Ball State opposite Ryan Louis took full advantage of being inserted into the starting lineup.
Louis finished with a match-high 15 kills on .619 attack percentage as the United States swept Trinidad and Tobago 25-15, 25-19, 25-15 at the U23 Pan American Cup on Thursday in El Salvador.
Louis, who did not play in the team’s tournament opener, had the game-winning kill in the opening game to cap off an 8-3 run. The opposite also had a game-high seven kills and zero errors in the second game to help the United States finish pool-play undefeated.
CSUN setter Owen Douphner guided the offense to out-hit Trinidad and Tobago .603 to .277.
Four U.S. players had at least five kills and fewer than three attack errors against Trinidad and Tobago.
Along with Louis, BYU outside attacker Connor Oldani had 13 kills on a .800 attack percentage with a game-high five kills coming in the third game. BYU middle attacker AJ Cottle added seven kills and hit .700, while Stanford pin-hitter Aleksey Mikhailenko had five kills on a .500 attack percentage.
Mikhailenko also defensively led all players with six digs.
Middle attacker Ayden Austin in the loss had seven kills and zero errors on a team-best .636 attack percentage. Austin, though, was one of two Trinidad and Tobago players to have more than five kills and hit more than .200.
The United States with this victory earned a berth to the semifinals on Saturday.
Costa Rica, Guatemala and the United States all went undefeated in pool-play to win their pools. The United States and Guatemala edged out Costa Rica for the two semifinals byes based on the point differential tiebreaker.