U.S. Men Open 2024 Final Six with Win over Dominican Republic

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 20, 2024) – The U.S. Men started slowly but picked up speed and took a 3-1 (28-26, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19) win over the Dominican Republic on Tuesday to open the NORCECA Final Six tournament in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

The U.S. Men will continue round-robin play at 11:30 a.m. PT on Wednesday (Aug. 20) against Mexico.

The U.S. Men competing in Quebec are all still in college or recent graduates who haven’t played together very long. They had some errors early on but cleaned them up in the final two sets.

“We are a team that has been together for no more than a few weeks, so we had to get everything situated in a small amount of time, which was very hard, but we pulled it off,” middle blocker Toby Ezeonu said. “Our mindset was to have fun and play with integrity… We were all playing with heart. We now are more comfortable on this court and I’m proud of my teammates. We’re looking forward to the rest of the tournament.”

The U.S. Men led the DR in kills (62-41), blocks (13-7) and aces (5-3). The Dominican Republic scored 34 points on U.S. errors while giving up 20.

U.S. outside hitter Cooper Robinson led all scorers with 23 points on a match-high 19 kills, three blocks and one ace. He also led the team in excellent receptions in 21 and in digs with eight.

Outside hitter Nolan Flexen added 17 points on 14 kills, two blocks and one ace.

Ezeonu finished with 11 points on eight kills, one block and two aces. Middle DiAeris McRaven scored 10 points on a match-high five blocks to go with five kills.

Opposite Zach Rama scored nine points on nine kills. Setter Nick Slight scored four points on two kills and two blocks while setting the team to a .353 hitting efficiency.

Backup outside hitter Will Rottman had two points on two kills. Backup setter Bryce Dvorak scored one point with an ace.

Libero Briggs was credited with seven digs and 13 excellent receptions.

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 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Dominican Republic
Aug. 21 at 11:30 a.m. USA vs Mexico
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