Men's U21 Finishes 2025 Pan Am Cup Preliminary Round Play Unbeaten

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 9, 2025) – The U.S. Men’s U21 National Team finished preliminary round play at the 2025 NORCECA U21 Men’s Pan American Cup with a 5-0 record after a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-18) victory over Puerto Rico on Saturday in Calgary, Canada.

The U.S. will face host Canada in the Pan American Cup gold medal match tomorrow, Sunday, Aug. 10, at 3:30 p.m. PT. The U.S. won the preliminary round matchup between the teams in four sets.

The U.S. finished with the advantage in kills (38-26), blocks (7-3) and aces (5-4). The U.S. made three fewer errors (25-22).

Five U.S players scored between seven and 11 points with outside hitter Marek Turner (10 kills and one block) and opposite Riggs Guy (nine kills and two aces) sharing the team- and match-high honors with 11 points.

“We were sloppy at times. Puerto Rico is a good team and they put up a good fight. I feel like we just rallied and we started to play together, and that really benefited us down the stretch,” Guy said.

Middle blocker Tre Jordan also reached double digits with 10 points on seven kills and three blocks, which tied the match-best total with teammate Joshua Aruya, who added five blocks and an ace. Outside Victor Loiola totaled seven points on five kills and two aces.

Setter Jacob Little-Phillips led the team to a .329 hitting percentage (38 kills, 12 errors, 79 attacks) and produced a pair of kills.

Puerto Rico had a swing to take a four-point lead early in the match, but an Aruya block pulled the U.S. within two points, 12-10, and a Turner block on the next rally made it 12-11. The U.S. cut the margin to one point four times before tying the set at 16. A Loiola kill gave the U.S. its first lead, 18-17, and another block followed for a two-point advantage.

A Puerto Rico hitting error and a Loiola kill that ended a long rally extended the U.S. lead to four points, 21-17. The U.S., which ended the set on a 9-2 run, recorded five blocks with two each from Aruya and Jordan, to none for Puerto Rico. Turner led all scorers with six points on five kills and the other U.S. block.

An Aruya block and kill helped stake the U.S. to a 4-0 lead in the second set, which forced a quick timeout from Puerto Rico. The U.S. scored the next point before Puerto Rico rallied to even the set at six and take its first lead of the set, 8-7. An ace followed, and on the short end of an 8-2 run, the U.S. called its first timeout. A great dig by Turner led to a Guy kill to square the set at nine apiece.

Jordan put down two balls in a row and then recorded a block on a one-on-one attack to give the U.S. a 13-10 lead. Puerto Rico responded by scoring four of the next five points to tie the set again. Three consecutive errors allowed the U.S. to regain its three-point margin, 17-14. The teams traded the next eight points before a multi-minute delay that has become commonplace in Pan American Cup play this summer.

Once play resumed, Little-Phillips scored when he put a ball down after an overpass. Consecutive errors gave the U.S. set point, and Guy ended the set with his second ace of the set. He also delivered four kills for six points. Turner, Jordan and Aruya all added three points.

A Jordan kill gave the U.S. a 9-5 lead in the third set. A Guy kill off a clever set from Turner, and an Aruya ace, raised the lead to five, 15-10. The lead reached six, 18-12, on a Loiola kill. A Loiola ace set up match point and one play later, the U.S. sealed its 5-0 mark in preliminary round play on a service error. Loiola and Jordan each scored four points in the set.

2025 Men’s U21 National Team

Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, School/Club, USAV Region)

1 Kellen Larson (L, 5-9, Irvine, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
5 Marek Turner (OH, 6-6, Long Beach, Calif., Team Rockstar, Southern California)
6 Victor Loiola (OH, 6-4, Manhattan Beach, Calif., N/A, Southern California)
7 Trent Taliaferro (S, 6-5, San Clemente, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
8 Jacob Little-Phillips (S, 6-2, Winter Park, Fla., Winter Park HS, Florida Region)
9 Tre Jordan (MB, 6-10, Mesa, Ariz., Grand Canyon, Arizona)
10 Johnny Dykstra (L, 6-2, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Univ. of Southern California, Southern California)
15 Joshua Aruya (MB, 6-9, Mission Viejo, Calif., UC Santa Barbara, Southern California)
17 Riggs Guy (OH, 6-3, Newport Beach, Calif., UC Santa Barbara, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
18 Kainoa Wade (OPP, 6-10, Kailua, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii, Aloha Region)
22 Sebastiano Sani (OH, 6-8, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Long Beach State, Chesapeake)
23 Micah Goss (MB, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Irvine, Southern California)

Alternates
2 Roan Alviar (L, 5-11, Hayward, Calif., Princeton, Northern California)
4 Aidan Klein (MB, 6-10, Evanston, Ill., Loyola Chicago, Great Lakes)
11 Finn Kearney (OH, 6-5, Phoenix, Ariz., Univ. of Hawaii, Arizona)
14 Justin Todd (MB, 6-7, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii, Aloha)
19 Grayson Bradford (OPP, 6-11, Redondo Beach, Calif., Mira Costa HS, Southern California)
24 Kahale Clini (OH, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)

Coaches
Head Coach: John Hawks (UCLA)
Assistant Coach: Donan Cruz (Ball State)
Assistant Coach: Matthew Pollock (Pepperdine)
Performance Analyst: Thomas Shaffer (Loyola Chicago)
Athletic Trainer: Hazel Peterson (USOPTC)
Team Lead: Brandon Oswald (NTDP)

Schedule

All times Pacific

Aug. 5: USA def. Chile, 3-0 (25-15 25-14, 25-15)
Aug. 6: USA def. Barbados, 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-14)
Aug. 7: USA def. Canada, 3-1 (25-11, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22)
Aug. 8: USA def. Mexico, 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 26-24)
Aug. 9: USA def. Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-18)
Aug. 10: Gold Medal Match: USA vs. Canada, 3:30 p.m.