COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 29,2018) – The U.S. Men’s Team fell to Puerto Rico, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21 on Wednesday at the Pan American Cup in Cordoba, Veracruz, Mexico.
The United States (1-1) will try to bounce back Thursday against Argentina (2-0) in the pool play finale at 5 p.m. PT. The match will be shown live on FloVolleyball.tv, a subscription service.
The U.S. led Puerto Rico in blocks (12-2). Puerto Rico led in kills (51-46) and aces (4-2) and scored 41 points on U.S. errors while committing 23. Puerto Rico’s hitting efficiency was .349 while the United States’ hit .255.
“I’m proud of how the guys competed when we weren’t playing our best,” U.S. Head Coach David Hunt said. “We had our chances and didn’t convert along the way. Experienced teams will make you pay in those situations.”
The U.S. Men had a chance to take the fourth set after tying the score 20-20, but Puerto Rico came back with two straight points and the U.S. didn’t respond.
Middle blocker Mitch Stahl led the U.S. effort with 12 points on eight kills and a match-high four blocks. Opposite Kyle Russell added 11 points on six kills, three blocks and a team-high two aces.
Outside hitter Jake Arnitz scored 11 points on 10 kills and one block. Outside hitter David Wieczorek added 10 points on nine kills and one block.
U.S. STARTERS VS PUERTO RICO
Outside hitters: Jake Arnitz and David Wieczorek
Middle blockers: Price Jarman and Mitch Stahl
Opposite: Kyle Russell
Setter: James Shaw
Libero: Kyle Dagostino
Substitutes: Arvis Green (Opp), Jonah Seif (S), J.T. Hatch (L), Matt Pollock (MB), Kupono Fey (OH)
U.S. STATISTICS VS PUERTO RICO
Kills: Arnitz 10, Wieczorek 9, Stahl 8, Russell 6, Jarman 6, Pollock 3, Shaw 2, Greene 2
Blocks: Stahl 4, Russell 3, Jarman 2, Shaw 1, Wieczorek 1, Arnitz 1
Aces: Russell 2
Digs: Dagostino 14, Wieczorek 6, Shaw 5, Russell 5, Jarman 3, Arnitz 3, Greene 2, Pollock 1, Seif 1
Pan American Cup
Aug. 28-Sept. 2 in Cordova, Mexico
U.S. Men’s Roster
2 Price Jarman (MB, 6-9, Las Vegas, Nev., BYU)
4 Kupono Fey (OH, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii)
5 James Shaw (S, 6-8, Woodside, Calif., Stanford)
6 Mitch Stahl (MB, 6-7, Chambersburg, Pa., UCLA)
7 Arvis Green (Opp, 6-7, Los Angeles, Calif., Cal State Northridge)
10 Kyle Russell (OH, 6-9, Loomis, Calif., UC Irvine)
11 Ryan Coenen (OH, 6-9, Franklin, Wis., Lewis)
12 Matt Pollock (MB, 6-9, Orland Park, Ill., Pepperdine)
13 Jake Arnitz (OH, 6-7, Yorba Linda, Calif., UCLA)
14 David Wieczorek (Opp, 6-8, Chicago Ill., Pepperdine)
16 Brendan Schmidt (MB, 6-8, O’Fallon, Mo., McKendree)
19 Kyle Dagostino (L 5-9, Tampa, Fla., Stanford)
22 J.T. Hatch (L 6-2, Mesa, Ariz., UCLA)
23 Jonah Seif (S, 6-6, Thousand Oaks, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
Head Coach: David Hunt
Team Manager: Jon Parry
Assistant Coach: John Hawks
Assistant Coach: Greg Walker
Athletic Trainer: Christopher Spalding
Technical Coordinator: Jon Parry
Pool Play Schedule
(All times PT)
August 28
United States def Peru, 25-21, 25-14, 26-24
Cuba def Chile, 25-22, 17-25, 25-19, 25-21
Brazil def Dominican Republic, 25-21, 25-19, 25-14
Canada def Colombia, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22
Argentina def Puerto Rico, 20-25, 25-15, 33-31, 25-17
Mexico def Guatemala, 25-18, 25-20, 29-27
August 29
Cuba def Guatemala, 25-16, 25-13, 25-16
Brazil def Colombia, 27-25, 25-17, 25-12
Argentina def Peru, 25-20, 25-22, 25-15
Canada def Dominican Republic, 25-20, 25-20, 25-16
Puerto Rico def United States, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21
Mexico def Chile, 25-22, 25-18, 25-19
August 30
9 a.m. Peru v Puerto Rico
11 a.m. Guatemala v Chile
1 p.m. Colombia v Dominican Republic
3 p.m. Brazil v Canada
5 p.m. United States v Argentina
7 p.m. Mexico v Cuba