COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 25, 2019) – The U.S. Men’s Sitting Team picked up two victories on Sunday to improve to 3-1 in the Parapan American Games six-team round robin preliminary phase taking place in Lima, Peru.
The U.S. closes out pool play on Monday against rival Canada at 6 p.m. ET. The top four teams in the preliminary phase advance to the semifinals on Tuesday followed by the medal round on Wednesday. All matches can watched live on the Lima 2019 app. The Parapan Am Games winner will advance to the 2020 Paralympic Games.
Team USA knocked off Colombia 25-19, 25-18, 25-18 in the morning match to bounce back from a four-set loss to Brazil on Saturday evening. The Americans converted 74.6 percent of their attacks. While Colombia converted 52.6 percent of their attacks, they only had 19 total swings in the match.
Zach Upp (Bartlett, Illinois) led the Americans with nine kills on 17 swings, two blocks and two aces for 13 points. James Stuck (New Kensington, Pennsylvania) contributed nine points with eightkills on 20 attacks and one block. Captain Eric Duda (Marietta, Georgia) chipped in nine kills on 17 swings and Stephen Bracken (Brighton, Colorado) added six kills on 13 attacks and three aces for nine points.
Roderick Green (West Monroe, Louisiana) was five-of-seven hitting without an error to go with two aces and a block for eight points. JDee Marinko (Newcastle, Oklahoma) provided eight kills, while Dan Regan (St. Louis, Missouri) rounded out the scoring with an ace as a sub in the third set.
Libero John Kremer (Buford, Georgia) handled 12 receptions at a 75 percent positive clip.
The U.S. held advantages of 45-19 in kills, 4-3 in blocks and 8-2 in aces
With five new starters from its early afternoon victory, Team USA swept Costa Rica 25-13, 25-9, 25-15 in its evening match.
Regan racked up a match-high 12 points for the Americans on the strength of 11 kills on 15 attacks and one ace. Patrick Young (Albuquerque, New Mexico) match his 12 points via five kills on eight swings and six aces. Chris Seilkop (Deland, Florida) totaled five kills on nine attacks and four aces for nine points.
Charlie Swearingen (Gulfport, Mississippi) contributed four kills, two aces and a block for seven points. Marinko converted four of six attacks into points to go with three aces and a block for eight points. Bracken rounded out the scoring with three kills, two aces and a block for six points. Libero Nicholas Dadgostar handled 18 receptions with an 83 positive reception percent.
The Americans converted 32 of 55 attacks for a 58 kill percent with Bracken handling the majority of the sets. Costa Rica managed just six kills on 32 attacks and three aces. Team USA served 18aces in the matches to Costa Rica’s three. The U.S. also held a 4-1 edge in blocks.