2018 NORCECA U-18 Continental Championship

U.S. Girls Complete Perfect Run To NORCECA Gold

U.S. Girls Complete Perfect Run To NORCECA Gold

The USA GYNT completed its run to the NORCECA Girls' U18 Continental Championship gold medal podium without losing a single set in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Sep 3, 2018 by Kolby Paxton
United States vs Canada

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Well, that was impressive.

The U.S. Girls' Youth National Team completed its run to the 2018 NORCECA Girls' U18 Continental Championship gold medal podium without losing a single set in Tegucigalpa, Honduras—knocking off Canada in straight sets in the final: 25-13, 25-12, 25-23.

Five players from the American squad were selected to the all-tournament team, including outside hitter Jess Mruzik, who was named best spiker and the tournament's most valuable player.

The USA outscored the opposition 375-191—25-12.7 per set. The Canadians managed 23 points in the final set of the gold medal match, which marked the first time during the tournament that any opponent managed to eclipse 17 points in a set.

“We are happy,” U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team Head Coach Jim Stone said. “The thing that I really like about this team is that they improved. They kept improving over the course of the training period. If that meant we qualified, that is great, but we wanted to keep improving and they did that.”

Mruzik led all scorers with 19 points on 14 kills, three aces and two blocks. Devyn Robinson contributed 13 points on eight kills and five blocks—without committing an error. Emily Londot added 12 kills on just 17 swings.

Both the USA and Canada have no qualified for the 2019 FIVB Girls' U18 World Championship.