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The biggest pool-play match for the United States resulted in Sterling Foley delivering their biggest offensive performance of the tournament.
The USC commit led all players with 16 kills on a .600 attack percentage as the United States swept the host-nation Argentina 25-19, 25-18, 25-20 on Saturday to move into first place in its pool at the FIVB U19 World Championship.
Foley after having an attack error early in the opening game did not commit an error the rest of the match. The outside attacker also had at least four kills in all three games, including a game-high seven kills in the final game to help secure the sweep.
This was the third consecutive match to open the tournament that Foley had at least 10 kills.
Foley was one of two players with double-digit kills against Argentina. Princeton commit Sean Kelly contributed 15 kills and in the first two games committed a combined two attack errors.
The United States in this matchup between the only two remaining undefeated teams in Pool A out-hit Argentina .344 to .086.
Along with running the U.S. offense, Hawai’i Tread Rosenthal had an ace and was serving when the team went on a 6-0 run midway through the third game to build a lead that it would not relinquish.
The United States finished with 12 blocks – seven more than Argentina – and extended its streak to three straight matches with double-digit blocks. Princeton middle attacker Tristan Whitfield had a match-high four blocks, while Rosenthal added three blocks.
The United States entered this match having already clinched a berth to the Round of 16. It can now clinch a top seed for the round if it can beat Serbia in its pool-play finale on Sunday.
Serbia is in fourth place in Pool A and swept Costa Rica in its most recent pool-play match on Friday.