PONCE, Puerto Rico, August 28, 2026. – Three-time defending champion United States advanced to the championship match of the 2026 NORCECA Men’s Final Six after defeating host Puerto Rico in straight sets 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-23) on Friday at the Juan “Pachín” Vicéns Auditorium.
The United States, which defeated Puerto Rico for the second consecutive night, will face Canada in Saturday’s final as it seeks its fourth consecutive gold medal. The Americans have won three gold medals and two bronze medals in the history of the Final Six.
Puerto Rico, which owns one silver medal in the tournament, will face Mexico in the bronze medal match.
Sean Kelly led the United States with 18 points, followed by Jacob Pasteur with 13 and Kyler Wade with 10. For Puerto Rico, Pedro Molina scored a team-high 15 points, Pelegrín Vargas added 12, and Klistan Lawrence Vidal contributed 10.
As a team, the United States held the advantage in attacks 46-39, blocks 7-6 and aces 3-2. Puerto Rico committed 19 errors compared to 20 by the United States.
The United States controlled the closing stages of the opening set. After Puerto Rico remained within striking distance, the Americans moved ahead 23-20 and reached set point at 24-21 before closing the set 25-21.
Puerto Rico pushed harder in the second set. With the score 20-19 in favor of the United States, the Americans created some separation and eventually reached set point at 24-21. Puerto Rico responded with consecutive points to pull within 24-23, but Ethan Tomkinson ended the set with a kill for the 25-23 win and a 2-0 U.S. lead.
The United States appeared to be cruising toward the victory in the third set after building a 17-9 advantage, sparked by its blocking, and later reached match point at 24-19 following a back-row attack by Kelly.
Puerto Rico refused to go away and put together a 4-0 run that included a U.S. service error, an ace by Jair Santiago, a block on Jacob Pasteur and another on Kyler Wade to close the gap to 24-23. After a United States timeout, Santiago’s serve hit the net, sealing the 25-23 set and the victory for the United States..
Tread Rosenthal – United States
“It was a great match. There was a lot of emotion throughout, but we stayed calm and trusted each other the whole way, and that’s what ultimately gave us the win. Finishing undefeated and winning the gold medal—hopefully. That’s the plan.”
Howard García – Puerto Rico
“We knew it was going to be a tough match. We needed to minimize errors and keep our serves in so they could run their offense, and we could work on our block and defense. It didn’t go our way today. We’ll keep pushing. There’s still one match left tomorrow, and we’re going for that third place, God willing. To win the bronze medal, we need to get out of the slumps. Sometimes we fall into them and struggle to climb back out but tomorrow is a great night for everyone to come out and be that seventh player on the court.”
The Final Six concludes Saturday with the fifth-place match between Guatemala and the Dominican Republic at 3:00 p.m., followed by the bronze medal match between Puerto Rico and Mexico at 6:00 p.m. and the final between the United States and Canada at 8:00 p.m.
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