U.S. Men Keep Rolling at 2023 Pan Am Final Six with Win over Puerto Rico

The U.S. Men's National Team plays at the NORCECA Final 6

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 21, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s National Team used a new lineup for Thursday’s match against Puerto Rico and the end result was another win as the team cruised to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-11) victory at the 2023 NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six at the Flair Airlines Hangar, Edmonton Expo Centre.

The U.S. Men (3-0) will play Canada (3-0) in a battle of undefeated teams on Friday at 6 p.m. PT.

OFFICIAL STATISTICS (PDF)

Michael Marshman and Merrick McHenry made their first starts at middle blocker. Kyle McCauley started at outside hitter for the first time and libero Mason Briggs made his first start. Outside hitter Jordan Ewert, opposite Camden Gianni and setter Andrew Rowan rounded out the U.S. starting lineup.

The U.S. Men dominated in kills (34-19), blocks (10-4) and aces (9-2). The U.S. scored 22 points on Puerto Rico’s errors and gave up 20.

Ewert led all scoring with 14 points on six kills, two blocks and a match-high six aces. He led the team in excellent receptions with eight.

Gianni, who started the first two sets, added 13 points on a match-high 10 kills, one block and two aces. He led the team in digs with five.

“I thought the boys fought hard today,” Gianni said. “I think the whole mentality for this tournament is to take another step forward for the next day, whether it’s reading certain blocks or watching certain attackers or serving or passing. We’ve gone in with the mindset of getting one percent better each day and I think we’ve done a good job of that.”

McCauley totaled eight points on seven kills and one block.

Marshman scored six points on a match-high three blocks and three kills. Opposite Jalen Penrose, who took over for Gianni in the third set, scored six points on four kills, one block and one ace.

McHenry totaled five points on three kills and two blocks.

Rowan scored one point with a kill and combined with backup Bryce Dvorak to set the team to a .416 hitting efficiency. Briggs was credited with three digs and six excellent receptions.

Cuba is the current Men’s Final Six Champion; Mexico won the first edition in 2021. In both editions, Canada has finished second and the United States has taken third.

The round-robin preliminary round will finish on Saturday, Sept. 23. The top two teams will compete for the gold medal on Sunday, Sept. 24, while third and fourth will play for the bronze medal, and the fifth and sixth place teams will play for fifth.

Matches will be livestreamed on: youtube.com/@TheVolleyballCanada

U.S. Men’s Roster for the Pan American Cup
No. Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, School, USAV Region)
2 Troy Gooch (L, 6-0, Buffalo, N.Y., UCLA, Western Empire)
4 Jordan Ewert (OH, 6-5, Antioch, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)
6 Bryce Dvorak (S, 6-4, Newport Beach, Calif., Pepperdine, Southern California)
9 Matthew Knigge (MB, 6-7, New Egypt, N.J., Vassar, Garden Empire)
10 Camden Gianni (Opp, 6-5, Carlsbad, Calif., Grand Canyon, Southern California)
12 Andrew Rowan (S, 6-7, 2003, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
13C Patrick Gasman (MB, 6-10, Clovis, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)
20 Zach Rama (OH, 6-8, 2004, Phoenix, Ariz., UCLA, Arizona)
21 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
22 Kyle McCauley (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., UC San Diego, Southern California)
23 Michael Marshman (MB, 6-7, Glenmont, N.Y., St. Francis Univ., Excelsior Empire)
25 Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
26 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas)
27 Jalen Penrose (OP, 6-8, Cambridge, Mass., Penn State, New England)