Stanley, connecting with starting setter Lloy Ball (Woodburn, Ind.), finished the match with 17 kills, two blocks and one ace. Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.) scored 15 points on 12 kills and three blocks. Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.) added 14 points on 11 kills and three blocks and Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) finished with 11 points on nine kills and two blocks.

U.S. Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) started Priddy and Riley Salmon (League City, Texas) at outside hitter, Hoff and Millar at middle blocker, Stanley at opposite and Ball at setter. Rich Lambourne (Tustin, Calif.) played libero.

Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.) and Brook Billings (Santa Barbara, Calif.) both entered the match as substitutes and Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.) played setter for the end of the fourth set.

Nicholas Cundy led Canada with 15 points on 13 kills and two blocks.

The two teams traded points in the first set. Canada held an 8-7 lead at the first technical timeout.

With the U.S. Men trailing 12-13, Hoff scored on a quick set to tie the score. Ball followed with a scoring block, then gave Hoff another quick set to give the United States a 15-13 lead. Team USA never trailed again and went on to win 25-18.

The second set saw the U.S. Men hold an 8-4 lead at the first technical timeout and then extend the lead to 12-7. However, Canada wasn’t done as it scored the next four points in a row on a kill, two blocks and an ace to cut the U.S. lead to 12-11.

McCutcheon called a timeout to stop the bleeding and Stanley responded with a kill. But Canada took advantage of Stanley’s service error followed by an ace from Paul Duerden to tie the score at 13-13.

The score was still tied at 15-15 when Duerden connected on two straight kills from the back row to give Canada the lead for good and the eventual 25-20 set victory.

The U.S. Men came out swinging in the third set and took an 8-5 lead behind three kills and an ace by Stanley and a kill by Priddy. Canada never got closer than two points down.

Team USA took a 7-4 lead in the fourth set, then saw Canada score the next five points in a row to gain a 9-7 lead. A Millar kill and Stanley block tied the score at 9-9, but Cundy came back with two kills to put Canada ahead again.

With Canada leading 16-13, McCutcheon replaced Ball with Hansen, who immediately scored on a kill. Eventually, the U.S. Men tied to score at 20-20. The two teams went back and forth until the scored was tied again at 22-22. A Hoff kill and Priddy block gave Team USA match point. Cundy scored once more on a kill before Millar’s attack ended the match.

Brazil defeated the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-17, 25- 8, 25-20) in the other match played Wednesday.

The U.S. Men will face Argentina on Thursday.

The America’s Cup web site is at www.cbv.com.br/newcbv/copa-america/2007/index.asp.

2007 America’s Cup Results and Schedule
(All times local)

Group A
Aug. 15: USA def. Canada, 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-16, 25-23)
Aug. 16 at 9 p.m.: USA vs. Argentina
Aug. 17 at 8 p.m.: Argentina vs. Canada

Group B
Aug. 15 at 3 p.m.: Brazil def. Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-17, 25- 8, 25-20)
Aug. 16 at 3 p.m.: Brazil vs. Cuba
Aug. 17 at 5 p.m.: Cuba vs. Dominican Republic

Aug. 18
3 p.m. -- 5th-6th: A third vs. B third
6 p.m. – Semifinal 1: B first vs. A second
8:15 p.m. – Semifinal 2: A first vs. B second

Aug. 19
4:30 p.m. – Bronze medal
8 p.m. – Gold medal

U.S. Men’s National Team
2007 America’s Cup Roster

1 Lloy Ball (S, 6-8, Woodburn, Ind., Indiana-Purdue, Fort Wayne)
2 Sean Rooney (OH, 6-9, Wheaton, Ill., Pepperdine)
3 Jim Polster (OH, 6-6, Laguna Niguel, Calif., Long Beach State)
5 Rich Lambourne (L, 6-3, Tustin, Calif., BYU)
6 Phil Eatherton (MB, 6-9, Glencoe, Mo., Ball State)
8 Reid Priddy (OH, 6-5, Richmond, Va., Loyola Marymount)
9 Ryan Millar (MB, 6-8, Palmdale, Calif., BYU)
10 Riley Salmon (OH, 6-6, League City, Texas, Pierce College)
11 Brook Billings (OPP, 6-5, Santa Barbara, Calif., USC)
12 Tom Hoff (MB, 6-8, Park Ridge, Ill., Long Beach State)
13 Clay Stanley (OPP, 6-9, Honolulu, Hawai’i, Hawai’i)
14 Kevin Hansen (S, 6-5, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford)