Already secured as the Pool D top seed after winning the first two sets against Cuba, the USA turned to its “B squad” to give the second-string players some valuable exposure ahead of the Round of 16 in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship.
Although the substitutes needed a full set to find their rhythm, they finally clicked in the fourth, helping the Americans defeat Cuba, 25-17, 25-22, 23-25, 27-25, and complete a clean sweep of the group on Wednesday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“We just trusted the B squad. They’ve been training really hard, pushing the A-squad a lot recently,” said Cooper Robinson, who led the USA in scoring despite coming off the bench.
“I think we trusted our guys and had confidence in them. We knew that if we were going to have some fun, this was the time to do it. So, we went out and just played.”
Robinson finished with a game-high 14 points, half of them coming in the decisive fourth set, while Kyle Ensing contributed seven points.
Jacob Pasteur also added seven points as the B squad delivered exactly what head coach Karch Kiraly hoped for.
“We believe we’re going to need contributions from everybody to get past the Round of 16. It was great to get most of the guys on the court, give them experience, and let them make contributions — and they all did,” said Kiraly, who also led the USA women’s national volleyball team to its first-ever Olympic gold in Tokyo 2020.
Kiraly used all but one of his 14 players, giving the team a full rotation while preserving energy.
With four days to rest before the knockout stages, the Americans are now setting their sights on making even louder noise deeper into the competition.
#WATCH: Coach Karch Kiraly stresses the importance of giving everyone court time ahead of the #MWCH2025 Round of 16! 🇺🇸🏐
📹 @justinvalencia_ /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/mN5Rr0TyCJ
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) September 17, 2025
