The U.S. Men’s A2 Team defended its Pan American Cup title on Saturday with a 3-2 (32-30 , 16-25, 24-26, 25-17, 15-12) victory over Canada in the gold medal match in Chiapas, Mexico.  49er Dean Bittner led the United States in scoring with 30 points on 27 kills, one block and two aces. Bittner converted 57 percent of his attack attempts into points.

Long Beach State alum Robert Tarr  scored 14 points on 13 kills and one ace.

“I think that the team didn’t get desperate after being down 2-1,” U.S. Head Coach Rick McLaughlin said in a NORCECA press release. “We could adjust our quick game and the blocking at the corners. We are very happy with this victory in the start of the year for our program.”

The Canadian team dominated the blocking 18-9 but most of them were in the first three

Recent LBSU grad Dustin Watten played as a substitute.