COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (August 26, 2025) – The U.S. Men’s U21 National Team remained unbeaten at the 2025 FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-20) win over Bulgaria in the Round of 16 on Wednesday (Tuesday night in the U.S.) in Jiangmen, China.

The U.S. (6-0) will face France (5-1) in the quarterfinal round on Friday, Aug. 29. The U.S. has already clinched its best finish since the 2011 championship when it placed fourth, the best finish in program history.

“We talk about this a lot. The guys are just pros. They come in ready to go. We served tough, passed well, made first contact, and Tread was great blocking the ball,” said U.S. head coach John Hawks, who is looking forward to playing France. “I know these guys want revenge from what happened two years ago. We’ve been talking about them for a couple of years now. For us, it’s about taking care of our side of the ball and really executing our game plan.”

For reference, France defeated the U.S. in the semifinals of the U19 World Championship in 2023. This year’s U.S. U21 team has many of the same players from that U19 team; their fourth-place finish was the best-ever by a U.S. boys team at the event.

The U.S. dominated at the net with 11 blocks to only two for Bulgaria. The U.S. led in kills (34-29) while each team served three aces. Bulgaria scored 27 points off errors, while the U.S. scored 21.

Captain and outside hitter Sean Kelly led six U.S. players who scored at least five points with match-highs of 11 kills and 13 points, adding two blocks. He shared the team lead with libero Kellen Larson with three successful receptions.

“It was our best match as a team for sure. We blocked really well and we stood together the entire game. We relied on our staff and our game plan. We’re just really prepared and ready to win this thing,” Kelly said. “We are excited for whatever (France) brings. We are going to bring our best and just play as a team the whole time.”

Middle blocker Jackson Cryst was the only other player in the match to reach double digits with seven kills, two aces and a block.

Outside Sterling Foley contributed eight points on six kills and two blocks. Setter Tread Rosenthal posted a match-best four blocks with a kill and an ace for six points. In addition to leading the offense to an outstanding .435 hitting efficiency percentage (34 kills, seven errors, 62 attacks), he paced the team with four digs.

Opposite Cole Hartke scored six points on five kills and a block, and middle Tre Jordan added five points on four kills and a block.

A Cryst kill and Hartke block gave the U.S. a 9-3 lead to start the match. A stuff block by Rosenthal pushed the lead to nine points, 16-7. A Cryst block extended the lead to double digits and another Rosenthal block, this time on a 1-on-1 attack, made it 19-9. With the U.S. leading 21-12, Bulgaria went on a 6-2 run to close the gap to five points but could get no closer. Kelly ended the set with a kill. Six U.S. players scored either two or three points in the set.

Foley scored on a pair of tips, the second after feigning a big swing, to give the U.S. a 13-10 lead in the second set. Cryst followed with an ace and the lead grew to six points, 17-11, on a Foley block. Another Foley block again gave the U.S. a six-point lead, 23-17. Hartke ended the set with a kill off a tip. Foley added three kills to his two blocks for five points and Hartke added four points on three kills and an ace.

A Jordan kill and two hitting errors gave the U.S. a 12-9 lead in the third set. Kelly scored when he pushed a ball off the block and followed with an ace for a 14-11 lead. A Cryst ace raised the lead to four, 17-13. A Bulgaria block cut the margin to two points, 17-15, when Hartke recycled a ball off the block before delivering a kill to put the U.S. back up by three.

A Kelly block gave the U.S. a 21-17 lead but Bulgaria scored the next three points, the last on an ace, to cut the lead to one. Kelly produced another kill after a great cover by Larson off the Bulgaria block and Rosenthal served an ace to make it 23-20. After a hitting error gave the U.S. match point, Kelly delivered his fifth kill and seventh point of the set. Cryst scored four points on three kills and an ace.

Men’s U21 National Team World Championship Roster

Name (Pos., Height, Hometown, School/Club, USAV Region)
1 Kellen Larson (L, 5-9, Irvine, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
3 Cole Hartke (OPP, 6-11, Barrington, Ill., Pepperdine, Great Lakes)
7 Trent Taliaferro (S, 6-5, San Clemente, Calif., UCLA, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
9 Tre Jordan (MB, 6-10, Mesa, Ariz., Univ. of Hawaii, Arizona)
12 Sterling Foley (OH, 6-6, Los Angeles, Calif., Univ. of Southern California, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
13 Sean Kelly (OH, 6-7, Manhattan Beach, Calif., UCLA, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
16 Tread Rosenthal (S, 6-10, Hermosa Beach, Calif., Univ. of Hawaii, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
17 Riggs Guy (OH, 6-3, Newport Beach, Calif., UC Santa Barbara, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
18 Kainoa Wade (OPP, 6-10, Kailua, Hawaii, Univ. of Hawaii, Aloha Region)
21 Jackson Cryst (MB, 6-10, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California/Southern Nevada)
22 Sebastiano Sani (OH, 6-8, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Long Beach State, Chesapeake)
23 Micah Goss (MB, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Irvine, Southern California/Southern Nevada)

Coaches
Head Coach: John Hawks (UCLA)
Assistant Coach: Donan Cruz
Assistant Coach: Matthew Pollock (Pepperdine)
Performance Analyst: Alex Hurlburt (The Volleyball institute)
Athletic Trainer: Rachel Menze (Pepperdine)
Team Lead: Donovan Martinez (NTDP)

Schedule

All times PT
Aug. 20: USA def. Thailand, 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-19)
Aug. 21: USA def. Türkiye, 3-2 (21-25, 25-13, 25-22, 21-25, 15-7)
Aug. 22: USA def. Egypt, 3-2 (26-24, 31-33, 37-35, 23-25, 15-10)
Aug. 24: USA def. China, 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18)
Aug. 25: USA def. Morocco, 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-23)
Aug. 26: Round of 16: USA def. Bulgaria, 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-20)
Aug. 29: Quarterfinals: USA vs. France, TBA
Aug. 30: Semifinals
Aug. 31: Medal matches