Nothing could slow down outside attacker Siddanth Saikanth during the U17 Pan American Cup quarterfinals.
Saikanth finished with a match-high 10 kills and zero errors on a .710 attack percentage as the United States swept the host-nation Guatemala 25-20, 25-17, 25-14 on Friday.
The outside attacker led all players with kills on a perfect five swings in the second game. Saikanth also had a kill in the third game to jumpstart an 11-1 run and help secure the victory.
Along with the offensive performance, Saikanth had a match-high three blocks and added an ace.
Setter Jonah Tuaniga guided the U.S. offense to out-hit Guatemala .470 to zero. The United States did not commit more than three attack errors in any game and finished the match with six errors – 18 fewer attack errors than Guatemala.
Four U.S. players had at least five kills in the sweep.
Pin-hitter Jackson Real had nine kills on a .438 attack percentage, including a game-high six kills in the opening game. Logan Flores added six kills, while Nolan Barrett had five kills and hit .500.
Oscar Israel Velásquez Lima in the loss led Guatemala with 10 kills. Velásquez, though, was the only Guatemala player to have more than two kills and hit more than zero.
The United States with this victory will advance to play undefeated Venezuela in the semifinals on Saturday.
Venezuela did not drop a set during the pool-play stage en route to winning the Pool A title and bye to the semifinals.