U.S. Men Fall in Reverse Sweep vs. Mexico at 2025 Final Six

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 6, 2025) – The U.S. Men’s National Team lost its opening match at the NORCECA Final Six to Mexico, 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-11), on Monday in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

The U.S. (0-1) will play Canada (1-0) at 1 p.m. PT on Tuesday. Select matches will be streamed on the Puerto Rico Volleyball Federation’s YouTube page.

Although the U.S. Men led Mexico in kills (57-51) and blocks (12-9), errors made much of the difference. The two teams combined for 37 service errors (20 for the U.S.), and the U.S. gave up 40 points to Mexico overall in errors. Mexico relinquished 27 points on errors.

Kainoa Wade paced the U.S. with 20 points on 17 kills, one block and a team-high two aces. Sebastiano Sani had 19 points on 18 kills and one block. Patrick Rogers had 11 kills and one ace. Tre Jordan and Owen Rose led the U.S. with four blocks apiece; Jordan added four kills and an ace for nine points, and Rose had two kills and an ace for seven. Setter Ryan McElligott scored eight points on five kills, two blocks and one ace.

Libero Ryan Merk had 12 digs and 23 excellent receptions.

The U.S. trailed Mexico by a couple of points for most of set one and were down by three at 19-16. A Mexico service error and a Rogers kill brought the U.S. to within one. Two straight errors from Mexico gave the lead to the U.S. at 20-19. At 21-21, a block from Rose and two kills from Sani put the U.S. ahead 24-22, and Rose served an ace for the win.

Set two followed a similar script, with the U.S. coming back from a couple of points down to take an 18-17 lead. Mexico kept it close at 22-21, but the U.S. scored the last three points, including two kills from Sani.

Mexico never trailed in set three, and set four was tied at 18 before Mexico began pulling away for the 25-22 win.

The U.S. found itself down 3-0 quickly in the deciding set. After closing the gap to 4-3, Mexico kept on the pressure with four straight points to break it open to 8-3. The U.S. never closed the gap to fewer than four, falling 15-11.

Roster

Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, School/Club, USAV Region)
1 Ryan Merk (L, 6-1, Chicago, Ill., Penn State, Great Lakes)
2 Kainoa Wade (OPP, 6-10, Kailua, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii, Aloha Region)
3 Justin Todd (MB, 6-8, Honolulu, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii, Aloha Region)
4 Nathan Flayter (S, 6-4, Hales Corner, Wisc., McKendree, Badger)
5 Cam Thorne (MB, 6-4, Hollywood, Fla., UCLA, Florida)
6C Sebastiano Sani (OH, 6-8, Aliso Viejo, Calif., UC San Diego, Chesapeake)
8 Jalen Phillips (OPP, 6-5, Anaheim, Calif., CSUN, Southern California)
9 Ryan McElligott (S, 6-6, Mundelein, Ill., Loyola Chicago, Great Lakes)
11 Kellen Larson (L, 5-9, Irvine, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
17 Trent Moser (OH, 6-8, Gilbert, Ariz., BYU, Arizona)
18 Patrick Rogers (OH, 6-7, Rutherford, N.J., Ball State, Garden Empire)
20 Keoni Thiim (OH, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, BYU, Aloha Region)
22 Owen Rose (MB, 6-8, Merrick, N.Y., Penn State, Garden Empire)
23 Tre Jordan (MB, 6-10, Mesa, Ariz., Univ. of Hawaii, Arizona)

Coaches
Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Luka Slabe
Assistant Coach: Reid Priddy
Performance Analyst/Team Manager: Nate Ngo
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Ngor

Schedule

All times Pacific
Oct. 6: Mexico def. USA, 3-2, (22-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-11)
Oct. 7: USA vs. Canada, 1 p.m.
Oct. 8: USA vs. Dominican Republic, 1 p.m.
Oct. 9: USA vs. Suriname, 3 p.m.
Oct. 10: USA vs. Puerto Rico, 6 p.m.
Oct. 11: Semifinals
Oct. 12: Medal and classification matches