Tag: 2023 Men Final Six

Sept. 24, 2023: USA beat Canada today at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, held September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Alberta.

The final gold-medal match score was 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-16).

USA dominated in attack points 40-29, blocking 13-1, and serving 6-1. Canada made fewer errors – 16 to 20.

Ethan Champlin was USA’s top scorer at 16 points (including two blocks and two aces), Camden Gianni and Patrick Gasman added 13 points each.

Isaac Heslinga and Christopher Byam led Canada with nine points each.

Earlier Mexico won bronze over Cuba; and Puerto Rico beat Dominican Republic for fifth place.

Andy Read, head coach of USA, “I think we played a really complete tournament. Our goal was to be better every day and we did that. The standard was ‘let’s be the best we can be.’ I am super proud of our guys…. It was a great tournament, thanks to the organizers and volunteers.”

Patrick Gasman, captain of Team USA, “We have a lot of experience on our team helped us out and it came down to effort and energy and we played within our system and got the job done. It was a good tournament for us; we wanted to build upon every game, and I think we showed that.”

 
Isaac Heslinga, captain of Team Canada, “I go to school at University of Alberta (in Edmonton), so seeing friends and family in the crowd, it means a lot to us.  The whole atmosphere brings such life to the game and it makes it more fun for us. .. Each game we improved bit by bit. Overall, it was a good experience and we really wanted to play the U.S. again (in round robin and final), it was lot of fun to test ourselves against them”.

EDMONTON, CANADA: Sept. 24, 2023: Mexico won the bronze medal after a sweep of Cuba today at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, held September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Canada.

Mexico defeated the Caribbean nation’s team 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-18).

Though Cuba led in attack points (38-37), Mexico led in blocking 12-5, service aces 2-0 and made fewer errors (16-25)

Luis Hernández Baca (18 points) and Josué López Rios (14 points) led Mexico’s effort.

Alejandro González Rodríguez and Yohan Armando Léon Napoles each scored 13 for the Cuban side.

USA and Canada play in the match for gold.

Jorge Azair, head coach of Mexico: “Compared with yesterday, our performance was better – our side out, our block and my setter was covering a lot of areas of the court. For us, the tournament helps in our preparation for the Olympic Qualification tournament coming up in China. It was good preparation for some of the players and I’m happy with what we achieved here.”

Manuel Espinosa, head coach of Cuba: “The Mexican team was superior to ours; they fought for the medal and won it. We made many mistakes, and the game was very scattered, focusing on other tasks outside the playing area, and that’s why we lost the opportunity to compete. Congratulations to Mexico”.

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 24, 2023:  Puerto Rico made a comeback to beat Dominican Republic today 3-2 (19-25, 15-25, 25-23, 25-17, 16-14) at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Alberta.

This match determined fifth and sixth place of the tournament.

Dominican Republic led in attack points (66-62), blocking (15-9); Puerto Rico had one more ace (3-2) and gained more points from their opponent’s errors (26-21).

Outside hitter Klistan Lawrence led all scorers with 28 points for Puerto Rico. Team captain Gerson Ezequiel Toribio Martinez was top scorer for the Dominican Republic with 24 points. 

Sadly, the match was delayed with a serious injury to player Luis David Reinoso Soto of the Dominican Republic late in the fifth set. He was assessed and taken to a hospital and the match resumed.  

Gerardo de Jesus Sanchez, head coach of Puerto Rico: “I made some changes and brought in #4 Lorenzo Rivera, he’s the 17-year-old son of Victor Rivera who played for Puerto Rico’s national team, and that made a difference in our comeback. 

“I am very happy for my team, but I am also very sad about the injury of the Dominican player, which was very bad. It is not how we wanted to the tournament. The tournament was good experience for this young group, so I’m happy for that.” 

Klistan Lawrence, player from Puerto Rico: “I felt I could have been better today, but I’m very happy with the win for my team. We adjusted and played much better the third and fourth sets.” 

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 23, 2023:  WATCH LIVE Mexico defeated Canada in five sets today at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Alberta.

Canada had a slow start but gained confidence in front of their home crowd to force a tie break, but Mexico finished off the host team in the decisive final set – score was 3-2 (25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 23-25, 15-9).

Mexico won the match, but Canada advances to the gold-medal final based on their record in round-robin play this week. The final will be Canada vs. USA, and Mexico will play Cuba for the bronze medal.

Canadian Christopher Byam led scoring for his team with 20 points.

Luis Hernández Baca of Mexico scored 19 points for the winning side.  

Canada led in attack points (58-56), blocking (12-7) and service aces (7-3), but Canada made significantly more errors than Mexico (45-28).

Jorge Azair, head coach of Mexico: “We wanted to win 3-0 to play in the final, but I proud that the team played well and was more disciplined today.  Tomorrow will be a strong match because Cuba is a strong team. It will be a good game for us.”

Dan Lewis, head coach of Canada: “It was very difficult to do what we had to do tonight because Mexico is a very experienced team. … We only had to win one set and we were down, so I’m proud of our guys for handling the stress of that situation.”

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 23, 2023:  WATCH LIVE USA beat Cuba today 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-13) at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Canada.

With this win, USA has secured its spot in the gold-medal match on Sunday.

USA led in attacks (30-22), blocks (12-6) and service aces (6-3). Cuba made more errors (27-23).

Opposite Jalen Penrose was USA’s top scorer with 11 points. His teammates Zachary Rama and Kyle McCauley contributed 10 points apiece.

Cuban Alejandro González Rodríguez led his team again today, also with 11 points.

Jalen Penrose, USA player: “Cuba is always a team that puts up a fight; they have got young, athletic guys. They bring some intensity to the match, and we just had to match that, which we did and we got the win. We had some new guys playing today, including me, so we’re just feeling each other out and as the match progressed, we just made some changes and we adjusted to build a bigger lead going into the next sets.”

Manuel Espinosa, head coach of Cuba: “Team USA is really good; they play really well. We thought we could put a bit of pressure on them but in the end, we even had to use our bench players. In reality, our goal is to look for the possibility of a medal tomorrow and fight for the bronze. Is not that we gave up the match, but the possibilities were not clear, and we decided to give opportunity to the players we are developing for the future.”

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 23, 2023: WATCH LIVE Puerto Rico managed a five-set win today over Dominican Republic at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Puerto Rico pushed the Dominican team to overtime in the tie-break, with the score ending 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 16-25, 16-14).

The teams were evenly matched, Dominican had one more attack point (56-55) and one more ace (4-3), while Puerto Rico led in blocks (17-14). Errors were the same at 29 points each.

Klistan Lawrence scored a match-high 28 points (24 attacks, three blocks and an ace).

Moises Ortiz Valdez was top scorer for Dominican Republic with 17 points.

This was Puerto Rico’s second win, while their opponent is still searching for a victory. Finals are held on Sunday.

Gerardo de Jesus Sanchez, head coach of Puerto Rico: “We won, but I don’t think we played that well today. I think the guys are tired, even though we didn’t practice this morning. Dominican played well – both teams are the same and are young teams that need more experience. The match was even, but I am happy for the win.”

Alexander Gutierrez, head coach of Dominican Republic: “Puerto Rico is very similar to us, they are a very young team. There are a lot of ups and downs, but for us we need to improve our consistency and attack. Maybe tomorrow (in the classification match), we can win.”

EDMONTON, CANADA: Sept. 22, 2023: WATCH LIVE Team USA beat Canada today at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, held September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Alberta.

Canada came out strong, winning the first set, but then struggled against its North America rivals 1-3 (25-22, 14-25, 20-25, 17-25).

The US led in attack 46-37, blocks 18-7, and service aces 4-2. Patrick Gasman scored 17 points to lead all scorers with 17 points. Canada’s captain Isaac Heslinga led the home team with 10 points.

Errors were 30-29, in favor of Canada.

Patrick Gasman, USA Captain: “We have to understand that we’ve played this team a lot and they’ve always kicked us in the mouth. It took us a minute to just settle down and play within our system, and the system worked great in set 2, 3 and 4.”

Dan Lewis, head coach of Canada. “We just made too many errors, you cannot be unorganized against a disciplined team. If you don’t adapt during the game, then the other team exploits your weaknesses. … It’s a long tournament – we have to rest and get ready for the match tomorrow.”

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 22, 2023:  WATCH LIVE Cuba picked up its second win today at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Canada.

The Cubans beat Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-22).

Although Cuba made many more costly errors (28-17), their strength and power pushed them through each set. Cuba led in attack points (43-32), blocks (8-5) and service aces (7-2).

Cuban José Gómez Reyes led his country’s team in scoring with 15 attack points, one block, and two aces.  Gerson Ezequiel Toribio Martinez led the Dominican effort with 12 points.

Cuba has two wins and two losses; Dominican Republic has yet to earn a win at this tournament.  

Manuel Espinosa, head coach of Cuba:  “A very important match today against Dominican Republic because it defined many things for us. We guaranteed to fight for a medal today, so it was a very important win. The match was pretty balance, we thought that it was going to be easier, but the Dominican team fought and did not play bad, and they put a lot of pressure on us. But well, in the end we won with the possibilities that we had during the match and the tactical plan we had established. Congratulations to them, even though they did not win, they played a really good match.” 

Alexander Gutierrez, head coach of Dominican Republic: 

“We have problems with our attacking; our efficiency in attack is very low. We have to work more and more to improve in that area. If you don’t score on attack, it’s impossible to close sets. But as far as the experience of playing in this tournament is concerned, it’s very good for us. We still have very young players, but the future looks good for us. Especially coming from a small country like Dominican Republic. We just must continue to work hard.”

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 22, 2023:  WATCH LIVE Mexico fell to Puerto Rico today 1-3 (25-17, 23-25, 26-28, 21-25) at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Alberta.

Despite the loss, Mexico led in attack points (57-50), but Puerto Rico led in blocking (9-8), service points (6-3) and made fewer errors overall (27-30).

This was Puerto Rico’s first win of the tournament. Mexico is 2-2.

Klistan Lawrence led Puerto Rico with 24 points. Luis Hernández Baca of Mexico also contributed 24 points for his team.

Jorge Azair, head coach of Mexico: “I think that Puerto Rico adjusted and changed their opposite and responded by playing better. They were better in reception and sideout. We made mistakes and that made the difference for our team.”

Gerardo de Jesus Sanchez, head coach of Puerto Rico:  “The guys played well today, and I’m very happy with this victory. We served well, passed well, blocked well – I’m very excited about this victory.  I changed Lawrence to opposite after the first set and it worked well for the team.”

Klistan Lawrence, player from Puerto Rico: “I felt I was able to make a big difference coming in as opposite, it helped the team with passing and offence. I’m very happy that we finally got a win against a good team. We are learning a lot about being calm and controlled and communicating better as a team.”

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 21, 2023:  Canada remains undefeated with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16) win today over Cuba at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, being held from September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Canada.

Canada led in attacking 43-39, blocking 12-8, and service aces 5-3 and also took more points from opponent errors – 38-33.

Canada’s opposite Christopher Byam led the North American team’s attack with 24 points. Cuban Alejandro González Rodríguez led his team again today with 19 points.

Canada is now 3-0, while Cuba is 1-3.

Dan Lewis, Canada’s head coach: “In the beginning we were making too many errors, but so was Cuba as they are also a young team. Tonight, we had more info on the Cuban team and it was super important for our guys to execute based on this information. … Our guys were able to execute, and they did a fantastic job. Our setter was fantastic and Byam was so physical. It takes that mental focus to win at this level. “

Manuel Espinosa, head coach of Cuba: “Undoubtedly, the Canadian team is a very technical team that knew how to take advantage of all the difficulties we had; they studied us very well, and that contributed in part to the challenges we faced throughout the game, which allowed them to win. It was a good match, worthy of admiration from both teams. I believe that the ones who fought the hardest were the ones who won, which were the Canadians.”

EDMONTON, CANADA: Sept. 21, 2023.- Watch LIVE Mexico defeated Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-14, 27-25, 25-17) today at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, held September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Canada.

Mexico led in attack points (40-32) as well as blocking (10-7) and service aces (8-1). Error points also went in Mexico’s favor (19-16).

Josué López Rios of Mexico led all scoring with 16 points (12 attacks, 2 blocks and 2 aces) followed on the scoresheet by teammate Luis Hernández Baca who produced 15 points.

Dominican Moises Ortiz contributed nine points to his team’s effort, as did his teammate Luis David Reinoso Soto.

Mexico’s record is 2-1; Dominican Republic is 0-3.

Jorge Azair, head coach of Mexico: “We worked better in our side-out and our service was difficult for them. We work step by step, and tomorrow will be a very important match to win. We want the opportunity to be in the finals, and that’s our goal.”

Alexander Gutierrez, head coach of Dominican Republic: “It’s like a roller coaster with ups and downs. We had one set at a high level and that’s ok. I tried to put in other players to give them experience and that’s important for us to give these players at chance to play.”

EDMONTON, CANADA: Sept. 20, 2023:  Watch LIVE USA swept Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-11) today at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, held September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Canada.

USA dominated in attacking 34-19, blocking 10-4, and serving 9-2, but lost one more point to errors compared with its opponent.

Outside hitter Jordan Ewert led all scoring with 14 points (six attack points, two blocks and six aces), followed by teammate opposite Camden Gianni at 13 points (10 attacks, a block and two aces).

Outside hitter Klistan Lawrence Vidal led Puerto Rico with eight points.

USA is undefeated at 3-0 in the round robin; while Puerto Rico is 0-3 and has yet to find a win here in Edmonton.  

Camden Gianni, #10 USA player: “I thought the boys fought hard today; I think the whole mentality for this tournament is to take another step forward for the next day whether it’s reading certain blocks or watching certain attackers or serving or passing. We’ve gone in with the mindset of getting one percent better each day and I think we’ve done a good job of that. I think Andy (head coach) does a good job with the scouting reports and preparing us for what we’ll be seeing across the net.”

Gerardo de Jesus Sanchez, head coach of Puerto Rico: “The United States team was very structured in their defensive system. They did not give us any opportunity. They served really well, and their blocking mark worked, making difficult for us to make points.”

EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA. Sept 20, 2023: Watch LIVE Canada is now 2-0 at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six Cup, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar at the Edmonton Expo Centre.

Canada defeated the Dominican Republic 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-22) in the evening match. Canada led in attack, 60 to 42 points, while blocking (11-12) and service points (2-2) were even. Dominican Republic capitalized on Canada’s errors (27-23).

Dominican Adrián Figueroa Lantigua led all scoring with 19 points; Canada’s Isaac Heslinga led his team with 16 points, followed by Isaiah Mamer with 13 on the score sheet.

Dominican Republic is 0-2 so far in the tournament.

Isaac Heslinga, Team Captain of Canada: “The big thing coming in for us for figuring out our hand pass; we knew they are a big float serve team, so it took a bit to warm up to that. After we figured that out, I think we had the win… Consistency is important for us. We are still learning to work together and find our team dynamic. I feel we are coming together slowly, and I’m excited to see what we can do for the rest of the week.” 

Alexander Gutierrez, head coach of Dominican Republic: “Every match is a different story for us, but the most important thing is that today we played much better than yesterday. And we improved in all our actions. …I think our organization is good and every match we will try to improve our performance. Losing, sometimes you win … for us every match is a win as we improve and learn.”  

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 20, 2023:  Cuba defeated Puerto Rico in the second day of round-robin play at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Canada.

Puerto Rico fought hard to keep the contest going, but in the end it was Cuba 3, Puerto Rico 1 (25-22, 19-25, 26-24, 25-18).

Cuba led in attacking (59-41) and serves (5-3). Puerto Rico earned more blocking points (9-7) and Cuba made more errors (32-21).

Cuban Alejandro González Rodríguez led all scoring with 26 points (23 attacks, 1 block and 2 aces). Klistan Lawrence led Puerto Rico’s effort with 17 points for the losing side.

Cuba is 1-1, and Puerto Rico is 0-2.

Manuel Espinosa, head coach of Cuba:  “Well in this match we were motivated. Our players were able to follow what we had discussed in our technical meeting and pull through. I think Puerto Rico is not a lower-level team, it is a team that fights and battles for a victory, but we got the win this time. Congratulations to all of our players that have earned this win today.”

Gerardo de Jesus Sanchez, head coach of Puerto Rico:  “Well, we had great match, against a Cuban team that has the strength and height. Our athletes are a little shorter in height but play volleyball well and this is what we use during the matches. We got a little desperate in the fourth set and that was the difference in there, we started really well but we were not able to keep the advantage.”

EDMONTON, CANADA: Sept. 20, 2023. USA defeated Mexico 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-19) at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, held September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Canada.

USA attack was strong, gaining 43 points (compared with 29 for Mexico). The U.S. also led in blocking 8-3 and service aces, 3-1.  Errors were almost even, with (21-22) in favor of Mexico.

Outside hitter Jordan Ewert led all scoring with 17 points for USA. Josué López Rios was top producer for Mexico with nine points.

USA is 2-0; Mexico is 1-1 on day 2 of the tournament.  

Jorge Azair, head coach of Mexico: “Today we made a lot of mistakes. Our sideout didn’t produce and our setting was not connecting well with our attacking. But it’s a long tournament, so we put today behind us and look ahead to the next match with the Dominican Republic.”  

Jordan Ewert, player #4 USA :  “We came to win today and that’s we did. Serving and passing made the difference – we had a couple of spurts where our serve kind of struggled, but we stayed aggressive and forced them out of system a lot. When they (Mexico) are out of system, we’ve got a good block and defense team, and we were able to get a lot of break points and pull away. We are learning that we are not always clean, but we are getting more comfortable in chaotic situations…. Our goal is to get better as the tournament goes along and be prepared for the finals on Sunday.”

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 19, 2023: Canada managed to win its opener at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar at the Expo Centre, in Edmonton, Alberta.

It was Canada over Puerto Rico 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20) on the first day of the round robin.

Canada led 55-43 in attack points; 11-8 in block points and a whopping 10-0 in service aces. However, Puerto Rico made fewer errors (29-22).

Isaac Heslinga of Canada led all scorers with 23 points. Klistan Lawrence Vidal led Puerto Rico with 16 points.

Dan Lewis, head coach of Canada: “I’m happy with the win, but our organization needs to be better. There were a couple of things we needed to do in terms of organization and we weren’t able to execute that well and it opens the door for the opponent. This week we will just try to refine our execution and have discipline. At the international level, we have to be able to execute our plan well.”

Gerardo De Jesus Sanchez, head coach of Puerto Rico: “This is a new group, made up of college students, and we’ve had very little training. Some of them are in school in the United States, and others play in professional leagues. For a first game, we performed quite well against a Canadian team that is well-trained.”

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 19:  USA won its opening match at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, held from September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar, in Edmonton, Canada.

USA won 3-0 (25-17, 25-9, 25-19) over a young Dominican squad – dominating in attack points (45-22) as well as in blocking (9-4) and service aces (5-1). The U.S. also received more points from opponent errors (18-16).

The USA’s Camden Gianni led all scoring with 18 points, including three ace serves. Luis David Reinoso Soto led the Dominican team with seven points.

Alexander Gutierrez, head coach of Dominican Republic: “For us this is a difficult match – the USA has a high level of intensity. …This is the first match for this group and it’s not going to easy for us. But day after day we will try to improve our performance each match…  Every match for us will be a different story – to improve our performance, our level, and minimize our mistakes.”

Patrick Gasman, captain of the USA: “It’s our first match with this group, we’ve only been together for about three weeks. This was a great first test for us to come out and play as a team and within our system.” 

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 19, 2023: Cuba and Mexico needed a tie-break set to decide the opening match of the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six Cup, held September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar, at the Edmonton Expo Centre in Alberta

Despite a strong start, the young Cuban team fell to Mexico 2-3 (26-24, 25-22, 18-25, 17-25, 8-15) in a roller-coaster of a match today.

Cuban Alejandro MIguel Gonzalez led all scoring with 33 points; Mexico’s Josué López Rios was top scorer for the winning side with 25 points (including six from the service line).

Cuba led in attack points (60-49), but Mexico led in blocking (11-7), serving (12-5) and made fewer errors.

Manuel Espinosa, head coach of Cuba:  “The match for us was with highs and lows because in reality our team could have done a better job after we have won the first two sets and when Mexico changed the game we got a little bit frustrated and we couldn’t get ahead at the moment, but tactically we didn’t do what we were supposed to do as per our technical meeting, we had a lot of errors (39) that at the end lead us to our defeat.”

Jorge Azair, head coach of Mexico: “We started off good; and then it went badly – our sideout was not good in the first and second set. But we made some substitutions – and my team worked well in the third, fourth and fifth set. It’s a young team and for me it’s important that they are calm and motivated. It’s good experience for them.”

EDMONTON, Canada, September 18, 2023.- Ahead of the third edition of the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six Cup, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar, in Edmonton, Canada, the teams’ head coaches spoke about their expectations for this tournament.

Manuel Espinosa, head coach of Cuba:  “The expectations for this tournament are, first and foremost, the development of these athletes who, for some time now, have been able to show the talents we have in Cuba and this competition is a great opportunity to do so.”

Gerardo de Jesus Sanchez, head coach of Puerto Rico: “We come with a young team, mainly from the U.S. colleges, and we want to give many Puerto Rican players the opportunity to develop for the future of the national team.”

Jorge Azair, head coach of Mexico: “Principally, we are preparing for the Olympic Qualification Tournament, which is coming up in China. And we are trying some newer players on the Mexican team. Some players are already in Europe, but we have eight players here that will be with us at the Olympic qualifier.”

Dan Lewis, head coach of Canada: “It’s an interesting tournament because most teams are different combinations, so there are a lot of new faces out there and in that sense you don’t have a ton of time to prepare. There is going to be a lot of adaptation during each game, so it’s a heavy cognitive load for the guys.  … This is half of our Next Gen and half of the U21 squads, so even our guys have not played together as a team that much.  It makes it interesting, but of course, as soon as the whistle blows and the balls start flying, we are going to want to win.”

Alexander Gutierrez, head coach of Dominican Republic: “We have brought a very young team here that are looking for more experience. We’ve worked day after day to improve our level, but this tournament for us is about getting experience more than results. We have six players who are under 20 years old and several U23 players. Our senior team is preparing for the Pan American Games.”

Andy Read, head coach of USA, “We’re looking forward to this NORCECA tournament. We’ve brought a mix of younger guys and some of our older guys. I think it will be a great opportunity for some of the rising stars of NORCECA to shine, and hopefully for USA to play a great tournament.”

EDMONTON, Canada, September 15, 2023.- The City of Edmonton, capital of Alberta, Canada is ready to host the third edition of the NORCECA  Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six Cup from September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar, Edmonton Expo Centre.

Matches will be livestreamed on:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheVolleyballCanada 

Canada will be hosting Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and United States.

Cuba is the current Men’s Final Six Champion; Mexico won the first edition in 2021. In both editions, Canada has finished second and the United States.

The round-robin preliminary round will run from Tuesday 19 to Saturday 23. The top two teams will compete for the gold medal on Sunday 24, third and fourth for the bronze medal, fifth and sixth for the last two positions.

Competition Schedule:

September 19

2:00 pm    Cuba vs. Mexico

4:30 pm    United States vs. Dominican Republic

7:00 pm    Canada vs. Puerto Rico

September 20

2:00 pm    United States vs. Mexico

4:30 pm    Cuba vs. Puerto Rico

7:00 pm    Canada vs. Dominican Republic

September 21

2:00 pm    United States vs. Puerto Rico

4:30 pm    Dominican Republic vs. Mexico

7:00 pm    Canada vs. Cuba

September 22

2:00 pm    Mexico vs. Puerto Rico

4:30 pm    Dominican Republic vs. Cuba

7:00 pm    Canada vs. United States

September 23

2:00 pm    Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic

4:30 pm    United States vs. Cuba

7:00 pm    Canada vs. Mexico

September 24

11:30am   5th vs. 6th

2:00 pm    3rd vs. 4th

4:30 pm    1st vs. 2nd

Year by Year medalists

YEAR	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE
2021	MEX	CAN	USA
2022	CUB	CAN	USA