U.S. Men's National Team Earns Big Win Over Canada at 2025 VNL Week Two

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 26, 2025) – The U.S. Men’s National Team swept Canada in three tight sets (25-23, 25-22, 30-28) on Thursday night in Volleyball Nations League (VNL) play at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

The U.S. (4-2) moved into sixth place in the VNL standings and will have a day off before facing Poland (4-1) on Saturday, June 28 at 5:30 p.m. PT.

Each team recorded 41 kills with the U.S. holding the edge in aces (6-2) and Canada leading in blocks (7-3). The U.S. Men committed seven fewer errors (30-23).

It was a breakout night for opposite Gabi Garcia, who led all players in points (19), kills (15) and service aces (3).

“I’m just trying to have fun out there. It is a fun sport to play. Every day you have lunch and dinner with a different teammate, and you learn things about them. That’s the best part of having a young team,” Garcia explained. “Our team has fighters. We didn’t give up. It didn’t matter if we made a mistake or not, we were concentrating with our heads forward. As long as we keep fighting and have that fire in our eyes, it’s going to be a nice VNL for us.”

“(Gabi) was really good tonight,” head coach Karch Kiraly said. “He scored a couple of big points on the aces and was scoring so well behind the setter. You can see us running him across more where he would normally be left front, so we get him where he takes his best swings, and he really scored well there.”

Veteran setter Micah Ma’a led the U.S. offense to a .383 hitting percentage (41 kills and just 10 errors in 81 total attacks). Outside hitter Cooper Robinson was the only other player in the match to reach double figures in kills with 11 and added two aces to score 13 points.

“Cooper had a rough outing last night and came back just as we hoped and knew he could do,” Kiraly said.

For the second consecutive night, a U.S. player suffered an injury during the match. Libero Erik Shoji was hurt against China though he seems poised to return. Meanwhile, the outlook is not as good for middle blocker Shane Holdaway, who is making his national team debut this week.

“My heart is really heavy for Shane. It’s a serious injury. It was really cool that the guys banded together for Shane and brought it home for him,” Kiraly said.

“Shane, we are thinking about you. Get back stronger than ever. A lot of love and strength for Shane. He’ll come back. He is going to pop out again,” Garcia added.

Outside hitter Ethan Champlin, coming off his huge night against China, recorded six kills and a match-high six digs, and middle blocker Merrick McHenry, who became eligible when Shoji was injured, scored four points on two kills and two blocks, including the match-ending block.

Neither team led by more than three points at any time in the competitive first set. Garcia scored when he pushed a shot off the blocker’s hands to give the U.S. a 17-15 lead. After a Robinson kill on a back row attack made it 18-16, Garcia drilled an ace for a three-point lead.

The teams exchanged points late in the set with Canada’s third consecutive service error giving the U.S. three set points. Canada scored twice before Garcia painted the line with a kill for his set-high fifth point off the set. Robinson added four kills.

The second set was similar to the first set in terms of scoring but was a much cleaner set with far fewer service errors. A Ma’a ace completed a 5-1 run with an ace to give the U.S. an 18-14 lead. A Garcia block made it 22-18 and another kill from him pushed the lead to 23-19.

A Holdaway kill put the U.S. within one point of the set, 24-21, and after yielding one set point, Robinson scored his match-high 11th point on a kill off hands to give the U.S. a 2-0 set lead. Robinson led the way with five kills and two aces for seven points, and Garcia scored five points again, this time on four kills and a block.

The U.S. seemed to be pulling away in the third set when back-to-back Garcia aces made it 20-15. Canada responded with a 7-2 run to even the set at 22. Neither team led by more than a point until McHenry’s block ended the match at 30-28.

The U.S. had its first match point at 24-23 when a great hustle play chasing down a ball on the other side of the net kept Canada in the match. Garcia made it 25-24 with another kill but Canada scored the next two points to earn the first of two set points. They appeared to win the set on the next point when the U.S. was unable to get the ball over the net, but the whistle blew before the play ended and the replay showed that Ma’a did play the serve before it hit the floor.

A Jeff Jendryk kill gave the U.S. a 28-27 lead and after service errors by both teams, the U.S. finally prevailed. Garcia scored nine points in the net with seven kills to go with his two aces.

U.S. Men’s Week Two Roster for 2025 VNL

No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)
4 Jeff Jendryk (MB, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Loyola Univ. Chicago, Great Lakes)
5 Kyle Ensing (Opp, 6-7, Valencia, Calif., Long Beach State Univ., Southern California)
6 Quinn Isaacson (S, 6-2, Plainfield, Ill., Ball State, Great Lakes)
7 Jacob Pasteur (OH, 6-4, Westminster, Md., Ohio State Univ., Chesapeake)
9 Gabi Garcia (OPP, 6-7, San Juan, Puerto Rico, BYU)
10 Kyle Dagostino (L, 5-9, Tampa, Florida, Stanford Univ., Florida)
12 Shane Holdaway (MB, 6-6, Huntington Beach, Calif., Long Beach State, Southern California)
14 Micah Ma’a (S, 6-3, Kaneohe, Hawaii, UCLA, Aloha)
15 Kyle Hobus (OPP, 6-7, San Pedro, Calif., CSUN, Southern California)
18 Cooper Robinson (OH, 6-7, Pacific Palisades, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
22C Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford Univ., Aloha)
24 Merrick McHenry (MB, 6-7, Bedford, Texas, UCLA, North Texas)
25 Ethan Champlin (OH, 6-3, Oceanside, Calif., UCLA, Southern California)
26 Matthew Knigge (MB, 6-7, New Egypt, N.J., Vassar, Garden Empire)
29 Jordan Ewert (OH, 6-5, Antioch, Calif., Stanford, Northern California)

Head Coach:  Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Luka Slabe
Assistant Coach: Javier Weber
Performance Analyst: Nate Ngo
Physiotherapist: Aaron Brock
Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach: Tim Pelot
Senior Sports Dietitian: Shawn Hueglin
Mental Performance Coach: Andrea Becker
Team Manager: David Dantes
Consultant Coach: Chris McGown
Consultant Coach: Marv Dunphy
Team Doctors:  Eugene Yim, Mark Hutchinson, Michael Shepard, Warren Young

2025 Volleyball Nations League Schedule for Week 2
NOW Arena
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
All times PDT; Matches will be shown live on VBTV and either CBS Sports Network or Big Ten Network

June 25 USA def. China, 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 19-25, 25-16, 15-11)
June 26 USA def. Canada, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 30-28)
June 28 at 5:30 p.m. vs. Poland
June 29 at 5:30 p.m. vs. Italy

Week 1 Results
June 11: Ukraine def. USA, 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-23)
June 12 USA def. Iran, 3-2 (19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-23, 17-15)
June 14 Slovenia def. USA, 3-1 (25-22, 27-25, 20-25, 25-23)
June 15 USA def. Cuba, 3-1 (25-22, 25-18, 18-25, 25-23)