UCLA incoming freshman Marek Turner made their presence known at an international tournament.
Turner finished with both a team-high five blocks and 13 kills on a .435 attack percentage as the United States swept Barbados 25-18, 25-23, 25-14 at the U21 NORCECA Pan American Cup on Wednesday in Canada.
The outside attacker opened the match with a game-high six kills in the first game, including two kills as part of a 7-2 run to close out the game. Turner also led all players with seven kills and three blocks in the final game to help secure the sweep.
Stanford commit Jacob Little-Phillips guided the U.S. offense to out-hit Barbados .443 to .171.
Four U.S. players had at least five kills and more than a .400 attack percentage en route to the team’s second straight victory to open the tournament.
UC Santa Barbara pin-hitter Guy Riggs finished with 12 kills on a .667 attack percentage highlighted with a game-high seven kills and a perfect 1.000 attack percentage in the final game. Hawai’i incoming transfer Trevell Jordan added nine kills and no errors on a .667 attack percentage, while UC Santa Barbara middle attacker Josh Aruya had six kills and hit .500.
Aruya also had the game-winning block that prevented the second game from extending into an overtime.
Pin-hitter Isaiah Francis in the loss had a team-high 15 kills on a .370 attack percentage. Francis, though, was the only Barbados player to have double-digit kills.
The United States with this victory remains in first place with three remaining pool-play matches.
The top two teams in the six-team pool at the end of pool-play round robin will advance to the gold-medal match.