SportShorts for Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Junis notches second straight win for Giants

Rock Falls native Jakob Junis picked up his third win in his last four starts on Friday, pitching five innings in San Francisco’s 7-2 win over the rival Dodgers.

Junis gave up two earned runs, five hits and a walk in his seventh straight start, striking out five. He left after the top of the fifth with the Giants leading 3-2; they scored three runs in the bottom of the inning.

He improves to 4-1 on the season, and has been stellar in his last four starts. He is 3-0 in that span, allowing six runs, 13 hits and six walks while striking out 20 in 21 1/3 innings.

In his first season in San Francisco, Junis has a 2.63 ERA over 48 innings, and has given up 14 runs (all earned) and 26 hits, with 40 strikeouts and 10 walks. He has pitched in nine games, with seven starts.

Team USA volleyball wins Pan American Cup title

Led by team captain Lexi Rodriguez, the U.S. U21 women’s volleyball team went 5-0 and won the championship at the Pan American Cup over the weekend.

Sterling native Rodriguez finished the tournament with a team-high 83 digs, and the Nebraska star libero also had 17 excellent service receptions in two matches over the weekend.

Team USA defeated Chile 25-11, 25-13, 25-9 in the semifinals Saturday night, as Rodriguez had 11 digs and 5 excellent receptions in the lopsided win. The U.S. had a 43-18 edge in kills, 12-2 in aces and 9-4 in blocks.

In Sunday’s title match, Team USA notched its second four-set win over Argentina, winning 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 15-14. Rodriguez finished with 24 digs and 12 excellent receptions, and the U.S. held slight advantages in kills (53-42), aces (6-4) and blocks (12-9).

Trailing 5-0 in the third set, Team USA rallied to tie the match 16-16, then scored three straight points to turn a 19-18 deficit into a 21-19 lead, and it never looked back. In the fourth set, it led 8-6 at the first timeout and never trailed after that.

The U.S. lost only two sets in its five matches to claim its second title at the Pan American Cup, with the other coming in 2017.