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USA Men Reach the Ponce Semifinals 4-0
A second five-set night in two days settled it, and Sterling Foley hit .571 while the Dominicans were out-hitting his team.
The United States is into the semifinals at the NORCECA Men's Final Six and has not lost a match getting there. The Americans beat the Dominican Republic 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 25-16, 23-25, 15-11) at the Juan Pachin Vicens Auditorium in Ponce on Wednesday to go 4-0.
That was a second five-set match in two nights. They came from two sets down to beat Canada 3-2 on Tuesday, which is ten sets of volleyball inside forty-eight hours, and it is starting to show.
The United States has won this event three years running, in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Two more wins this weekend make it four.
The Dominicans Won the Kills and Lost the Match
Sterling Foley scored 26 points on 28 swings with two errors, an attacking percentage of .571, and put three blocks and five aces on top of it. Patrick Rogers scored 13.
Alexis Cruz led the Dominican Republic with 21 points and Erisandy Castillo added 14, and the Dominicans finished the night ahead on kills, 56 to 53, in a match they lost.
They lost it on the other two columns. The United States blocked 12 to 5 and served 11 aces to 6, and NORCECA and USA Volleyball agree on every one of those numbers without a digit between them.
One note for anyone reading both federations at once. NORCECA's report calls the American opposite Kyler Wade. USA Volleyball calls him Kainoa Wade, credits him with the same 14 points in the same match, and neither has amended its copy.
The Semifinals Are Friday and the Legs Are Going
Fatigue is the price the Americans have paid for going unbeaten, and their middle blocker said so at length without being asked twice. Cameron Thorne spoke to NORCECA afterwards.
"It was a long match. Our team came out to play and we did some things well, although there are definitely areas we need to improve. We're certainly going to rest; we've had consecutive nights playing five-set matches, so we're a bit tired. We need to recover, but there are many things to correct and also many positives. Tomorrow Puerto Rico will come out strong; they're a great opponent and will have a lot of support from the fans here. It will be fun, we'll see. There are no guarantees, of course, of finishing the preliminary round undefeated, but we'll try to give our best to win. Whatever the result, we will stay together as a team, remain united, and keep working toward the semifinals, the final, and everything ahead. Hopefully we'll have a good crowd supporting us."
The preliminary round finishes on Thursday with Puerto Rico against the United States last on the card at 9 p.m. local time. Puerto Rico has already qualified for the semifinals too, so the match settles seeding rather than survival.
Semifinals are Friday evening and the bronze and gold medal matches are on Saturday. The winner takes a place at the 2027 Men's Pan American Cup, which is what this tournament is for.
Guatemala came into this field late, replacing Cuba before a ball was served, and has not won a set in four matches.
