U.S. Men Sweep Puerto Rico at 2024 Final 6 in Gatineau

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 22, 2024) – The U.S. Men’s Team competing at the NORCECA Final Six got its first sweep of the tourney on Thursday, beating Puerto Rico (25-15, 25-21, 25-23) in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

The U.S. Men (3-0) will continue in the round robin at 4 p.m. PT on Friday when they will play host Canada (3-0).

MATCH STATISTICS

Head Coach Andy Read went with a new starting lineup and saw the U.S. Men lead in kills (47-33), blocks (9-6) and aces (6-1). The U.S. also limited its scoring errors 19 and scored 13 points on Puerto Rico’s errors.

The U.S. Men’s hitting efficiency was .351 behind setter Nicholas Slight.

“I can see we are making progress,” U.S. Head Coach Andy Read said. “We had an emotional match yesterday with that five-set win (over Mexico) and it’s a challenge to come back the next day and perform. But we got through it and some guys came in and played really well for us.”

Opposite Grant Sloane led all scorers with 16 points on 15 kills (.416) and one block. Middle blocker Ben Braun added 12 points on seven kills, three blocks and two aces.

Outside hitter Will Rottman finished with 11 points on seven kills, three blocks and one ace. Outside Nolan Flexen also had 11 points, scoring on nine kills, one block and one ace.

Middle Micah Wong-Diallo totaled eight points on six kills, one block and one ace. Slight scored three points on two kills and one ace. He also led the team with nine digs. Backup outside Alex Knight scored a point on a kill.

Liberos Mason Briggs and Tim McIntosh split duties. Briggs led the team with 11 excellent receptions while McIntosh had eight digs.

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 USA def Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-23)
Aug. 23 at 4 p.m. USA vs Canada
Aug. 24 at 1:30 p.m. USA vs Cuba
Aug. 25 Medal matches