block, middle blocker Cameron Thorne totaled 11 points on nine kills and a pair of blocks and outside Patrick Rogers gave the U.S. five double digit scorers with 10 points on nine kills and a block. Setter Michael Wright posted three kills in addition to running the offense to a .436 hitting efficiency percentage with only 11 hitting errors in four sets compared to 23 for Dominican Republic. Sterling Foley served two aces and Sean Kelly contributed two kills.

Pasteur scored on the first play of the match, but it turned out to be the only U.S. lead in the set. The Dominican Republic recorded its second block to take an 8-6 lead in the opening set. Hobus scored off a Pasteur bump set to even the set at 10-10. Dominican Republic scored three of the next four points to regain its two-point lead. A great up by Thorne on a serve off the net led to a Pasteur kill that brought the U.S. within a point, 16-15, but the lead reached three points for the first time when Dominican Republic scored the next two points. A kill and block on consecutive plays brought the U.S. within two points, 21-19, and force a timeout. Dominican Republic scored the next two points to raise the margin back to four points on its way to taking the set. The U.S saved three set points on kills by Pasteur and Hobus and a block by Thorne. Pasteur (six) and Hobus (five) combined for 11 kills in the set.

The U.S. took its first lead of the second set, 4-3, on a Tomkinson block, and a Rogers kill pushed the lead to two points, 7-5. Thorne put a ball down to give the U.S. a three-point lead for the first time in the match, 10-7, and send Dominican Republic to a timeout. Two more Tomkinson blocks put the U.S. ahead 14-10. A Rogers cut shot out of a Dominican Republic timeout raised the margin to five points. A ninth U.S. serving error started a three-point run that brought Dominican Republic back within a point, 16-15. Wright tipped a ball past the defense and Dominican Republic committed hitting errors on the next two plays as the U.S. moved back ahead by five, 21-16. Dominican Republic responded with another three-point stretch to cut the deficit to two points. After the U.S. called timeout, Pasteur and Thorne produced kills. Pasteur served the first U.S. ace of the match for a 24-19 lead and two points later, ended the set with a kill out of the back row. Pasteur, Thorne and Tomkinson each scored four points in the set as the U.S. evened the match.

The U.S. capitalized on Dominican Republic mistakes to take a quick 4-1 lead in the third set. Pasteur followed with his second ace and Thorne scored high off the block. Rogers put away an overpass of another Pasteur serve to make it 7-1. Pasteur skyed for a pipe attack and a 10-6 U.S. advantage and Tomkinson got his hands on the next Dominican Republic with Pasteur bump setting to the setter Wright for a kill and a five-point margin. Tomkinson floated in a serve for an ace as the U.S. doubled up the score, 14-7. Thorne’s third kill of the set gave the U.S. a 16-10 lead. A Hobus kill and Dominican Republic hitting error stretched the lead to seven, 19-12. A Hobus kill and back-to-back Foley aces raised the margin to nine points, 23-14. Hobus gave the U.S. set point scoring off the block and two points later, Pasteur finished the set to put the U.S. ahead two sets to one. Thorne led the way in the set with four points, while Pasteur, Rogers and Hobus each scored three.

Consecutive blocks by Thorne and Rogers put the U.S. up 5-1 in the fourth set. Two more Tomkinson blocks, giving the U.S. four already in the set, made the score 9-2 and forced a Dominican Republic timeout. Tomkinson recorded yet another block on the first play out of the timeout and Thorne stretched his serving streak to five points on a Dominican Republic error. A successful setter dump by Wright put the U.S. out in front, 17-8, and a Pasteur kill doubled up the score at 18-9. Hobus bounced an attack high off the Dominican Republic defense, which led to a valiant effort to run the ball down, for a 19-10 lead. After nearly earning another block, Tomkinson instead put a ball away for a 22-11 U.S. advantage. Tomkinson ended the match with another kill, his sixth point of the set.

U.S. Men’s Pan Am Cup Roster

No., Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1 Jackson Cryst (MB, 6-10, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California Southern Nevada)
2 Kainoa Wade (OPP, 6-9, Kailua, Hawai’i, Hawai’i, Aloha)
3 Michael Wright (S, 6-4, Richmond, Va., Ohio State, Old Dominion)
6 Jacob Reilly (L, 6-2. Cypress, Texas, Pepperdine, Lone Star)
7 Jacob Pasteur (OH, 6-4, Westminster, Md., Ohio State, Chesapeake)
8 Patrick Rogers (OH, 6-7, Rutherford, N.J., Ball State, Garden Empire)
9 Sterling Foley (OH, 6-6, Los Angeles, Calif., USC, Southern California Southern Nevada)
12 Micah Wong Diallo (MB, 6-9, Los Angeles, Calif., UCLA, Southern California Southern Nevada)
15 Kyle Hobus (OPP, 6-7, San Pedro, Calif., CSUN, Southern California Southern Nevada)
16 Cameron Thorne (MB, 6-4, Hollywood, Calif., UCLA, Florida)
25 Troy Gooch (L, 6-0, Buffalo, N.Y., UCLA, Western Empire)
27 Parker Tomkinson (MB, 7-0, Carlsbad, Calif., USC, Southern California Southern Nevada)
28 Tread Rosenthal (S, 6-9, Hermosa Beach, Calif., Univ. of Hawai’i, Southern California Southern Nevada)
30 Sean Kelly (OH, 6-7, Manhattan Beach, Calif., UCLA, Southern California Southern Nevada)

Head Coach: Andy Read
Assistant Coach: David Lee
Assistant Coach: Reid Priddy
Performance Analyst/Team Manager:  Ethan Jenkins
Physiotherapist: Emma Stratmoen

2026 Pan Am Cup Schedule
(All times PDT)

Aug. 9: USA def. Costa Rica, 3-0 (25-15, 26-24, 25-14)
Aug. 11: USA def. Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-18)
Aug. 12: USA def. Trinidad and Tobago, 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-14)
Aug. 13: Canada def. USA, 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 34-32)
Aug. 14: Quarterfinals:  USA vs. Dominican Republic, 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-13)
Aug. 15: Semifinals: USA vs. TBD
Aug. 16: Classification and Medal Matches