USA advances to semis at U19 Championship

BURNABY, Canada, May 14, 2026:  USA maintains a perfect record in pool play at the U19 NORCECA Boys’ Continental Volleyball Championship at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

USA advances directly to the semifinals, held on Saturday, after beating Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-15) in Group B today.

Puerto Rico put on a good fight, especially in the second set, but USA had the advantage in attack points (35-26), blocking (12-2) and aces (5-0). Puerto Rico made a few more errors (23-20).

“The first goal when we got here was to qualify (for the World Championship), then play for a medal and hope it’s a gold medal. Most importantly, our team is playing better and better with each match,” said USA Head Coach Andy Read.

“We have a day off to train and work on getting better, for example in blocking, and we have to prepare to play some good teams in the next rounds.”

USA’s Jimmie Chrusfield, an outside hitter, topped scoring for USA’s team effort with 12 points; opposite Lucas Sebastian Colon led Puerto Rico’s effort with 9 points.

Now among the top 4 in the tournament, USA qualifies for a U19 Worlds’ berth.