COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 1, 2018) – The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team finished fourth at the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship on Saturday after falling to Canada in the third-place match, 25-22, 25-23, 25-27, 25-17 in Havana, Cuba.
The U.S. Men’s Junior Team (MJNT) finished with a 3-2 record. U.S. opposite Jaylen Jasper was named the tournament’s Best Server and Blake Crisp was named Best Setter.
Host Cuba beat the Dominican Republic in the final and qualified for the 2019 FIVB U21 World Championship.
The MJNT dominated in attacks (53-40) and led in aces (8-7), but were hurt by 45 scoring errors. Canada led in blocks (8-2) and only committed 26 scoring errors.
“I thought we played the edge with errors too much,” U.S. Head Coach Jonah Carson said. “At this level, opponents will make you pay for those kinds of errors.
“Canada’s ability to hit a consistent serve in the right zones put us off balance.”
U.S. opposite Jaylen Jasper led all scorers with 22 points on a match-high 17 kills, a match-high four aces and one block. Outside hitter Kevin Lamp, making his first start of the tournament, added 18 points on 16 kills and two aces.
Outside hitter Devin Joslyn, who started the third and fourth sets, scored seven points on seven kills.
“I thought (Canada) came out and did the same things coach thought they would do on the scouting report,” Joslyn said. “They fought very well and so did we. We were both scrappy.”
U.S. STARTERS VS CANADA
Outside hitters: Kevin Lamp and J.P. Reilly
Middle blockers: Kyler Presho and Sam Lewis
Opposite: Jaylen Jasper
Setter: Joe Kelly
Libero: Garland Peed
Substitutes: Blake Crisp (S), Luke Denton (Opp), Devin Joslyn (OH), James Martin (MB), Spencer Olivier (OH)
U.S. STATISTICS VS CANADA
Kills: Jasper 17, Lamp 16, Joslyn 7, Presho 6, Lewis 6, Denton 3, Crisp 1
Blocks: Jasper 1, Lewis 1
Aces: Jasper 4, Lamp 2, Lewis 1, Presho 1
U.S. Men’s Junior National Team Roster
Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
2 Blake Crisp (S, 6-3, Westlake Village, Calif., Signed to UC San Diego)
3 Luke Denton (Opp, 6-6, Mesa, Ariz., Signed to Loyola Chicago)
7 Jaylen Jasper (Opp, 6-8, Annapolis, Md., Stanford)
8 Devin Joslyn (OH, 6-6, Angola, N.Y., Loyola Chicago)
10 Kevin Lamp (OH, 6-4, Lake Bluff, Ill., Committed to Stanford)
11C Sam Lewis (MB, 6-10, Long Beach, Calif., USC)
12 J.T. Martin (MB, 6-8, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Signed to Pepperdine)
14 Spencer Olivier (OH, 6-6, Tustin, Calif., Long Beach State)
15 Garland Peed V (L, 6-2, San Diego, Calif., UCLA)
16 Kyler Presho (MB, 6-8, San Clemente, Calif., Stanford)
19 J.P. Reilly (OH, 6-5, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Stanford)
22 Joe Kelly (S, 6-2, El Segundo, Calif., Princeton)
Head Coach: Jonah Carson (USAV High Performance and Mountain View Volleyball Club)
Assistant Coach: Kris Berzins (USAV High Performance and D1 Volleyball Club)
Assistant Coach: Sam Shweisky (Princeton University men’s volleyball)
Team Manager: Aldis Berzins (Stevenson University Men’s Volleyball)
Technical Coordinator: Jeremy DeRoche
Team Doctor: Denise Wunderler
Preliminary Phase Schedule:
(All times ET)
Aug. 27
Dominican Republic def Barbados, 25-21. 25-21, 25-18
Canada def Haiti, 25-14, 25-17, 25-18
United States def Nicaragua, 25-23, 25-15, 25-15
Cuba def Guatemala, 25-17, 25-18, 25-13
Aug. 28
Dominican Republic def Guatemala, 25-23, 25-19, 25-22
Canada def Nicaragua, 25-16, 25-20, 25-15
United States def Haiti, 25-20, 25-18, 25-17
Cuba v Barbados, 25-13, 25-17, 25-11
Aug. 29
Barbados def Guatemala, 29-27, 19-25, 25-23, 25-17
Nicaragua def Haiti, 25-17, 17-25, 25-20, 25-13
United States def Canada, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24
Cuba def Dominican Republic, 26-24, 25-19, 25-17
Aug. 30
Quarterfinals
Dominican Republic def Nicaragua, 25-23, 25-19, 25-17
Canada def Barbados, 25-13, 25-14, 25-20
Aug. 31
Classification
Guatemala def Nicaragua, 25-22, 25-21, 25-16
Haiti def Barbados, 14-25, 25-23, 18-25, 31-29, 15-10
Semifinals
Dominican Republic def United States, 21-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-18
Cuba def Canada
Sept. 1
Classification
Noon: Nicaragua vs Barbados
2 p.m.: Guatemala vs Haiti
Bronze
Canada def USA, 25-22, 25-23, 25-27, 25-17
Gold
6 p.m. Dominican Republic v Canada/Cuba