Three BYU Volleyball Players Help Team USA Win Its First U23 Pan American Cup

Three BYU men's volleyball players won gold medals in El Salvador. AJ Cottle, Trevor Herget and Connor Oldani were on the U.S. Men's U23 National Team that beat Costa Rica 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-13, 25-17) on Sunday, September 27, to win the 2026 NORCECA Men's U23 Pan American Cup at the Palacio de los Deportes Carlos "El Famoso" Hernández in San Salvador.

BYU Athletics said it is the first time Team USA has won the U23 Pan American Cup. The Americans won all four of their matches and finished with a 12-1 record in sets, according to USA Volleyball. The only set they lost all tournament was the second set of the final.

How the U.S. reached the final

USA Volleyball named its 14-man roster on September 3 for a tournament it listed as running September 20-28 in San Salvador. Nickie Sanlin of McKendree University was the head coach, and the three Cougars were joined by players from UCLA, Ball State, Loyola Chicago, Long Beach State, Pepperdine, Lewis and Cal State Northridge, plus a high school player from Wisconsin.

The U.S. opened on September 23 with a 3-0 win over the Dominican Republic (25-19, 25-18, 25-22). A day later it swept Trinidad and Tobago 25-15, 25-19, 25-15. BYU said that win helped the U.S. win its pool and advance directly to the semifinals, so they had a bye through the September 25 quarterfinal round.

The semifinal on September 26 was another sweep, 25-19, 25-21, 25-20 over Mexico. Herget played in both the Dominican Republic and Mexico matches, according to BYU.

Connor Oldani led both teams against Trinidad and Tobago

Oldani's big night came in the second match. The Phoenix native finished with 17 points, including 13 kills, to lead both teams in scoring, BYU said. Cottle was the second-leading scorer for the U.S. in the same match with seven kills and 10 points.

USA Volleyball's roster lists Oldani as a 6-foot-5 opposite from the Arizona region. BYU's roster lists him as an outside hitter and a sophomore who came to Provo from Grand Canyon University, where he had 46 kills, 11 blocks, 18 digs and four aces in 2025. He was a 2024 AVCA All-American Second Team pick and the 2024 Arizona 6A and state player of the year. His mother, Renee, played volleyball at the University of Missouri, according to his BYU profile.

Cottle is a 6-foot-8 middle blocker from Provo who played at Timpview High School. BYU's report described him as an upcoming sophomore, and his BYU profile lists him as a 2022 Utah Boys All-Star.

Trevor Herget in the gold-medal match

The final belonged to the U.S. attack. USA Volleyball's statistics show the Americans ahead 60-32 in kills, 13-6 in blocks and 8-1 in aces, and hitting .505 as a team. Costa Rica made 15 fewer errors than the U.S., and it scored 10 of its second-set points off U.S. errors on the way to taking that set 25-23.

UCLA opposite David Decker led the U.S. with 30 points on 27 kills. Herget was second on the team with 16 points on 15 kills and a block. He also finished with a match-high 12 excellent receptions and six digs, according to USA Volleyball.

Herget figured in the key runs of the first, third and fourth sets. After the U.S. built a 23-15 lead in the first set, he ended it with his fifth kill. In the third, he gave the Americans set point at 24-12, and two plays later he put the set away for a 2-1 match lead.

The fourth set was where he took over a stretch. Herget tooled the Costa Rica block to make it 17-11, used the block again to score, and then recorded a block of his own for a 19-13 lead. The Americans closed the match 25-17 when Decker's 27th kill went high off the block.

BYU said Herget finished the tournament with 32 total points.

Where the three came from

Herget is a 6-foot-3 outside hitter from Darien, Connecticut. His BYU profile lists three straight Connecticut state player of the year awards and three state championships from 2021 to 2023, a 2023 AVCA Second Team All-American selection and a gold medal at the 2022 USA Boys Junior National Championship in Las Vegas. He also played football in high school.

Volleyball and BYU both run through his family. His father, Todd, played football at BYU. His brothers Todd Jr. and Tim played volleyball at Ohio State and Penn State, according to his profile.

Two of the three served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before this tournament. Herget served in the Pocatello Idaho Mission from 2023 to 2025, and Cottle served in Rosario, Argentina, over the same years, according to their BYU profiles.

That path is written into the college sports bill now in Congress. The Protect College Sports Act, which passed the U.S. Senate on September 28 and still needs a House vote, sets a five-year eligibility window with exemptions for missionary service, according to the Deseret News.

Key facts:

• Event: 2026 NORCECA Men's U23 Pan American Cup, San Salvador, El Salvador
• Final: USA def. Costa Rica 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-13, 25-17), September 27, 2026
• Record: 4-0 in matches and 12-1 in sets; the first U23 Pan American Cup title for Team USA
• BYU players: AJ Cottle (MB, 6-8, Provo, Utah), Trevor Herget (OH, 6-3, Darien, Conn.), Connor Oldani (6-5, Phoenix, Ariz.)
• Herget in the final: 16 points on 15 kills and a block, a match-high 12 excellent receptions, six digs; 32 points in the tournament
• Oldani vs. Trinidad and Tobago: 17 points (13 kills), leading both teams in scoring
• Cottle vs. Trinidad and Tobago: seven kills and 10 points, second on the U.S.
• Head coach: Nickie Sanlin (McKendree University)