U.S. Men Dominate Dominican Republic, Head to Semis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 15, 2022) – The U.S. Men’s Team competing at the Pan American Cup Final Six finished the preliminary round-robin in third place after dominating the Dominican Republic on Friday, 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-20) in Tepic, Nayaret, Mexico.

The U.S. Men (3-2) will face second-place Canada (4-1) in the semifinals on Saturday. The match is scheduled for 5 p.m. PDT. Matches are being livestreamed at facebook.com/Incufid. Cuba (5-0) will play Puerto Rico (2-3) in the other semifinal.

U.S. Men’s Head Coach Andy Read got almost his whole roster into Friday’s contest against an inexperienced Dominican team.

The U.S. Men led in kills (40-25), blocks (6-1) and aces (8-1). The teams were almost even in errors (22 for the U.S., 21 for D.R.). The U.S. hitting efficiency was .419 behind starting setter Quinn Isaacson and substitute Matt West. Dominican Republic hit .169.

Opposite Francisco Sani started all three sets before coming out for a substitute in the third and led all scorers with 15 points on 11 kills and a match-high four aces. All four of Sani’s aces came in a seven-point service run in the first set that took the U.S. from an 8-6 lead to a 15-6 lead.

“It all started with our ability to serve and pass,” Read said. “That part of our game is probably the strongest area of improvement, leading to our team continuing to hit a high percentage on offense. In addition, our servers trusting our block/defense to score points not just from the endline.”

Middle blocker Austin Wilmot also started all three sets and finished with 10 points on seven kills and a match-high three blocks.

Libero Mason Briggs was credited with nine digs and nine excellent receptions. Substitute libero Cole Power hit the court in the third set and had three digs and one excellent reception.

Outside hitter Kyle McCauley started the first two sets and scored six points on five kills and one block. Outside hitter Brett Wildman started the first two sets and scored five points on five kills.

Middle blocker Merrick McHenry started the first two sets and finished with four points on three kills and one block.

Outside hitters Ethan Champlin and Spencer Olivier and middle blocker J.R. Norris IV each started the third set, and each finished with three points. Norris’ third point came on a walk-off ace to end the match.

West and backup opposite Parker Van Buren each finished with two points and Isaacson had one.

Although Canada swept the U.S. Men in their first match of the tournament, Read is confident his team will have a better showing on Saturday.

“Canada was our first match of the tournament and our first match together, and we looked like it,” he said. “Now, with five matches under our belt, we feel our level of play and consistency of play has improved tremendously.”

U.S. Men’s Roster for the Pan American Cup Final Six

No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, Region)
5C Matt West (S, 6-6, Seattle, Wash., Pepperdine, Puget Sound)
9 J.R. Norris IV (MB, 6-6, Lancaster, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
11 Francesco Sani (Opp, 6-8, Bethesda, Md., UC Irvine, Chesapeake)
14 Quinn Isaacson (S, 6-2, Plainfield, Ill., Ball State, Great Lakes)
15 Parker Van Buren (Opp, 6-9, Cross Plains, Wis., Loyola Chicago, Badger)
16 Nyherowo Omene (MB, 6-7, South Holland, Ill., Princeton, Great Lakes)
17 Austin Wilmot (MB, 6-10, Valley Village, Calif., Pepperdine, Southern California)
20 Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern 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)
29 Cole Power (L, 5-11, Huntington Beach, Calif., UC Irvine, Southern California)
31 Spencer Olivier (OH, 6-6, Tustin, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)

Head Coach: Andy Read
Assistant Coach: Ron Larsen
Assistant Coach: Rory Prager
Team Leader/Performance Analyst: AJ Ruttenberg
Athletic Trainer: Jackie Chan

Schedule for the NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six
(All Times PDT)

Monday July 11
Cuba def Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-22)
Canada def United States, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-21)
Puerto Rico def Mexico, 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13)

Tuesday July 12
Puerto Rico def Dominican Republic, 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 32-34, 22-25, 15-12)
Cuba def United States, 3-2 (25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 23-25, 15-11)
Canada def Mexico, 3-1 (33-31, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21)

Wednesday July 13
United States def Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 27-25)
Cuba def Canada, 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-21)
Mexico def Dominican Republic, 3-1 (21-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-21)

Thursday July 14
Canada def Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-20)
Cuba def Puerto Rico, 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20)
United States def Mexico, 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-19)

Friday July 15
Canada def Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-23)
United States def Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-20)
Cuba def Mexico, 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-22)

Saturday July 16
3 p.m. Mexico vs Dominican Republic
5 p.m. Canada vs United States
7 p.m. Cuba vs Puerto Rico

Sunday July 17
4 p.m. Bronze Medal
6 p.m. Gold Medal