United States reaches Top 8 at Boys U19 World Championship

SAN JUAN, Argentina August 8, 2023.- United States will play in the quarterfinals of the FIVB Boys U19 World Championship for the third time ever after sweeping Puerto Rico (28-26, 25-17, 25-17) on Tuesday in Argentina.

The U.S. Team (4-1) has a very quick turnaround and will play Bulgaria (4-1) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The turnaround will also be tight for Bulgaria, which won a 3-2 match over Brazil in the Round of 16 on Tuesday afternoon.

The best U.S. finish at the FIVB Boys U19 World Championship is seventh, achieved in 1995 and 2015. The 2015 team included current Men’s National Team players T.J. DeFalco, Kyle Ensing, Micah Ma’a, Josh Tuaniga and Jordan Ewert.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Boys led Puerto Rico in kills (34-27) and blocks (13-6). They scored 26 points on Puerto Rico’s errors while committing 21. Puerto Rico led in aces (6-5).

Puerto Rico will play for positions 9-16, as well as Mexico who lost their quarterfinal match to France 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-13).

On Wednesday Puerto Rico will play Brazil and Mexico faces Colombia, while Costa Rica will play for positions 17-20 against Chile.