U.S. with another sweep, earns bye to U19 NORCECA semifinals

Middle attackers Sam Lewis and Kyler Presho were near flawless offensively to cap-off a perfect group-play stage for the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team.

Lewis and Presho each had a team-high seven kills and zero attack errors as the United States swept the Dominican Republic 25-16, 25-17, 25-21 on Sunday in Cuba to win the Group A title and earn a bye to the semifinals at the NORCECA U19 Continental Championship.


Both U.S. starting middle attackers were two of the four U.S. players at least five kills in the victory. Opposite Jaylen Jasper had six kills, while outside attacker John Reilly added five kills.

<

This is the second time in the international tournament that Lewis led the United States (3-0) in kills. The high school player had a match-high seven kills in the team’s tournament-opening sweep against Nicaragua on Friday.

Lewis also is third in the tournament with eight aces, including have a match-high three aces versus the Dominican Republic (1-2).

Outside attacker Bayron Valdez in the loss had a match-high eight kills and was the only Dominican Republic player to have more than three kills against the United States.

With this sweep, the United States did not lose a game in its three group-play matches. In addition, the team can clinch a berth to the 2017 FIVB U19 World Championship if it wins its semifinal match on Tuesday.

The U.S. opponent for the semifinals will be determined following the quarterfinal matches on Monday.