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US Men Beat Canada for NORCECA Gold 🌍
The Americans led two sets to none, lost the next two and won 15-13. They cannot use the title, because the United States is already in Los Angeles as host, and Cuba won the region's Olympic place at the same arena three days later.
The United States won the NORCECA men's continental championship on Wednesday night, beating Canada 3-2 (25-19, 26-24, 25-27, 17-25, 15-13) at the Avenir Centre in Moncton after leading two sets to none and very nearly losing from there.
Canada took the third set 27-25 and the fourth 25-17 before losing the fifth by two points in front of a home crowd.
Across the five sets the two teams scored 108 points each, and one of them left with a gold medal.
Canada Rested Players and Nearly Won Anyway
Xander Ketrzynski scored 26 points, more than anybody on either bench. Skyler Varga had 14 and Jackson Young 12, while Matthew Anderson and Jake Hanes led the United States with 18 apiece.
The obvious reading of a two-set comeback is that Canada is closing the gap on the region's best team. Both benches spent Wednesday night saying it was something else, and the Canadian Press reported that Canada rested players and gave others experience with the qualifier in mind.
United States head coach Karch Kiraly, in NORCECA's report of the final.
Canada, that was their second unit and they put on a great fight. Xander was amazing the last three sets and we really struggled to slow him down.
The Comeback Ran the Other Way in August
On 25 August in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Canada led the United States two sets to none in a Final Six pool match and lost 3-2 (17-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19, 15-11). Four days later the Americans swept them 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-21) for the Final Six title.
Three meetings in twenty-two days, three American wins, and the two five-set comebacks ran in opposite directions.
The Gold Medal Does Not Go to Los Angeles
The United States has held a place at the 2028 Olympics since the day the Games were awarded to Los Angeles, so the continental title it won in Moncton carries no Olympic consequence for it.
NORCECA's place went through a separate tournament at the same arena on Friday and Saturday, and the Americans were not in it. Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico were, and Cuba won it.
Canada had already taken the other prize on Tuesday, when the Canadian Press reported that its sweep of Cuba in the semi-final earned a berth at the 2027 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup in Poland.
So the team that lost Wednesday's final left Moncton with a silver medal, a World Cup berth and no Olympic place.
Canada head coach Dan Lewis, quoted in identical terms by NORCECA and by Volleyball Canada.
This has been obviously a wild summer of many moving parts, but one part that has always been there is the consistency of the play, especially with the younger guys. I'm so bloody proud of them. They fight so hard and they never, ever stop. They don't quit, they don't give up, they continue to search for solutions.
Resting the first unit on Wednesday was a bet on Friday and Saturday. Canada beat Mexico and then lost to Cuba, so it was the wrong bet.
