COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 14, 2022) – The U.S. Men’s Team competing at the Pan American Cup finished the tournament with a flourish as it beat Chile, 3-1 (25-16, 25-15, 22-25, 25-21) for the bronze medal on Sunday in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
Team USA finished the tournament with a 3-3 record. Cuba beat Canada for the gold medal.
U.S. libero Mason Briggs was named Best Digger and Nyherowo Omene was named Best Blocker.
“I’m proud of my team and the ability to come back after a really tough match last night (semifinal) against Canada,” said U.S. Head Coach Andy Read. “To respond like that today against a very resilient Chilean team; I’m really happy.”
The U.S. led in kills (56-42) and had a .463 hitting efficiency behind setter Quinn Isaacson. The U.S. Men led in aces (11-5). Both teams had seven blocking points and made an equal amount of scoring errors at 23.
U.S. opposite Jake Hanes was the U.S. top scorer with 21 points, including four aces and two blocks. Middle blocker Patrick Gasman had a great match with 16 points on 13 kills, two blocks and one ace.
“Chile really stepped it up in the third set,” Gasman said. “Outside hitter Vicente Parraguirre played phenomenally. We figured out how to slow him down in the fourth set. We got our serves back online and were able to take care of business.”
Outside hitter Brett Wildman finished with 14 points on 11 kills, one block and two aces.
Omene totaled 10 points on seven kills, one block and two aces. Outside hitter Kyle McCauley added nine points on nine kills. Isaacson finished with four points on two blocks and two aces.
Briggs was credited with eight digs and 18 excellent receptions. McCauley led in digs with 11.
U.S. Men’s Roster for the Pan American Cup
No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College, Region)
2 Kaleb Jenness (OH, 6-6, Mount Pleasant, S.C., Ball State, Palmetto)
3C James Shaw (S, 6-8, Woodside, Calif. Stanford, Northern California)
7 Jacob Pasteur (OH, 6-4, Westminster, Md., Ohio State Univ., Chesapeake)
9 Jake Hanes (Opp, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State Univ., Great Lakes)
11 Francesco Sani (Opp, 6-8, Bethesda, Md., UC Irvine, Chesapeake)
13 Patrick Gasman (MB, 6-10, Clovis, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)
14 Quinn Isaacson (S, 6-2, Plainfield, Ill., Ball State, Great Lakes)
16 Nyherowo Omene (MB, 6-7, South Holland, Ill., Princeton, Great Lakes)
18 Toby Ezeonu (MB, 6-7, North Brunswick, N.J., Penn State, Garden Empire)
19 Gage Worsley (L, 6-1, Moraga, Calif., Hawaii, Northern California)
21 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
22 Kyle McCauley (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., UC San Diego, Southern California)
24 Brett Wildman (OH, 6-5, Virginia Beach, Va., Penn State, Old Dominion)
26 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas)
Head Coach: Andy Read
Assistant Coach: Ron Larsen
Assistant Coach: Rory Prager
Team Leader/Performance Analyst: AJ Ruttenberg
Athletic Trainer: Benjamin Colletti
U.S. Men’s Schedule for the Pan American Cup
All Times Pacific Daylight
Aug. 9
USA def Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-23)
Aug. 10
USA def Chile, 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-14)
Aug. 11
Cuba def. USA, 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-19)
Aug. 12
Quarterfinals
Chile def Mexico, 3-2 (17-25, 25-17, 25-21, 24-26, 16-14)
USA def Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-17, 29-27, 26-24)
Aug. 13
Fifth-place bracket
Puerto Rico def Brazil
Mexico def Dominican Republic
Semifinals
Cuba def Chile 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-21)
Canada def USA 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 29-27, 25-23, 15-12).
Aug. 14
7th Place: Dominican Republic def Brazil, 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-17, 18-25, 15-10)
5th Place: Puerto Rico def Mexico, 3-1 (26-24, 25-27, 25-23, 25-19)
Bronze: USA def Chile, 3-1 (25-16, 25-15, 22-25, 25-21)
Gold: Cuba def Canada, 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-23)