U.S. Men Finish Fifth at Pan Am Cup

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 30, 2017) – The U.S. Men’s Team competing at the Pan American Cup finished with two straight victories and a measure of revenge as it beat Dominican Republic, 15-25, 25-22, 20-25, 27-25, 15-13 in the fifth-place match on Sunday.

The U.S. Men finish the tournament with a record of 3-3. Dominican Republic also finishes 3-3. The victory is especially sweet after the Dominican Republic swept the United States in pool play.

In the deciding fifth set, the Dominican Republic led 8-6 at the side change. The U.S. tied it at 10-10 and the teams exchanged points until 13-13. Outside hitter David Wieczorek scored on a kill to put the U.S. ahead and middle blocker Jeff Jendryk and setter Jonah Seif closed the match with a block.

“We’re pleased to get a win in the last game of the tournament; a great way to end,” said Seif, the team captain. “We didn’t play perfectly, but we had a lot of resolve and were able to fight back. Our goal was just to compete in every game as hard as we can.”

The U.S. Men led in kills (58-53) and blocks (15-8) while Dominican Republic led in aces (11-8) and scored 38 points on U.S. errors while committing 21.

“Our expectation was to come here and compete; and I think our guys learned a lot about what it takes to compete at this level,” U.S. Head Coach Rob Neilson said. “We would have liked to place a little bit better, but there were some good lessons learned for our guys.”

Opposite Kyle Ensing led the U.S. with 18 points on 15 kills, two blocks and one ace. Wieczorek added 17 points on 16 kills and one ace. Middle blockers Mitch Stahl and Jeff Jendryk had six blocks each and setter Seif finished with three aces. Libero Larry Tuileta was credited with seven digs.

Outside hitter Brenden Sander replaced Jake Langlois in the first set and scored 12 points on 11 kills and one block.

Starters for U.S. Men vs. Dominican Republic
Outside hitter: Jake Langlois and David Wieczorek
Middle blocker: Jeff Jendryk and Mitch Stahl
Opposite: Kyle Ensing
Setter: Jonah Seif
Libero: Larry Tuileta

Statistics for U.S. Men vs. Dominican Republic
Kills: Wieczorek 16, Ensing 15, Sander 11, Jendryk 8, Seif 4, Stahl 2, Langlois 2
Blocks: Stahl 6, Jendryk 6, Ensing 2, Seif 1
Aces: Seif 3, Wieczorek 1, Jendryk 1, Sander 1, Stahl 1, Ensing 1
Digs: Tuileta 7, Sander 2, Jendryk 1, Stahl 1

U.S. Men’s Roster for Pan American Cup

No. Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, College)
2. Price Jarman (MB, 6-9, Las Vegas, N.Y., BYU)
3. Mitch Stahl (MB, 6-7, Chambersburg, Pa., UCLA)
4. Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola of Chicago)
7. Arvis Greene (Opp, 6-7, Los Angeles, Calif., Cal State Northridge)
8. Brenden Sander (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., BYU)
9. Jake Langlois (MB, 6-10, San Jose, Calif., BYU)
11. C Jonah Seif (S, 6-6, Thousand Oaks, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
13 Jake Arnitz (OH, 6-7, Yorba Linda, Calif., UCLA)
14. Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State)
15. David Wieczorek (OH, 6-8, Chicago, Ill., Pepperdine)
20. Scott Stadick (MB, 7-0, Watertown, Wis., UC Irvine)
21. Michael Saeta (S, 6-5, Pasadena, Calif., UC Irvine)
23. Larry Tuileta (L, 6-2, Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii)
25. Evan Enriques (L, 6-2, Punalu’u, Hawaii, Stanford)

Head Coach: Rob Neilson
Team Manager: Brian Failinger
Assistant Coach: Joaquin Acosta
Assistant Coach: Jordan Cheng
Therapist/Trainer: Brett Biedermann
Technical Coordinator: Brian Failinger

Schedule/Results for Men’s Pan American Cup
Gatineau, Canada (All times ET)

July 25
Argentina def Puerto Rico, 25-20, 25-14, 25-17
Cuba def Dominican Republic, 25-17, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22
United States def Mexico, 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18
Canada def Venezuela, 25-17, 25-27, 25-15, 25-22

July 26
Dominican Republic def United States, 25-14, 25-12, 25-19
Argentina def Venezuela, 25-17, 25-18, 28-26
Cuba def Mexico, 25-15, 25-18, 25-15
Puerto Rico def Canada, 25-21, 25-16, 25-22

July 27
Dominican Republic defMexico, 25-23, 17-25, 25-17, 25-18
Puerto Rico def Venezuela, 25-19, 17-25, 25-17, 25-27, 16-14
Cuba def United States, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 15-11
Argentina def Canada, 27-25, 25-23, 25-11

July 28: Quarterfinals
Canada def Dominican Republic, 25-20, 16-25, 25-21, 25-23
Puerto Rico def USA, 25-21, 25-22, 20-25, 25-14

July 29:
Classification 5-8: Dominican Republic def Mexico, 24-26, 26-24, 25-19, 25-20
Classification 5-8: USA def Venezuela, 25-23, 25-14, 25-20
Semifinal: Puerto Rico def Cuba, 16-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-21
Semifinal: Argentina def Canada, 25-23, 25-15, 25-10

July 30:
5 p.m. Gold: Argentina vs. Puerto Rico
3 p.m. Bronze: Canada vs Cuba
USA def Dominican Republic, 15-25, 25-22, 20-25, 27-25, 15-13
Seventh: Venezuela def Mexico, 22-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 15-13

Year by Year Podiums 

Medal Standings