U21 Men Earn First Win at Pan Am Cup

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 5, 2023) – The U.S. Men’s U21 National Team earned a 3-0 victory over Nicaragua (25-15, 25-14, 25-8) in the first pool match of the 2023 Pan American Cup in Havana, Cuba.

MATCH STATISTICS (PDF)

Outside hitter Kyle Teune led the team in scoring with 13 of the 48 kills for the U.S. in the match. He finished with a .526 hitting efficiency. Teune also added two blocks and three digs to his match totals. He was supported by middles Owen Rose and Micah Wong Diallo, who each had two of the team’s seven aces. Rose contributed nine kills, while Wong Diallo and opposite Shane Wetzel added six apiece as the next highest scorers. As a team, the U.S. had a .466 hitting efficiency for the match.

Wetzel led the team in digs with four, adding to three digs apiece from Teune and libero Ryan Merk. Wong Diallo accounted for three of the team’s five blocks.

The entire roster was able to see action in this first match of the Pan Am Cup. Head coach Andy Read made sure to emphasize that his players earned their way onto the court through practice and preparation.

“I thought we were really good,” said Read. “For six of them it is their first international match. We were able to use our entire roster and get our guys valuable experience earned in our training gym.”

Setter Tyler Morgan racked up 35 assists and added three kills on four attempts. He enjoyed the ability to hit the court in a competitive environment with this group.

“I thought it was a really fun match,” said Morgan. “We came out trying to do our best. A lot of communication, have a lot of fun, just really trying to play as well as we can together.”

The U21 Men will next take the court on Tuesday against Guatemala. Match time is set for 11 a.m. PT.

U.S. Roster for the 2023 Men’s U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup
No. Name (Position, Height, Birth year, Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1 Ryan Merk (L, 6-0, 2003, Chicago, Ill., Penn State, Great Lakes)
4 Dane Hillis (OH, 6-2, 2003, San Clemente, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
7 Gabe Dyer (S, 6-5, 2003, San Clemente, Calif., UC San Diego, Southern California)
8 Kyle Teune (OH, 6-6, 2003, Downers Grove, Ill., Ohio State, Great Lakes)
10 Tyler Morgan (S, 6-7, 2003, Dike, Iowa, Lewis, Iowa)
13 Shane Wetzel (Opp, 6-7, 2004, Wekiwa Springs, Fla., Ohio State, Florida)
16 Nyherowo Omene (MB, 6-8, 2003, South Holland, Ill., Princeton, Great Lakes)
17 Trent Moser (OH, 6-8, 2003, Gilbert, Ariz., BYU, Arizona)
19 George Bruening (Opp, 6-10, 2004. Newport Beach, Calif., UCSB, Southern California)
22 Owen Rose (MB, 6-8, 2003, Long Island, N.Y., Penn State, Garden Empire)
23 Alex Rottman (OH, 6-7, 2004, Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
24 Micah Wong Diallo (MB, 6-9, 2004, Los Angeles, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)

Head Coach: Andy Read (Long Beach State)
Assistant Coach: Rory Prager (University of Southern California)
Assistant Coach: Taylor Hammond (UC San Diego)
Performance Analyst: Michael Bouril (Purdue)
ATC: Cherryl Bueno
Team Lead: Donovan Martinez (USAV NTDP)
International Referee: Michelle Prater (Southern Region)

Alternates
2 Christopher Connelly (L, 5-10, 2003, Naples, Fla., Long Beach State, Florida)
3 Jacob Reilly (L, 6-0, 2003, Cypress, Texas, Concordia University-Irvine, Aloha)
6 Island Doty (S, 6-5, 2003, Colorado Springs, Colo., Long Beach State, Rocky Mountain)
9 Ben Putnam (OH, 6-5, 2004, Needham, Mass., Ohio State, New England)
14 Nicodemus Meyer (MB, 6-10, 2003, Franklin, Wis., Loyola of Chicago, Badger)
15 Markus Olsson (MB, 6-8, 2003, Cupertino, Calif., Univ. of Southern California, Southern California
18 Patrick Rogers (OH, 6-7, 2004, Rutherford, N.J., St. Francis College, Garden Empire)
25 Theo Snoey (OH, 6-8, 2004, Berkeley, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)

U.S. Schedule for the 2023 Men’s U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup
All Times PDT

June 5  USA v Nicaragua W 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-8)
June 6 at 11 a.m. USA v Guatemala
June 7 at 1 p.m. USA v Cuba
June 8 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Quarterfinals
June 9 at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. Classification matches
at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Semifinals
June 10 at 7 a.m. Seventh-place match
at 9 a.m. Fifth-place match
at 11 a.m. Bronze-medal match
at 1 p.m. Gold-medal match