U.S. Men Advance to 2025 World Quarterfinals with Big Win Over Slovenia

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 22, 2025) – Gabi Garcia scored 26 points to lead the U.S. Men’s National Team past Slovenia 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20) in the 2025 World Championship Round of 16 in Manila, Philippines.

The U.S. Men (4-0) will face Bulgaria (4-0) in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Sept. 25, time TBA.

It was the second meeting between Slovenia and the U.S. this year, as the two teams met in Week 1 of Volleyball Nations League. Slovenia won that match 3-1, but this is an entirely different U.S. team from the one earlier in the season.

“I sure was impressed. We didn’t have everything going that we wanted to by a long shot,” head coach Karch Kiraly said. “Our offense was struggling; our high ball hitting was really struggling, but we figured out a way. Really good teams figure out a way to win when they don’t have it going the way they would like to. Somebody like Ethan Champlin, [he] did not have a great offensive night, but he makes the crazy good defensive play near the end to get us to 24 so we can get closer to finishing the match out. And he figured out ways, as everybody did, to contribute when it’s rough and a struggle and it feels like you’re in quicksand. That was impressive, that we just kept pushing and resetting for the next point when lots of things weren’t going the way we wanted.”

It was the serving and blocking game that helped the U.S. to the Round of 16 victory. Although the U.S. led in attacks (53-49), they had a 10-7 advantage in blocks and a massive 12-2 edge in aces. The U.S. scored 26 points off Slovenian errors while only giving up 19.

Garcia was magnificent, scoring 15 kills with match-highs of four blocks and seven aces. He now leads the tournament with 15 aces through four matches. Ethan Champlin was also stellar from the service line, notching three aces to go with 11 kills and a block. Jordan Ewert had 14 kills, and Jeff Jendryk had six kills, a block and an ace for eight points. Merrick McHenry also had eight points from the middle on five kills and three blocks. Cooper Robinson came in for a kill as well.

Setter Micah Christenson had a kill, a block and an ace. Garcia led the team with 11 digs and Erik Shoji had 10.

A five-point run by Slovenia early in set one made the difference. Down 11-7, the U.S. inched back within two as late as 20-18, but a Slovenia kill and block upped the lead to 22-18. A service error made it 22-19, but Slovenia scored the final three points on a service ace and two U.S. errors. The U.S. gave up eight points on errors in the set while Slovenia only allowed four. Garcia paced the U.S. with four points on three kills and an ace.

“Our serving was good throughout, especially Gabi [and] Ethan Champlin; and Micah Ma’a came in and hit some great serves,” Kiraly said. “Everybody’s been doing a nice job at the service line. That was the one phase of the game that we clearly won, even though they had some serving runs in the first game. Slowly but surely we started coming up with some defensive plays, some scramble plays. We didn’t come up with any of those in the first game, and again, credit to the guys. When it’s ugly, because sometimes we play pretty and everything falls into place, but sometimes it’s ugly, and have to figure out a way to work through that.”

Slovenia had a 9-6 lead in set two when a Garcia kill and two Champlin aces tied it at 9. At 13-13, the U.S. used a Garcia kill, Jendryk ace and McHenry block to grab a bit of daylight at 16-13. After a Slovenia kill, the U.S. reeled off five straight for a 21-14 lead. Slovenia did not make the end of the match easy, closing the gap to three points at 22-19. A Jendryk kill gave the U.S. six set points, and Slovenia scored three times before an Ewert kill ended it at 25-19.

Garcia was extraordinary in a 25-17 set three win, scoring three kills, four blocks and three aces. Slovenia took its first timeout at 2-0 and the U.S. kept the pressure on even after Slovenia tied it at 3. With its service pressure and block, the U.S. stretched its lead to 9-4 and 13-8. Three consecutive Slovenia kills closed the gap to 15-14. A Garcia kill for a sideout sent serving specialist Micah Ma’a to the line, and the U.S. opened the lead again to 19-14. An Ewert kill and Garcia ace made it 21-15. Slovenia used a kill to close it to 22-17, but the U.S. scored the last three on a Slovenia service error, Robinson kill and Ewert kill.

The U.S. and Slovenia kept in close in set four, although the U.S. had a break point lead at 10-8. A Champlin kill made it 11-8, and a Garcia kill kept the lead at three, 13-10. Slovenia crept back to tie the set at 15. Another Champlin kill, a Slovenian error and Garcia kill extended the U.S. lead to 18-15. Two straight U.S. errors closed the gap to one again at 19-18, and it was still a one-point differential at 21-10. A Slovenian service error put Garcia to the service line at 22-20, and he did what he does, adding two aces to an Ewert kill for the 25-20 win.

U.S. Men’s World Championship Roster

No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)
4 Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)
5 Kyle Ensing (OPP, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California Southern Nevada)
7 Jacob Pasteur (OH, 6-4, Westminster, Md., Ohio State Univ., Chesapeake)
9 Gabi Garcia (OPP, 6-7, San Juan, Puerto Rico, BYU)
10 Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Florida, Stanford Univ., Florida)
11C Micah Christenson (S, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Southern California, Aloha)
14 Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)
18 Cooper Robinson (OH, 6-7, Pacific Palisades, Calif., UCLA, Southern California Southern Nevada)
19 Taylor Averill (MB, 6-7, San Jose, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)
22 Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford Univ., Aloha)
24 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas)
25 Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California Southern Nevada)
26 Matthew Knigge (MB, 6-7, New Egypt, N.J., Vassar, Garden Empire)
29 Jordan Ewert (OH, 6-5, Antioch, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)

Training Alternate
27 Michael Marshman (MB, 6-7, Glenmont, N.Y., St. Francis Univ., Excelsior Empire)

Head Coach:  Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Luka Slabe
Assistant Coach: Javier Weber
Performance Analyst: Nate Ngo
Physiotherapist: Aaron Brock
Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot
Senior Sports Dietitian: Shawn Hueglin
Mental Performance Coach: Andrea Becker
Team Manager: David Dantes
Consultant Coach: Chris McGown
Consultant Coach: Marv Dunphy
Team Doctors:  Eugene Yim, Mark Hutchinson, Michael Shepard, Warren Young

Pool Play Schedule

All times PDT
Watch live on VBTV; some matches are also on CBS Sports Network (check listings)

Sept. 12: USA def. Colombia, 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-14).
Sept. 15: USA def. Portugal, 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-17)
Sept. 17: USA vs. Cuba, 2:30 a.m. (25-17, 25-22, 23-25, 27-25)
Sept: 22: Round of 16: USA def. Slovenia, 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20)
Sept. 25: Quarterfinals: USA vs. Bulgaria, time TBA