MONCTON, Canada, September 11, 2026. – The United States opened the 2026 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship with a comfortable (25-13, 25-13, 25-11) win over Guatemala Friday.
The Americans made quick work of their Group B rivals as action got underway at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, Canada.
Team USA dispatched Guatemala easily in the first two sets, taking them by identical 25-13 scores, then extended the margin to 25-11 to complete the sweep.
The Americans were superior in multiple facets: 43-24 on attacks, 13-1 on aces, and 4-0 on blocks.
Patrick Rogers led the way with seven first-set points for USA, doubled his total to 14 after two and added six more in the third for a total of 20, including seven aces.
Andy Alexis Blanco was Guatemala’s top scorer with 13 points, all on attacks.
Jacob Pasteur of Team USA was close behind with 12 points, including two aces.
The nine-day tournament runs through Sept. 19, with eight teams competing for three berths to the 2027 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup in Poland. The tournament will also determine the teams that advance to NORCECA’s final qualification stage for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, excluding USA as they have a spot in the Games as host.
Guatemala will have the 11 a.m. (Atlantic Time) slot again Saturday against Cuba, while Team USA takes on Dominican Republic at 4:30 p.m.
Patrick Rogers: “It was good. Our game plan from the start was to come in and take care of business. You respect this team is playing hard the whole time and not taking it lightly. That’s what our goal was and I think we did a good job of that. We passed really well, we started out really well. It was all around a really good match for us and we’re excited for what’s to come in this tournament.”
Karch Kiraly, USA head coach: “We were focusing more on our side. We know Guatemala is working hard. They’re not a Top 10 team in the world but I was really impressed with our approach. It was no different than playing any other opponent in the world of volleyball. We treated them with great respect and went at them really hard. Our guys did a nice job.”
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