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All the blocks turned into gold for the United States.
Parker Tomkinson and Sterling Foley had back-to-back blocks to end the third-game overtime as the United States swept Canada 25-18, 25-21, 27-25 in the U21 NORCECA Continental Championship gold-medal match on Sunday in Mexico.
The United States had six blocks in the final game and finished the match with 12 blocks – three more blocks than Canada. Three U.S. players also had multiple aces en route to ending the tournament undefeated and securing a berth to the 2025 U21 FIVB World Championship.
High school senior Jackson Cryst led all players with five blocks.Foley added three bocks, while Tomkinson contributed two blocks.
Along with the defensive performance, Foley had a match-high 13 kills on a .550 attack percentage against Canada. The USC outside attacker had a game-high seven kills in the second game and in the third game had a kill to fight off a Canada game-point and extend the overtime session.
UCLA outside attacker Sean Kelley in the victory had 12 kills, including a game-high six kills in the final game. Pepperdine outside attacker Cole Hartke also contributed nine kills on a .615 attack percentage.
Hawai’i setter Tread Rosenthal guided the U.S. offense to out-hit Canada .427 to .130.
The United States held opponents to less than a .200 attack percentage in all five tournament matches.
Canadian pin-hitter Owen Weekes in the loss had a team-high 12 kills. Long Beach State pin-hitter Daniil Hershtynovich contributed three blocks but was limited to a negative attack percentage against the United States.
This is the first time the United States has won the bi-annual tournament since 2016.