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Ben Patch in his final competitive match before starting a two-year mission trip gave the United States more than enough on offense to end the World Championship with a victory.
The BYU All-American freshman playing in only two games had seven kills as the United States swept Canada 25-16, 25-17, 25-18 on Sunday in Turkey to finish in 11th place at the FIVB U21 Men’s Junior World Championship.
Patch — who will begin his mission trip for the LDS church this fall in Columbus, Ohio — led the United States (4-4) and finished in the tournament’s top five with 119 combined kills. In addition, Patch entered the team’s tournament-finale after having back-to-back matches with at least 20 kills.
Ohio State outside attacker Michael Henchy ended with a match-high 11 kills against Canada (3-5). Henchy also became the second player besides Patch to lead the United States in kills during a World Championship match.
The United States in the victory out-blocked Canada 8-2 as Loyola middle attacker Nicholas Olson and Stanford setter James Shaw led all players with two blocks.
Shaw making his first start at setter during the World Championship also held the U.S. offense to 16 errors — 13 fewer errors than Canada.
Outside attackers Bradley Gunter and Jarrid Ireland both led Canada with 10 kills in the loss.
This was the third consecutive victory for the United States against Canada in the last two years. The United States last year defeated Canada in the NORCECA championship match to qualify for the World Championship and won a preliminary round match against Canada on Monday.
Despite the victory to close out the tournament, the 11th place finish is the worst finish for a U.S. team in its seven appearances at the World Championship.