Serving woes plague U.S. in loss to Canada at Pan Am Cup

Things just went awry at the service line for the United States.

The United States committed 20 service errors and had one ace as it lost to Canada 25-17, 25-21, 25-21 in its tournament opener at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six on Monday in Mexico.

Along with the service errors, Canada out-hit the United States .350 to .223 and limited all but one U.S. starter to less than a .300 attack percentage.

Penn State outside attacker Brett Wildman in the loss led the United States with nine kills and had the team’s only ace against Canada. Middle attacker Austin Wilmot added four kills, while outside attacker Kyle McCauley came off the bench had four kills and zero attack errors.

Wilmont also led all players with three blocks.

Opposite Jordan Canham had a team-high eight kills and was one of three Canadian players with more than five kills and two or fewer attack errors.

Libero Jordan Pereira defensively finished with a team-high 14 digs in the victory. In addition, Long Beach State libero Mason Briggs led the United States with eight digs.

The United States will continue round-robin play as it faces Cuba on Tuesday. Cuba swept the Dominican Republic in its tournament opener on Monday.