BYU commit Corbin Batista made his presence felt early and often to put the United States in the gold-medal match.
Batista finished with a match-high 13 kills on a .400 attack percentage as the United States swept Canada 25-18, 25-18, 25-17 in the U19 NORCECA Pan American Cup semifinals on Saturday in Mexico.
Batista opened the match leading all players with seven kills in the first game. The outside attacker in the third game also did not commit an attack error and had a team-high four kills to help the United States secure the sweep.
Lindenwood commit Brett Novak guided the U.S. offense to out-hit Canada .324 to .125
Along with Batista, pin-hitter Logan Hutnick contributed seven kills. Ball State commit Date Cayadban and Penn State commit Isiah Powell each had five kills on a .667 attack percentage.
Canada pin-hitter Jarom Devon Rowin Smith ended with a team-high 10 kills and hit .500. Smith, though, was the only Canadian player to
Long Beach State commit Ben Bayer led all players defensively with 10 digs.
The United States with this victory will advance to play the winner of the semifinal match between Mexico and Venezuela in the gold-medal match on Sunday. Mexico won the Group B title to earn a bye to the semifinals, while Venezuela defeated Suriname in the quarterfinals.