U.S. Men Get Past Guatemala at NORCECA Championship

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 18, 2021) – The U.S. Men’s National Team competing at the NORCECA Continental Championship got past Guatemala, 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 15-10) on Wednesday in Durango, Mexico.

The U.S. Men (1-0) will continue pool play on Thursday against the Dominican Republic (0-1) at 4 p.m. PT. Matches are being live streamed at http://facebook.com/ieddurango.

U.S. outside hitter Will Rottman led all scorers with 21 points on 21 kills. Opposite Jake Hanes added 20 points on 18 kills and two blocks. Outside hitter Brett Wildman scored 18 points on 13 kills, a match-high three aces and two blocks. Middle blocker Keenan Sanders scored 13 points on eight kills, a match-high four blocks and one ace.

Middle blocker Tyler Mitchem scored 12 points on nine kills and three blocks. Setter Josh Tuaniga scored five points on four kills and one ace. Kyle Dagostino played all five sets at libero.

The U.S. Men gave up 46 points on errors while Guatemala gave up 23.

“Guatemala has been together for a long time, and it shows in the quality of their play,” U.S. Men’s Head Coach Andy Read said. “For many of our guys, this is their first match on the senior team. We had to figure out some things along the way. Our trust in the system and each other and got us the fifth-set win.”

2021 U.S. Men’s NORCECA Championship Roster

No Name (Pos, Height, Hometown, College, Region)
3 Spencer Olivier (OH, 6-6, Tustin, Calif., Long Beach State, So. Cal.)
5 Camden Gianni (OH, 6-5, Carlsbad, Calif., Grand Canyon, So. Cal.)
6 Samuel Kobrine (S, 6-3, Newport Beach, Calif., USC, So. Cal.)
7 Will Rottman (OH, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford, So. Cal.)
8 Tyler Mitchem (MB, 6-11, Bolingbrook, Ill., Lewis, Great Lakes)
9 Jake Hanes (OP, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State, Great Lakes)
12 Brett Wildman (OH, 6-5, Virginia Beach, Va., Penn State, Old Dominion)
13 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas )
15 Jalen Penrose (OP, 6-8, Cambridge, Mass., Penn State, New England)
16 C Josh Tuaniga (S, 6-3, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, So. Cal.)
19 Keenan Sanders (MB, 6-6, San Diego, Calif., UCSB, So. Cal.)
20 Austin Wilmot (MB, 6-10, Valley Village, Calif., Pepperdine, So. Cal.)
24 Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Fla., Stanford, Florida)
25 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State, So. Cal.)

Head Coach: Andy Read
Assistant Coach: Keith Smith
Assistant Coach: Galen Dodd
Athletic Trainer: Jackie Chan
Team Manager: Jon Parry

2021 Men’s NORCECA Schedule (All times PT)
Live stream available at https://www.facebook.com/ieddurango/ 

August 18
USA def Guatemala, 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 15-10)
Puerto Rico def Canada, 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-19)
Cuba def Dominican Republic, 3-1 (25-17, 29-31, 25-21, 25-19)
Mexico def Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-8)

August 19
11 a.m. Canada v Trinidad & Tobago
1 p.m. Cuba v Guatemala
4 p.m. USA v Dominican Republic
6 p.m. Mexico v Puerto Rico

August 20
11 a.m. Puerto Rico v Trinidad & Tobago
1 p.m. Guatemala v Dominican Republic
4 p.m. USA v Cuba
6 p.m. Mexico v Canada

August 21
4 p.m. Quarterfinal
6 p.m. Quarterfinal

August 22
11 a.m. Classification 5-8
1 p.m. Classification 5-8
4 p.m. Semifinal
6 p.m. Semifinal

August 23
11 a.m. Classification 7-8
1 p.m. Classification 5-6
4 p.m. Third-place match
6 p.m. First-place match