COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 25, 2017) – The U.S. Men’s National Team opened the 2017 Pan American Cup with a 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18 win over Mexico at Gatineau’s Robert Guertin Arena in Canada on Tuesday.
The U.S. Men will continue pool play on Wednesday against the Dominican Republic at 2 p.m. ET.
Mexico led the match in kills (46-44) but the U.S. Men dominated in blocks (9-3) and aces (12-3). Each team was charged with 32 errors.
“I think there was a little bit of nerves before the first match of the tournament,” U.S. Team Captain Jonah Seif said. “I thought we came out and played well as a team. Mexico is an experienced group so we knew that they weren’t going to give up. We won the game with our serving, blocking and passing.”
U.S. outside hitter Jake Langlois led all scorers with 18 points on a match-high 15 kills, two blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Mitch Stahl added 17 points on seven kills, a match-high five blocks and a match-high five aces, three of which scored the final three points for the United States in the fourth set.
Outside hitter Jake Arnitz totaled seven points, including three aces.
U.S. Head Coach Rob Neilson substituted liberally as almost every player got playing time and 10 scored at least one point. Libero Larry Tuileta played most of the match but Evan Enriques also got playing time.
U.S. Starters vs. Mexico
Outside hitters: Jake Langlois and Brenden Sander
Middle blockers: Mitch Stahl and Jeff Jendryk
Opposite: Arvis Greene
Setter: Jonah Seif
Libero: Larry Tuileta
U.S. Statistics vs. Mexico
Kills: Langlois 15, Stahl 7, Kyle Ensing 6, Greene 6, Seif 3, Sander 2, Jarman Price 2, Jake Arnitz 1, David Wieczorek 1, Jendryk 1
Blocks: Stahl 5, Langlois 2, Seif 2
Aces: Stahl 5, Arnitz 3, Seif 2, Langlois 1, Wieczorek 1
Digs: Tuileta 8, Ensing 3, Stahl 2, Wieczorek 2, Langlois 2, Jendryk 1, Arnitz 1, Seif 1
U.S. Roster for the Men’s Pan American Cup
Gatineau, Canada
No. Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, College)
2. Price Jarman (MB, 6-9, Las Vegas, N.Y., BYU)
3. Mitch Stahl (MB, 6-7, Chambersburg, Pa., UCLA)
4. Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola of Chicago)
7. Arvis Greene (Opp, 6-7, Los Angeles, Calif., Cal State Northridge)
8. Brenden Sander (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., BYU)
9. Jake Langlois (MB, 6-10, San Jose, Calif., BYU)
11. C Jonah Seif (S, 6-6, Thousand Oaks, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
13 Jake Arnitz (OH, 6-7, Yorba Linda, Calif., UCLA)
14. Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State)
15. David Wieczorek (OH, 6-8, Chicago, Ill., Pepperdine)
20. Scott Stadick (MB, 7-0, Watertown, Wis., UC Irvine)
21. Michael Saeta (S, 6-5, Pasadena, Calif., UC Irvine)
23. Larry Tuileta (L, 6-2, Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii)
25. Evan Enriques (L, 6-2, Punalu’u, Hawaii, Stanford)
Head Coach: Rob Neilson
Team Manager: Brian Failinger
Assistant Coach: Joaquin Acosta
Assistant Coach: Jordan Cheng
Therapist/Trainer: Brett Biedermann
Technical Coordinator: Brian Failinger
Schedule for Men’s Pan American Cup
Gatineau, Canada (All times ET)
July 25
Argentina def Puerto Rico, 25-20, 25-14, 25-17
Cuba def Dominican Republic, 25-17, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22
United States def Mexico, 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18
Canada def Venezuela, 25-17, 25-27, 25-15, 25-22
July 26
14:00 Dominican Republic v United States
16:00 Argentina v Venezuela
18:00 Cuba v Mexico
20:00 Canada v Puerto Rico
July 27
14:00 Mexico v Dominican Republic
16:00 Puerto Rico v Venezuela
18:00 United States v Cuba
20:00 Canada v Argentina
July 28: Quarterfinals
July 29: Semifinals and Classification
July 30: Finals