MORELOS, Mexico, August 16, 2026.- The Dominican Republic closed out the 19th Men’s Pan American Cup with another five-set victory over Cuba, winning 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 26-28, 18-16) to finish in fifth place on Sunday in Morelos.
The Dominicans finished the competition with a 4-2 record, while Cuba, at 3-3, placed sixth.
It was the second five-set battle between the two teams in the tournament, and once again the Dominican Republic came out on top.
After dropping the opening set, the Dominican Republic won the next two, but Cuba extended the match to a tie-break by taking a tightly contested fourth set 28-26.
The fifth set delivered another close finish. With the score tied at 16-16, the Dominican Republic scored the final two points to seal the 18-16 victory, with Erisandy Castillo recording the block that ended the match.
The Dominican Republic finished with a 15-11 advantage in blocks and 3-2 in aces, while committing fewer errors, 27 to Cuba’s 35. Cuba held a 72-64 advantage in attacks.
Edward Rojas led the Dominican Republic with 22 points, while Alexis Cruz scored 20. Moisés Ortiz added 14 points, including a match-high six blocks.
Cuba’s captain Bryan Camino led his team with 22 points, followed by Daniel Martínez with 19 and Carlos Pereira Larea with 14. Jose Angel Morejon finished with 10 points.
Erisandy Castillo, who scored the match-winning block for the Dominican Republic, highlighted his contribution after coming off the bench.
“I came in as a substitute to help my team. I scored the final point, used all my energy and focused on our coach’s instructions. We are happy with the victory. We earned a good finish in a very tough tournament,” Castillo said.
Cuba head coach Darienn Ferrer pointed to a lack of consistency as one of the factors that affected his team throughout the competition.
“We needed more consistency throughout the tournament to close out matches. We made too many errors. When you make that many errors against any opponent, it costs you the match,” Ferrer said.
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