U.S. Men Hold off Mexico at Final 6

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 21, 2024) – The U.S. Men’s National Team competing at the NORCECA Final Six held off a surge from Mexico to win 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 19-25, 25-13, 15-11) on Wednesday in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

The U.S. Men (2-0) will continue round-robin play at 11:30 a.m. PT on Thursday against Puerto Rico (0-2).

The U.S. Men led Mexico in kills (73-46) and blocks (11-7) while Mexico held the edge in aces (6-4). The U.S. gave up 39 points on errors as opposed to 20 for Mexico.

MATCH STATISTICS

The U.S. hit .396 behind starting setter Nicholas Slight and backup Bryce Dvorak.

“I think what made the difference today was our team composure and guys who were ready to come in off the sideline,” U.S. Head Coach Andy Read said. “It takes a team to beat a good team like Mexico. I’m super proud of every guy today; it was a great team effort.”

After the U.S. lost the second set, Read brought backup middle blocker DiAeris McRaven. After the third set, he brought in opposite Grant Sloane and outside hitter Will Rottman.

Sloane ended as the team’s second-leading scorer with 15 points on 14 kills and one block. Rottman scored nine points on seven kills, one block and one ace. McRaven finished with five points on three kills, one block and one ace.

Starting outside hitter Cooper Robinson led all scorers with 25 points on a match-high 22 kills, one block and two aces. He also had nine digs and 18 excellent receptions.

“We had a pretty rough third set, but I thought our fourth-set energy was fantastic in the beginning,” Robinson said. “We had some new guys come in and bring some energy and they did a great job. Overall, we just passed really well and then toward the end we were just making scrappy plays that made the difference.

“We have only been training together for three weeks, so every game we are getting so much better. Each game we progress well, and I’m really excited to see what we can do in these next games.”

Libero Mason Briggs led the team in digs with 19 and also had eight excellent receptions.

Starting outside hitter Nolan Flexen scored 12 points on 12 kills. Starting opposite Zach Rama scored seven points on seven kills.

Starting middle Micah Wong-Diallo finished with four kills and three blocks. Starting middle Toby Ezeonu totaled four points on three kills and one block.

Slight scored on three blocks.

U.S. Men’s Roster for the NORCECA Final Six
No. Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, School, USAV Region)
2 Cooper Robinson (OH, 6-7, Pacific Palisades, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
5 Grant Sloane (Opp, 6-8, Irvine, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
8 Nolan Flexen (OH, 6-9, Rio Rancho, N.M., UC-Irvine, Southern)
10 Zach Rama (Opp, 6-8, 2004, Phoenix, Ariz., UCLA, Arizona)
11 Alex Knight (OH, 6-6, Culver City, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
12 Micah Wong Diallo (MB, 6-9, Los Angeles, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
13 Will Rottman (OH, 6-5, Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford, )
15C Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
18 Bryce Dvorak (S, 6-4, Newport Beach, Calif., Pepperdine, Southern California)
20 Toby Ezeonu (MB, 6-7, North Brunswick, N.J., Penn State, Garden Empire)
22 Timothy McIntosh (L, 6-0, Miami, Fla., Sacred Heart, Florida)
23 DiAeris McRaven (MB, 6-5, Honolulu, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Aloha)
28 Nicholas Slight (S, 6-3, Storm Lake, Iowa, Grand Canyon Univ., Iowa)
30 Ben Braun (MB, 6-11, Rancho Mirage, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)

Head Coach: Andy Read
Team Manager and Performance Analyst: Nate Ngo
Assistant Coach: Collin McMillan
Assistant Coach: Thomas Pestolesi
Physiotherapist: Benjamin Colletti

U.S. Men’s Schedule for the NORCECA Final Six
(All times PDT)
Matches will be livestreamed at youtube.com/@TheVolleyballCanada
Aug. 20 USA def Dominican Republic, 3-1 (28-26, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19)
Aug. 21 USA def Mexico, 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 19-25, 25-13, 15-11)
Aug. 22 at 11:30 a.m. USA vs Puerto Rico
Aug. 23 at 4 p.m. USA vs Canada
Aug. 24 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Cuba
Aug. 25 Medal matches