U.S. Men Light up Mexico and Win 2nd Pan Am Cup Match

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 14, 2022) – A brief power outage couldn’t dim the enthusiasm of the U.S. Men’s Team competing at the Pan American Cup Final Six on Thursday as it beat Mexico 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-19) in Tepic, Nayaret, Mexico.

The victory moved the U.S. Men (2-2) into the top four teams. The top four will advance to Saturday’s semifinals. The U.S. will play its final round-robin match on Friday at 5 p.m. PT against the Dominican Republic (0-4). Matches are being livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/Incufid.

The U.S. Men led the match in kills (38-28) and aces (5-2) while Mexico held a small lead in blocks (5-4).

OFFICIAL STATISTICS

After the U.S. won the first set, Mexico came back in the second and was leading by four at 15-11. Opposite Francesco Sani came off the bench and gave the U.S. Men a lift. The U.S. still trailed at 18-14 but tied the score at 20-20.

At 23-23, middle blocker Merrick McHenry scored with a kill and outside hitter Brett Wildman won the set with an ace.

The U.S. Men were leading 9-7 in the third set when the power went out temporarily in the arena. When the power came back on, Mexico came back to tie the score until the U.S. go a service run from middle blocker Nyherowo Omene to pull ahead for good.

“Part of the success for USA right now goes to our team of passers, Kyle McCauley, Brett Wildman and Mason Briggs,” U.S. Head Coach Andy Read said.  “Those three guys together are dialed in as a passing unit and because of that the U.S. offensive attack has been hitting on all cylinders.”

Setter Quinn Isaacson set the U.S. to a .418 hitting efficiency.

Wildman led all scorers with 14 points on a match-high 11 kills, two blocks and one ace. He led the team in excellent receptions at 16 and showed his tenacity when he crawled over an officials table going after a ball off the court in the second set.

Omene added eight points on seven kills and one ace. Sani, who stayed in the match and started the third set, scored seven points on five kills and two blocks.

McHenry added seven points on six kills and one ace. Outside hitter Kyle McCauley scored five points on three kills and a match-high two aces.

Opposite Parker Van Buren started the first two sets and scored four points on four kills.

Libero Mason Briggs was credited with six digs and nine excellent receptions.

U.S. Men’s Roster for the Pan American Cup Final Six

No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, Region)
5C Matt West (S, 6-6, Seattle, Wash., Pepperdine, Puget Sound)
9 J.R. Norris IV (MB, 6-6, Lancaster, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
11 Francesco Sani (Opp, 6-8, Bethesda, Md., UC Irvine, Chesapeake)
14 Quinn Isaacson (S, 6-2, Plainfield, Ill., Ball State, Great Lakes)
15 Parker Van Buren (Opp, 6-9, Cross Plains, Wis., Loyola Chicago, Badger)
16 Nyherowo Omene (MB, 6-7, South Holland, Ill., Princeton, Great Lakes)
17 Austin Wilmot (MB, 6-10, Valley Village, Calif., Pepperdine, Southern California)
20 Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
21 Mason Briggs (L, 6-0, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
22 Kyle McCauley (OH, 6-4, Huntington Beach, Calif., UC San Diego, Southern California)
24 Brett Wildman (OH, 6-5, Virginia Beach, Va., Penn State, Old Dominion)
26 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas)
29 Cole Power (L, 5-11, Huntington Beach, Calif., UC Irvine, Southern California)
31 Spencer Olivier (OH, 6-6, Tustin, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)

Head Coach: Andy Read
Assistant Coach: Ron Larsen
Assistant Coach: Rory Prager
Team Leader/Performance Analyst: AJ Ruttenberg
Athletic Trainer: Jackie Chan

Schedule for the NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six
(All Times PDT)

Monday July 11
Cuba def Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-22)
Canada def United States, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-21)
Puerto Rico def Mexico, 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13)

Tuesday July 12
Puerto Rico def Dominican Republic, 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 32-34, 22-25, 15-12)
Cuba def United States, 3-2 (25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 23-25, 15-11)
Canada def Mexico, 3-1 (33-31, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21)

Wednesday July 13
United States def Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 27-25)
Cuba def Canada, 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-21)
Mexico def Dominican Republic, 3-1 (21-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-21)

Thursday July 14
Canada def Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-20)
Cuba def Puerto Rico, 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20)
United States def Mexico, 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-19)

Friday July 15
3 p.m. Puerto Rico v Canada
5 p.m. United States v Dominican Republic
7 p.m. Mexico v Cuba

Saturday July 16
3 p.m. Fifth v Sixth
5 p.m. Second v Third
7 p.m. First v Fourth

Sunday July 17
4 p.m. Bronze Medal
6 p.m. Gold Medal