Local Volleyball Players Help U.S. U21 Men Win Gold at Pan American Championships | Sports

Riggs Guy and Joshua Aruya of UC Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos alum Micah Goss of UC Irvine helped the U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team win the gold medal at the NORCECA U21 Pan American Championship on Sunday in Calgary.

The Americans defeated host Canada, 3-1, (26-24, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18) in the final to finish the tournament undefeated.

Guy, a sophomore outside hitter at UCSB, was voted the best spiker of the tournament. He totaled 11 points on nine kills and two blocks in the final. Outside hitter Sebastiano Sani of Long Beach State was named the MVP. He led all players in the title match with 15 kills, 18 points, 10 digs and two blocks and an ace.

Goss posted a match-best four blocks to go with three kills for seven points. Opposite Kainoa Wade of Hawai’i registered 10 kills, six of which came in the fourth set, and added six digs. Middle blocker Tre Jordan scored nine points on seven kills and two blocks. Settet Trent Taliaferro delivered 28 assists and added a block and an ace.

Both teams finished the match with 44 kills, with the U.S. holding an 11-7 advantage in blocks. Canada served three of the five aces. The U.S. recorded seven fewer errors (41-34).

“I am so proud of this group of guys, the staff and everybody involved with this,” U.S. head coach John Hawks said. “Where we were a week ago in Colorado Springs coming together and implementing systems, to see this group play as clean as they did throughout the week, I am really proud of them.”

The U.S. went 6-0 in the week-long tournament.