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It wasn’t necessarily a perfect performance but the United States ended the U19 Pan American Cup with perfection in the record book.
The United States closed out the international tournament undefeated and without losing a single set as it swept Mexico 25-22, 25-18, 25-18 in the gold-medal match on Saturday at Guatemala.
Sean Kelly in the victory finished with a match-high 14 kills – the outside attacker’s third double-digit kills performance at the Pan American Cup. This gold-medal performance also comes a day after Kelly led all players with 16 kills in the semifinals against Chile.
Kelly was one of four U.S. players with more than five kills in the gold-medal match. Opposite Finn Kearney had nine kills and a match-high three aces, while outside attacker Sterling Foley added eight kills and middle attacker Caiden Carreira had six kills.
The United States out-blocked Mexico 9 to 7 with Foley having a match-high five blocks.
Both the United States and Mexico entered this match having already clinched berths to the 2023 FIVB U19 World Championship. The top-four teams at the Pan American Cup received berths to the upcoming World Championship.