U.S. Men on Mission for Pan Am Cup Victory
Fourteen players have been selected for the U.S. Men’s National Team to compete at the Pan American Cup on August 9-14 in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
ANAHEIM, Calif. (Aug. 10, 2022) – The U.S. Men’s Team competing at the Pan American Cup made it 2-0 on Wednesday with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-14) win over Chile at the Slush Puppie Centre.
The U.S. Men (2-0) will play Cuba (2-0) on Wednesday at 2 p.m. PT to determine the pool winner. The match will be livestreamed at https://youtu.be/LyYoh9o0-4I.
Team USA led in kills (42-24), blocks (10-3) and aces (3-1). Chile scored 25 points on U.S. errors while committing 20.
“Once again setter Quinn Isaacson got everyone involved and had the offense in sync,” U.S. Head Coach Andy Read said. “Our block and defense held Chile to hitting 0.080 for the match. Effort and execution are two words the team is exemplifying. If our block touches the ball, and they are touching a lot of them, then our defense is running it down and turning balls in transition. USA hit 0.300 in transition, while holding Chile to 0.020.”
Isaacson set the U.S. to a .359 hitting efficiency. Libero Mason Briggs was credited with 19 digs and 33 excellent receptions.
Opposite Jake Hanes led the U.S. scoring with 15 points on 12 kills, two blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Jacob Pasteur added 13 points on 11 kills, one block and one ace.
Outside hitter Kyle McCauley finished with nine points on seven kills, one block and one ace.
Middle blocker Merrick McHenry scored eight points on five kills and three blocks. Middle Patrick Gasman added seven points on four kills and three blocks. Isaacson scored two points with two attacks.
Middle Toby Ezeonu made his U.S. Men’s debut and scored one point with a kill.
After sweeping the Dominican Republic in their opening match, the U.S. Men found strong opposition from Chile in the first set. Chile led 10-8 and then 16-15 at the second technical timeout. The U.S. Men kept the pressure. With the set tied at 21, Hanes’ solid attack and effective blocks gave the U.S. Men the set win.
Early in the second set, Chilean setter Matias Banda collided with a fellow player and fell to the ground. After that, the South American squad struggled to keep up with the American offense. Gasman, Hanes and Pasteur inflicted some damage in their opponents’ defense. After a long rally, Pasteur finished the 25-18 set victory with a solid cross attack.
Determined to finish the game in three sets, Team USA built an early 5-0 lead. Pasteur continued to lead the offense and the team backed it up with effective blocks. Chile was never able to stop the American system as McCauley sealed the 25-14 set and match victory with a solid spike.
U.S. Men’s Roster for the Pan American Cup
No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College, Region)
2 Kaleb Jenness (OH, 6-6, Mount Pleasant, S.C., Ball State, Palmetto)
3C James Shaw (S, 6-8, Woodside, Calif. Stanford, Northern California)
7 Jacob Pasteur (OH, 6-4, Westminster, Md., Ohio State Univ., Chesapeake)
9 Jake Hanes (Opp, 6-10, Orland Park, Ill., Ohio State Univ., Great Lakes)
11 Francesco Sani (Opp, 6-8, Bethesda, Md., UC Irvine, Chesapeake)
13 Patrick Gasman (MB, 6-10, Clovis, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Northern California)
14 Quinn Isaacson (S, 6-2, Plainfield, Ill., Ball State, Great Lakes)
16 Nyherowo Omene (MB, 6-7, South Holland, Ill., Princeton, Great Lakes)
18 Toby Ezeonu (MB, 6-7, North Brunswick, N.J., Penn State, Garden Empire)
19 Gage Worsley (L, 6-1, Moraga, Calif., Hawaii, Northern 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)
Head Coach: Andy Read
Assistant Coach: Ron Larsen
Assistant Coach: Rory Prager
Team Leader/Performance Analyst: AJ Ruttenberg
Athletic Trainer: Benjamin Colletti
U.S. Men’s Schedule for the Pan American Cup
All Times Pacific Daylight
Aug. 9
USA def Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-23)
Aug. 10
USA def Chile, 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-14)
Aug. 11
2 p.m. USA vs Cuba
Aug. 12
Quarterfinals
2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Aug. 13
8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Classification matches
2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Semifinals
Aug. 14
6 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. classification matches
11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. bronze and gold medal matches
U.S. Men Sweep Dominican Republic to Open Pan Am Cup
The U.S. Men’s Team competing at the Pan American Cup won its first match in three tough sets on Tuesday (25-23, 25-23, 25-23 over Dominican Republic in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada