Micah Ma'aMicah Ma'a
USA Volleyball

Head Coach John Hawks and setter Micah Ma'a helped lead the U.S. Men to a silver medal.

Bruins Help USA Earn Silver Medal

Men's Volleyball

Hawks, Ma'a and Stahl led USA team to championship match.

 The U.S. Men's Volleyball Team, under the direction of UCLA assistant coach John Hawks and featuring Bruins Micah Ma'a and Mitch Stahl, brought home the silver medal at the NORCECA Continental Championships held in Winnipeg over the weekend.

The U.S. team did not lose a set heading into the gold medal match. That included a 3-0 victory over Cuba in pool play. But Cuba (5-1) rebounded in the final and defeated the U.S. Men, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20 on Saturday. The U.S. Men (4-1) finished the tournament with the silver medal.

Cuba led in kills (46-34) and dominated from the service line (10-5 in aces). The U.S. Men held their own in blocking, leading 11-7. The U.S. hit .252 and Cuba hit .303.

"They served really well, as we expected, and I think offensively they were just a little sharper than they were the other night (when the U.S. won their pool play match)," U.S. Head Coach John Hawks said of Cuba. "We didn't pass as well as we did. We lost the serve/pass game. Leaving here with the silver medal is great, but we want gold. We're proud of the effort, but in the end, we just weren't sharp enough, so credit to Cuba, they played great."

U.S. STARTERS VS CUBA
Outside hitters: T.J. DeFalco and Brenden Sander
Middle blockers: Jeff Jendryk and Mitch Stahl
Opposite: Kyle Ensing
Setter: Micah Ma'a
Libero: Kyle Dagostino

U.S. STATISTICS VS CUBA
Kill: DeFalco 10, Ensing 10, Sander 5, Jendryk 5, Stahl 3, Ma'a 1
Blocks: Jendryk 3, Stahl 2, Ma'a, Ensing 1, DeFalco 1, Huhmann 1, Sander 1
Aces: Ensing 1, DeFalco 1, Sander 1, Ma'a 1, Wieczorek 1
Digs: Dagostino 4, Ensing 1, DeFalco 1, Ma'a 1

Results
Pool Play

Sept. 2
Cuba def Guatemala, 25-13, 37-35, 25-14
USA def Dominican Republic, 25-14, 25-17, 25-14 

Sept. 3
USA def Guatemala, 25-22, 25-21, 26-24
Cuba def Dominican Republic, 25-20, 25-17, 25-15

Sept. 4
Dominican Republic def Guatemala, 29-27, 25-19, 25-27, 25-18
USA def Cuba, 25-17, 25-21, 25-22

Sept. 5
QF: Mexico def Dominican Republic, 25-19, 25-21, 17-25, 25-17
QF: Cuba def Puerto Rico, 25-21, 25-22, 28-26

Sept. 6
Puerto Rico def Dominican Republic, 23-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-23, 15-6
Cuba def Canada, 17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19
USA def Mexico, 25-18, 25-16, 25-23

Sept. 7
Dominican Republic def Guatemala, 28-30, 25-13, 28-26, 25-19
Canada def Mexico, 25-14, 25-18, 25-12
Gold: USA vs Cuba, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20