Team USA goes to final undefeated  

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 23, 2023:  USA beat Cuba today 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-13) at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Canada.

With this win, USA has secured its spot in the gold-medal match on Sunday.

USA led in attacks (30-22), blocks (12-6) and service aces (6-3). Cuba made more errors (27-23).

Opposite Jalen Penrose was USA’s top scorer with 11 points. His teammates Zachary Rama and Kyle McCauley contributed 10 points apiece.

Cuban Alejandro González Rodríguez led his team again today, also with 11 points.  

Jalen Penrose, USA player: “Cuba is always a team that puts up a fight; they have got young, athletic guys. They bring some intensity to the match, and we just had to match that, which we did and we got the win. We had some new guys playing today, including me, so we’re just feeling each other out and as the match progressed, we just made some changes and we adjusted to build a bigger lead going into the next sets.” 

Manuel Espinosa, head coach of Cuba: "Team USA is really good; they play really well. We thought we could put a bit of pressure on them but in the end, we even had to use our bench players. In reality, our goal is to look for the possibility of a medal tomorrow and fight for the bronze. Is not that we gave up the match, but the possibilities were not clear, and we decided to give opportunity to the players we are developing for the future.”