Long Beach State pin-hitter Sebastiano Sani stepped up to help keep the United States undefeated.
Sani finished with a match-high 19 kills on a .471 attack percentage as the United States defeated Canada 25-11, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22 at the U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup on Thursday in Canada.
The junior led all players with seven kills and zero attack errors in the final game. In addition, Sani with the United States leading 22-21 delivered two kills and an ace as part of a 3-1 run to close out the match.
UCLA setter Trent Taliaferro in the matchup between the tournament’s only two remaining undefeated teams guided the U.S. offense to out-hit Canada .356 to .189.
The United States opened the pool-play match with a match-best .722 attack percentage in the first game. The team also did not commit an attack error until midway through the second game.
Both UC Santa Barbara pin-hitter Riggs Guy and Hawai’i pin-hitter Kainoa Wade in the first game had a game-high five kills. The two players each finished with 13 kills against Canada.
UC Irvine middle attacker Micah Goss contributed a match-high four aces with all those aces coming in the first two games.
Goss also led all players with three blocks.
Long Beach State pin-hitter Daniil Hershtynovich in the loss had a team-high 14 kills. Hershtynovich, though, was the only Canadian player to have more than double-digit kills.
Hawai’i libero Quintin Greenidge added a match-high 10 digs against the United States.
This victory extends the first-place lead for the United States at the Pan American Cup with two remaining pool-play matches.
The top two teams in the six-team pool at the conclusion of the pool-play round will advance to the gold-medal match.