MONCTON, Canada, September 11, 2026 –Mexico started the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship off on the right foot with a 3-1 (26-24, 14-25, 25-18, 25-23) victory over Puerto Rico Friday.
Mexico eked out two nail-biting set wins, including an impressive fourth-set comeback to clinch the first Group A game of the tournament at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, Canada.
Puerto Rico appeared to take a 25-24 lead in the back-and-forth first set, but a video challenge revealed a net touch that gave Mexico the lead instead. Mauro Isaac Fuentes Rascon then served an ace to clinch the set. The Puerto Ricans, however, regrouped for a 25-14 win in the second to even the contest.
Mexico jumped out to a 5-1 cushion in the third set and led wire-to-wire to take a 2-1 lead. Puerto Rico once again charged back, taking the early fourth set lead and holding as much as a seven-point margin midway. But Mexico chipped away after being down 14-7 to tie it 17-17 on a block by Victor Manuel Parra Valenzuela. The teams then traded the next eight points to make it 21-21 before Mexico finally pulled ahead for good and held on to win, with Parra scoring the clinching point.
The teams scored 90 points each across the four sets. Puerto Rico held the advantage in attacks (59-52) and blocks (9-8) but gave up 26 points on errors to Mexico’s 22. Mexico had four aces, Puerto Rico none.
Puerto Rico’s Pelegrin Vargas was the top individual scorer with 20 points, eight of which came in his team’s dominant second set. Pedro Molina chipped in 14 points for the Puerto Ricans.
Outside hitter Franky Hernandez Milantony was Mexico’s top scorer with 16 points, followed by Diego González Castañeda with 15. Juan Salvador Garcia Ayala added 11, including a match-high four blocks and three of Mexico’s four aces.
The nine-day tournament runs through Sept. 19, with eight teams competing for three berths to the 2027 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup in Poland. The tournament will also determine the teams that advance to NORCECA’s final qualification stage for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Mexico will meet Curaçao at 1:30 p.m. (Atlantic Time), while Puerto Rico will be back in action against the host Canadians at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Carlos Schwanke, Mexico’s head coach: “We couldn’t practise so much for this tournament. It was a heavy season…. The first goal was to beat them, and we hope we are going to be in this next world championship.”
“After the second set, I told the players to re-concentrate, to bring the attention. What we spoke before the pre-match was clear: don’t give them free errors, make them work, patience in the match. It’s a big derby between us, so it is a good match for us to beat them. A victory like that gives us confidence for the remaining championships and we’ll play match by match.”
English 
Spanish