COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 7, 2017) – The U.S. Men’s Junior National Team stayed focused and sailed through a 25-11, 25-12, 25-10 victory over St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the NORCECA U21 Men’s Continental Championship on Thursday in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
The win sends the United States (2-0) directly to the second semifinal at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday at Centre Sportif de Gatineau. Cuba won Pool B with its 3-0 defeat of Canada on Thursday and will also advance to the semifinals.
On Thursday, U.S. middle blocker Jack Cole had a match-high 10 points (including six kills on seven attacks, plus four aces), while outside hitter Reese Devilbiss added nine, including four aces, and outside hitter Jordan Ewert chipped in seven. Marcus Thomas, with five points, was the top shot for Saint Vincent (0-2). Every U.S. player started at least one set.
Team USA ran off 10 points in a row to close out the first set. The most impressive sequence involved middle blocker George Huhmann laying out for a dig to sustain a rally that he finished with a kill.
“If you hustle after balls, you are going to inspire your teammates to do the same thing and help you do better overall,” said the 6-foot-9 Huhmann. “We know the next game is going to be pretty tough, so if we have the mindset of working hard every day, I think that will help us do better.”
Dylan Missry also had an efficient effort, going 6-for-6 on attacks.
“The focus for us today was about our side of the net and we wanted to control what we could control,” U.S. Head Coach Jay Hosack said. “I thought our guys did a good job of that. [Saint Vincent] is obviously a team that is getting better and better every year and they have some work to do, but we thought we’d just focus on that.”
Saint Vincent, which was playing USA for the first time at the U21 level, will be in the quarterfinal on Friday against either Canada or Cuba.
U.S. Starters vs. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Outside Hitters: Austin Matautia and Dylan Missry
Middle Blockers: George Huhmann and Jack Cole
Opposite: Kyle Ensing
Setter: Joe Worsley
Libero: Matthew Douglas
U.S. Statistics vs. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Kills: Jack Cole 6, Dylan Missry 6, Reese Devilbiss 5, Michael Wexter 4, Jordan Ewert 3, George Huhmann 3, Kyle Ensing 3, Austin Matautia 2, Scott Stadick 1, Joe Worsley 1
Blocks: Humann 2, Worsley 1, Missry 1, Ensing 1, Wexter 1
Aces: Cole 4, Devilbiss 4, Huhmann 1, Wexter 1, Ewert 1
Digs: Douglas 5, Cole 2, Tuaniga 1, Wexter 1, Ewert 1, Missry 1, Huhmann 1
No. Name (Position, Height, College, Hometown, Region)
2. Kyle Ensing (Opposite, 6-7, Long Beach State, Valencia, California, SCVA)
4. Reese Devilbiss (Outside Hitter, 6-2, Ohio State University, Mount Wolf, Pennsylvania, Keystone)
5. Jack Cole (Middle Blocker, 6-6, Pepperdine University, Lafayette, California, NCVA)
6. George Huhmann (Middle Blocker, 6-10, Princeton University, High Ridge, Missouri, Gateway)
9. Scott Stadick (Middle Blocker, 7-0, UC Irvine, Watertown, Wisconsin, Badger)
10. Joshua Tuaniga (Setter, 6-2, CSU Long Beach, Long Beach, California, SCVA)
12. Austin Matautia (Outside Hitter, 6-5, University of Hawaii Manoa, Ewa Beach, Hawaii, Aloha)
13. Michael Wexter (Opposite, 6-6, Pepperdine University, New Lenox, Illinois, Great Lakes)
17. Joe Worsley (Setter, 6-0, University of Hawaii, Moraga, California, NCVA)
18. Matt Douglas (Libero, 5-10, USC, Pacific Palisades, California, Southern California)
19. Jordan Ewert (Outside Hitter, 6-5, Stanford University, Antioch, California, NCVA)
20. Dylan Missry (Outside Hitter, 6-4, UCLA, Holbrook, New York, Garden Empire)
Head Coach: Jay Hosack, George Mason University
Assistant Coach: Jonah Carson, Mountain View Volleyball Club
Assistant Coach: Matt McCarthy, Lewis University
Statistician: Virginia Pham, Virginia Commonwealth University
Schedule/Results
July 5: USA def Barbados, 25-15, 25-15, 25-16
July 6: USA def St. Vincent, 25-11, 25-12, 25-10
July 8: Semifinals
July 9: Finals