Hawai’i opposite Kainoa Wade delivered in the clutch when the United States needed it the most.
Wade closed out the second-game overtime with two kills and a block on three consecutive plays as the United States swept Costa Rica 25-14, 27-25, 25-18 in the U21 Pan American Cup semifinals on Saturday in Guatemala.
The United States rallied from a six-point deficit midway through the second game and fought off two game-points to force overtime. Wade in the overtime had a kill on another Costa Rica game-point opportunity and then had a block to give the United States the lead followed by the game-winning kill.
Wade finished with a match-high 12 kills on a .611 attack percentage, including having seven kills in the second game. The sophomore also did not commit an attack error in the final two games of the sweep.
Along with the offensive performance, Wade and Long Beach State middle attacker Jackson Cryst both led all players with four aces.
The United States ended with nine aces – eight more aces than Costa Rica.
Setters Cameron Kosty and Rafael Urbina guided the U.S. offense to out-hit Costa Rica .465 to .139. The United States opened the match hitting .500 in the opening game and had a match-best .526 attack percentage in the third game to secure the sweep.
UCLA outside attacker Mateo Fuerbringer contributed 11 kills on a .400 attack percentage. In addition, Fuerbringer with the United States trailing 24-23 in the second game had a block to send the game into overtime.
Costa Rica pin-hitter Stanley Grant Brown in the loss had a team-high 11 kills but was limited to a .080 attack percentage. Brown entered this match leading the tournament in kills, including having a match-high 23 kills against Venezuela in the quarterfinals.
The United States with this victory will advance to play Canada in the gold-medal match on Sunday.
Canada defeated Mexico in its semifinal match on Saturday to set up a gold-medal match between the only two remaining undefeated teams in the tournament.