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The gold medals for the NORCECA Men’s Junior Championship are staying in the United States.
The United States defeated Canada 26-24, 25-17, 23-25, 21-25 in the championship match Saturday in Colorado Spring, Colo., to capture the nation’s second consecutive gold medal at the under-21 international tournament.
BYU freshman outside attacker Ben Patch had a match-high 18 kills in the victory. In addition, Patch was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after finishing the event with a team-high 47 kills.
Along with Patch, Lewis outside attacker Greg Petty and Loyola middle attacker Nick Olson each had 11 kills against Canada.
Petty also added an ace as the United States had five aces in the championship match. The outside attacker also earned the tournament’s Best Server award.
Both the United States and Canada entered this championship match undefeated in tournament play.
The United States won all three pool-play matches and swept Puerto Rico in the semifinals on Friday to advance to the championship match. In addition, the two-point third game loss against Canada was the only game the United States dropped throughout the entire tournament.
With this championship, the United States receives an automatic bid to the 2013 Junior World Championships Istanbul, Turkey.