Tag: 2023 Men NORCECA Continental Championship

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 10, 2023) – U.S. setter and Team Captain Micah Christenson was named Most Valuable Player of the 2023 NORCECA Senior Men’s Continental Championship after the United States (5-0) won the gold medal at the tournament.

The United States also saw libero Erik Shoji win the Best Receiver award.

Silver medalist Canada had the Best Setter Luke Herr, Best Opposite Arthur Szwarc, Second-Best Spiker Stephen Maar and Second-Best Blocker Danny Demyanenko.

Cuba, which finished third, had the Best Server Miguel Lopez.

Fifth-place Mexico’s libero Hiram Bravo was named Best Libero and Best Digger.

Sixth-place Puerto Rico had outside hitter Tristan Lawrence, who was named Best Spiker and Best Scorer. Antonio Elias was named Best Blocker.  

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 10, 2023) – The United States took the gold medal at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship for the first time since 2017 when it beat Canada 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-22) on Sunday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

The United States finished the tournament undefeated at 5-0. Canada (3-1) took the silver medal.

The U.S. led the match in attacks (44-31) and blocks (5-3) and scored 23 points on Canada’s errors while committing 18. Canada held the edge in aces (4-3).

U.S. opposite Matt Anderson led all scorers with 16 points on 12 attacks, two blocks and two aces. Outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke added 12 points on 12 attacks. Aaron Russell totaled 11 points on nine attacks, one block an one ace.

Outside hitter Stephen Maar paced Canada with 12 points on 10 attacks, one block and one ace.

U.S. Head Coach John Speraw: “I thought we served the ball quite well and put a lot of pressure on them. Conversely, I think they are a team that can serve really well. They probably had more errors than they had on Saturday. But when they ripped it, we did a great job of passing. Besides the first few points of the first set when they got some aces, I thought we did a really good job of passing.”

Canada Head Coach Tuomas Sammelvuo: “I think we need a little time to analyze. We were in the final, which is good. Today, USA was very strong. But we could have done a lot better. We lost the game in service and passing. In that game inside the game, USA was better. But they were not receiving so great. We couldn’t stop the speed of their offense and we were struggling with our attacking…. We’ll analyze this tournament, get back to work and get ready for the Olympic qualification. I want to thank all the players and the staff members. They gave their very best for this tournament. Thanks for the organization of the tournament.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 10, 2023) – Cuba cruised to the bronze medal win over the Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-16) on Sunday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Cuba finished the tournament at 4-1. The Dominican Republic (2-3) placed fourth.

Cuba led in attacks (44-28), blocks (11-0) and aces (6-1). The Dominican Republic scored 16 points on Cuba’s errors and committed 14.

Cuba’s outside hitter Miguel Angel Lopez led all scorers with 16 points on a match-high 12 attacks, three blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Javier Concepcion added nine points on a match-high four blocks, four attacks and one ace.

Outside hitter Hector Cruz led the Dominican Republic with 10 points on 10 attacks.

Cuba Coach Jesus Angel Lopez: “We achieved the goal of winning a medal in the tournament, we would have liked to have contested the game for the final, but we struggled and couldn’t achieve that objective. Additionally, with this tournament, we were aiming to win as many points as possible for the world ranking and maintain our current 12th position. The Dominican Republic is an opponent we know very well; we have faced them countless times, and at times, the matches have been more intense with greater rivalry. Our players showed the determination that was necessary in this type of competition. Against the Dominican Republic, we made a difference, although it wasn’t with the level of rivalry we would have preferred, but we played our game with the performance required to win the bronze medal.”

Dominican Republic Coach Jose Gutierrez Sanchez: “We’ve been so happy about the result. We know we have to work a lot because the job is just beginning. It’s OK for us. We have a young team and we have to continue to work more and more.”

CHARLESTON, WVa., USA (Sept. 10, 2023) – Suriname met its goal of winning a set and Puerto Rico finished the tournament with victory on Sunday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Puerto Rico beat Suriname 3-1 (25-11, 21-25, 25-19, 25-14) to finish the tournament in sixth place at 2-4. Surname (0-4) finished seventh.

Puerto Rico led in attacks (59-41) and aces (4-1) and scored 27 points on Suriname errors while committing 20 of its own.

Puerto Rico’s Klistan Lawrence led all scorers with 25 points on a match-high 24 attacks and one ace. Outside hitter Axel Melendez added 10 points on 10 attacks.

Opposite Zefanio Breinburg paced Suriname with 18 points on 16 attacks, one block and one ace. Outside hitter Ethan Asimia added 14 points on 11 attacks and a team-high three blocks.

Puerto Rico Captain Omar Hoyos: “We have a very young squad, and I was glad we were able to finish the tournament with a win. We had a lot of tough matches, but I think we grew as a team. We had no practices coming into this tournament. Our first practice was the first day of the tournament. Every day we grew together. We communicated with each other. Our chemistry got a lot better. I am glad to be a part of this team and there are many tournaments to come so I am excited about that.”

Suriname Coach Carlos Orta Fellove: “I am happy. I said at least I want to win a set and tonight we won a set, so I am happy.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 9, 2023) – Canada booked a ticket to the gold medal match with a 3-2 (18-25, 25-21, 25-17, 24-26, 15-13) win over Cuba on Saturday in the semifinals of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Canada (3-0) will play the United States (4-0) in Sunday’s gold medal match. Cuba (3-2) will play Dominican Republic (2-2) for bronze.

The match was a battle between two passionate teams. Canada led in attacks (66-54) and aces (9-6). The teams were tied in blocks (12-12). Cuba scored 30 points on Canada’s errors and gave up 20.

Nine players scored in double figures, five from Canada and four from Cuba.

Canada outside hitter Stephen Maar led all scorers with 28 points on a match-high 25 kills, two blocks and one ace. Opposite Arthur Szwarc added 22 points on 18 kills, one block and three aces.

Opposite Jesus Herrera led Cuba with 18 points on 14 attacks, two blocks and two aces. Outside hitter Marlon Yant totaled 16 points on 14 spikes and two blocks.

Middle blocker Danny Demyanenko had a match-high five blocks for Canada. Canada libero Justin Lui was credited with 12 digs and 11 excellent receptions.

Canada Head Coach Tuomas Sammelvuo: “I am very proud of our players. It’s their big victory of character. We started very tense, and it brings that will to spike every ball harder and harder, like we did in the beginning of the game, without big ideas. With Cuba, if we go power against power, they are stronger. I am very proud of the guys that we found our balance and we started to attack well and smart.”

Cuba Head Coach Jesus Angel Cruz Lopez: “It was a tremendous volleyball match, and we had to endure the tougher part; we lost the game. Canada has been a formidable opponent in our recent encounters and one of our direct rivals in the quest for the Olympic Games. As I’ve mentioned before, in this tournament, we aim to secure one of the three top spots. Tomorrow, we have the bronze medal match ahead of us, and we need to win it, in addition to gaining as many points as possible to continue improving our ranking. We saw a Cuba team that fought for victory at every moment, they didn’t give up, and we had to bear with the loss”.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, September 9, 2023 – Nicaragua took advantage of their opponent’s errors to overcome El Salvador 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-20) in the closing match of the fourth day of the XXII AFECAVOL Central American Women’s Senior Cup.

This is the second victory for the home team with one defeat, while El Salvador holds a record of 1-3.

El Salvador led in attacks 30-29 and in serves 7-3, but Nicaragua put up a wall of five effective blocks, while their opponents had none, and committed 38 unforced errors compared to Nicaragua’s 20.

Lolette Rodríguez was Nicaragua’s top scorer with 11 points, while Gabriela Funes and Adriana Flores finished with eight points each for El Salvador.

On Sunday, Nicaragua will face Guatemala at 6:30 p.m., while El Salvador has a rest day.

AFECAVOL COPA MAYOR FEMENINA

QUOTES

René Quintana, coach of Nicaragua: “This is one of the most evenly matched Central American Senior Championships in recent years, we’ve seen very close games, with countries like Panama finding their rhythm and putting up good games against Honduras or Belize. I like that because it will force us to prepare more, and other countries will continue to grow. There are no small rivals here”.

Lolette Rodríguez, Nicaragua’s top attacker: “We knew it would be a tough match; this team has a strong defense and doesn’t let an easy ball drop. We tried to play our game and finish the match as quickly as possible. Our coach told us that the important thing was to get the victory, no matter how many sets, but we managed to win in three, and that’s important”.

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 9, 2023) – The United States started slowly but picked up speed in beating the Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-14) in the semifinals at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Saturday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

The USA (4-0) will play the winner of the second semifinal between Canada and Cuba in Sunday’s gold medal match. The Dominican Republic (2-2) will play the loser of that match for the bronze medal.

The United States led in attacks (43-25), blocks (7-3) and aces (6-3). The USA scored 19 points on Dominican errors while giving up 17.

Outside hitter Garrett Muagututia led the U.S. with 14 points on 11 spikes, on block and two aces. Middle blocker Taylor Averill scored 11 points on six attacks, a match-high four blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke scored 10 points on eight attacks and two aces.

Outside hitter Hector Cruz led the Dominican Republic with 14 points on a match-high 12 attacks and two aces.

USA Head Coach John Speraw: “I know that we can go to anyone on our bench and have a great performance like we did tonight… We had troubles early in the first set. Their opposite did a really nice job. We didn’t line him up as well as we needed to. Late in the set we started to figure that out and then we got better from there.”

Dominican Republic Head Coach Jose Gutierrez Sanchez: “It was a very difficult match. The USA is the No. 2 team in the world. The first set was very good for us.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 9, 2023) – Mexico got its first victory as it beat Puerto Rico 3-1 (25-22, 27-29, 25-20, 25-20) on Saturday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Mexico finished the tournament in fifth place with a 1-3 record. The match was the final international competition for Mexico’s team captain Pedro Rangel. Puerto Rico (1-4) will play a rematch with Surname (0-3) for sixth place on Sunday.

Mexico led the match in attacks (64-52), Puerto Rico led in aces (8-4) and the teams tied in blocks (7-7). Mexico scored 27 points on Puerto Rico errors while giving up 24 points.

Mexico opposite Luis David Baca led his team with 22 points on 19 attacks, two blocks and one ace. Josue De Jesus Lopez scored 15 points on 11 spikes, three blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Yasutaka Sanay finished with 15 points on 15 attacks.

Puerto Rico outside hitter Klistan Lawrence led all scorers with 25 points on a match-high 24 attacks and one ace. Middle blocker Antonio Elias scored 15 points on a match high six blocks, six attacks and three aces.

Mexico Head Coach Jorge Miguel Azair Lopez: “We worked a lot. The team is very young so this is experience for them. I am happy we could win the last game of my captain, Pedro Rangel. He has bee playing a long time. He qualified for the world championships. He qualified for the Olympic Games. It was a good game for him.”

Puerto Rico Coach did not comment.

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 8, 2023) – The Dominican Republic will play in the semifinals of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship after beating Puerto Rico on Friday, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 32-30) at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

The Dominican Republic (2-1) will face the United States (3-0) in the first semifinal on Saturday. Puerto Rico will play for fifth place.

The Dominican Republic led the match in attacks (49-41) and blocks (9-7). The teams were tied in aces (3-3). The Dominican Republic scored 21 points on Puerto Rico’s errors and gave up 19 points.

Dominican Republic opposite Henry Omar Tapia led all scorers with 18 points on a match-high 16 attacks and two blocks.

Middle blocker Moises Ortiz and outside hitter Hector Cruz each scored 14 points. Ortiz scored on nine attacks, a match-high four blocks and one ace. Cruz scored on 13 attacks and one block.

Puerto Rico opposite Jamal Ellis led his team’s scoring with 15 points on 15 attacks. Outside hitters Tristan Lawrence and Omar Hoyos each scored 10 points.

Dominican Republic Head Coach Jose Gutierrez Sanchez: “For us, this victory is a great achievement. We are going to enjoy this and then we will see what happens.”

Puerto Rico Head Coach Oswald Antonetti Cameron: “It is a big disappointment. We thought we should have competed better. They have more experience than us. But I truly thought that we could have competed better. We’ve got to get our composure back and train tomorrow and play.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 8, 2023) – Cuba advanced to the semifinals of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-23) on Friday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Cuba (3-1) will face Canada (2-0) on Saturday in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. ET. Mexico (0-3) will play for fifth place.

Cuba led the match in kills (47-40) and aces (7-1) and scored 17 points on Mexico’s errors while committing 11. Mexico led in blocks (6-1).

Cuba outside hitter Osniel Mergarejo led all scorers with 15 points on 10 attacks, two blocks and a match-high three aces.

Mexico outside hitter Josue De Jesus Lopez led his team with 13 points on 12 attacks and one block. Mexico opposite Luis David Baca added 12 points on 10 kills, one block and one ace.

Cuba Coach Jesus Angel Cruz Lopez: “Today’s match was important to reach the semifinals against Canada tomorrow. We made it our goal to allow all the players to enter the game because from the beginning of this event we said that this is a preparation tournament for the Olympic qualifier and all the athletes are crucial because it’s a very strong tournament. In the first set, we were able to give opportunities to players who have hardly played in this tournament, we kept them on the court even though the score was close because they need to gain responsibility while performing.”

Mexico Coach Jorge Azair: “We improved our attack. I think that we received better. We tried to play faster. But Cuba is strong. We were too young.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 7, 2023) – The USA held off a tough challenge from Cuba to win their match and their pool 3-2 (25-22, 25-17, 24-26, 22-25, 15-12) on Thursday at the NORCECA Senior Men’s Continental Championship at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

The USA (3-0) will advance straight to Saturday’s semifinal while Cuba (2-1) will play Mexico (0-2) in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Cuba finished the match holding an edge in in kills (59-57) while the USA led in blocks (17-7) and aces (6-5). Each team finished with 31 scoring errors. Cuba made four errors in the fifth set while the U.S. Men had two.

U.S. outside hitter T.J. DeFalco led all scorers with 26 points on a match-high 19 attacks, a match-high six blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Aaron Russell added 20 points on 17 kills, two blocks and one ace. Middle blocker Max Holt totaled 12 points on seven spikes, three blocks and two aces.

Outside hitter Marlon Yant led Cuba with 22 points on 18 kills and four blocks. Opposite Jesus Herrera added 14 points on 13 kills and one ace. Outside hitter Miguel Angel Lopez totaled 13 points on 10 kills and a match-high three aces.

U.S. Coach John Speraw: “Before this tournament, we haven’t competed for a month and I thought it was important for us to be tested. If we want to be the best team that we can be this summer, it’s going to require some stress. We certainly had some stress tonight. We will learn from this so we can be better. Cuba played great. Being down 0-2, they had a nice match and got better and better. Credit to them. I am just glad we were able to make some good plays in the fifth set.”

Cuba Coach Jesus Angel Cruz Lopez: “As everyone observed, it was a good volleyball match. The United States played very well towards the end with fewer errors than us and secured the victory. As a team, this match allows us to have a better vision of what level of play we are reaching, which is our main goal. I believe we will meet again in the final.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Sept. 7, 2023) – The Dominican Republic took second place in its three-team pool with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-21) win over Mexico on Thursday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Both the Dominican Republic (1-1) and Mexico (0-2) will play in Friday’s quarterfinals.

The teams were well matched, with the Dominican Republic holding an edge in kills (39-38), blocks (10-7) and aces (3-0). Mexico gave up 23 points on scoring errors while the Dominican Republic gave up 18.

Mexico opposite Luis David Baca led all scorers with 20 points on a match-high 17 kills and three blocks. However no other player for Mexico scored more than five points.

Outside hitters Henry Antonio Lopez and Hector Alexis Cruz each had 14 points for the Dominican Republic. Lopez scored on 13 attacks and one block. Cruz had 11 attacks and three blocks.

Dominican Republic Coach Jose Gutierrez Sanchez: “This match was very important for us. Beating Mexico has given us a lot of points for the rankings, which is the most important for us at this moment. Now we are enjoying the moment.”

Mexico Coach Jorge Miguel Azair Lopez: “We played very badly. We didn’t attack, we didn’t serve, we didn’t block. It was very bad.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 7, 2023) – In a battle of teams looking for their first win of the NORCECA Senior Men’s Continental Championship, Puerto Rico defeated Suriname 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-21) on Thursday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Puerto Rico (1-2) will finish pool play in third place and will play in Friday’s quarterfinals while Suriname (0-3) takes fourth and will play on Sunday in the match for sixth place.

Suriname held leads in the first and third sets but could not hold on for a set victory.

Puerto Rico led in attacks (46-34) and held an edge in aces (5-4) while Surname led in blocks 10-6. Puerto Rico scored 18 points on Surname errors and gave away 10 points.

Puerto Rico outside hitter Klistan Lawrence led all scorers with 19 points on a match-high 15 attacks and a match-high four aces. Outside hitter Omar Hoyos added 11 points on 11 attacks and opposite Jamal Ellis totaled 11 points on 10 kills and one block.

Suriname was paced by middle blocker David Pinas with 10 points on seven attacks and three blocks. Outside hitter Keven Sporkslede added 10 points on nine attacks and one block. Middle blocker Anfernee Lee-A-Leong had a match-high four blocks.

Puerto Rico Head Coach Oswald Antonetti Cameron: “It’s a bit of fresh air for the guys. It’s a team that is in a different zone of training and playing. But for us it was positive. We have a young team and tomorrow is a new tournament for us. We want to compete and try to win some matches. We will see.”

Suriname Head Coach Carlos Orta Fellove: “My team played well. The opposing team has more experience. They applied all the experience they had and defeated us. We tried to stay close to them. I came here to learn, and I am learning already.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 6, 2023) – The USA can look forward to a showdown with Cuba after beating Puerto Rico on Wednesday 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-12) in a NORCECA Men’s Senior Continental Championship match at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

The United States (2-0) will play Cuba (2-0) to determine the pool winner at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. The winner will advance straight to Saturday’s semifinal.

The U.S. led Puerto Rico in attacks (43-21), blocks (6-1) and aces (5-1). Each team finished with 21 scoring errors.

U.S. outside hitter T.J. DeFalco was the only player from either team to score in double figures, finishing with 12 points on a match-high 10 attacks with one block and one ace.

The next three U.S. scorers each finished with seven points. Opposite Matt Anderson, who only played the first set, scored seven points on six kills and one ace. Jake Hanes, who played the next two sets at opposite, scored seven points on seven kills.

Middle blocker David Smith scored seven points on five kills and two blocks.

Outside hitter Klistan Lawrence led Puerto Rico with seven points on seven attacks.

U.S. Coach John Speraw: “We sided out really, really well. I thought Micah Christenson came out and played very, very well. I thought the connections were outstanding. I thought we passed the ball really well. We had some service trouble in the second set. Other than that, I thought we played a really tight match. Cuba is an exceptional team with a ton of power and the ability to score points at any moment with their serve. We’ll have to be really sharp in serve-receive again.”

Puerto Rico Coach Oswald Antonetti Cameron: “Our team is very young and the U.S. is a world-class team. At some moments we competed well. I thought it was fun to watch for a little bit. Then we started making mistakes. It’s tough to keep the concentration when we are overwhelmed by the level. Our players are talented, and they will learn from this.

CHARLESTON, W.Va., USA (Sept. 6, 2023) – Canada overcame 22 service errors to beat Mexico 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-20) at the NORCECA Men’s Senior Continental Championship on Wednesday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Canada won its three-team pool at 2-0. Mexico will play the Dominican Republic on Thursday to determine second place.

Canada led Mexico in attacks (42-26), blocks (6-4) and aces (7-0). Mexico scored 26 points on Canada errors while giving up 20.

Canada outside hitter Eric Loeppky led all scorers with 13 points on 10 attacks and a match-high three aces. Outside hitter Stephen Maar added 11 points on nine attacks, one block and one ace.

Mexico opposite Luis Hernadez Baca led his team with 11 points on 10 kills and one block. Middle blocker Victor Parra Valenzuela had a match-high of three blocks.

Canada Coach Tuomas Sammelvuo: “We have to serve better. We cannot make 22 service mistakes in three sets. Our side out and attack were at very good level. The motor kept going and gave us a chance to play at a high level.”

Mexico Coach Jorge Miguel Azair: “We need to improve our attack. The Canadian block is very tall so we need a quicker attack.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Sept. 6, 2023) – Cuba improved to 2-0 at the NORCECA Men’s Senior Continental Championship with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-23) sweep of Suriname on Wednesday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Cuba hopes to sweep the pool by beating the United States in the teams’ final pool play match on Thursday.

Cuba led Suriname in attacks (45-29), blocks (7-3) and aces (7-1). Suriname scored 20 points on Cuba’s errors and gave up 14.

Cuba outside hitters Osniel Mergarejo and Jose Miguel Gutierrez Suarez each finished with 14 points. Mergarejo scored on a match-high 12 attacks, one block and one ace. Suarez scored on eight attacks, two blocks and a match-high four aces.

Suriname opposite Zefanio Brienburg led his team with 11 points on 10 spikes and one block.

Cuba Coach Jesus Angel Cruz Lopez: “In this second match of the event, we gave some of the athletes on the bench the opportunity to play so that everyone could have participation and be ready for tomorrow’s match against the United States, which determines the first place in the group. We made it our mission to ensure that everyone had some playing time because we don’t know who will be called upon tomorrow. It took a toll on us that many of these young players, despite having played in the VNL, hadn’t played much. Some of them participated in the Central American Games, but many haven’t played a full match in a tournament, and that’s why we saw some errors. Additionally, we still struggle with adapting to the opposing team’s style of play and can’t maintain our game throughout the entire match. Today, after a very good first set with few mistakes, we started making errors in the second and third sets, therefore the contrast in the score.”

Suriname Coach Carlos Orta Fellove: “Yesterday, I was happy when we played the American team. But today, I am happier. We almost won the second set. We were leading the second set. We are playing against big teams. What can I say? I am so proud of my team. I am so happy. I wanted to win at least one set and it was close.”

CHARLESTON, West Virginia, USA (Sept. 5, 2023) – The United States opened its campaign at the 2023 NORCECA Men’s Senior Continental Championship with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-9, 25-10) pool play victory over Suriname on Tuesday at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.

The U.S. led Suriname in attacks (45-19), blocks (4-0) and aces (7-0). The U.S. also scored 19 points on Suriname errors while giving up 14.

Four U.S. players scored in double figures led by opposite Jake Hanes who totaled 14 points on 13 attacks and one ace. U.S. middle blocker Jeff Jendryk added 11 points on eight kills and a match-high three blocks.

Outside hitter Garrett Muagututia scored 11 points and outside Thomas Jaeschke had 10.

Suriname outside hitter Keven Sporkslede led his team with seven points on seven attacks.

USA Head Coach John Speraw: “It was nice to start this NORCECA tournament with a great win. I thought it was great experience for (setter) Micah Ma’a and Jake Hanes and (libero) Tim McIntosh playing his first match (for the senior U.S. Men’s Team). It was an exciting moment for them. We’ve been working on a lot of aspects of our game over the past month… It was a good opportunity for us to get out there and get a feel for the gym. Now we will look forward to playing Puerto Rico tomorrow.”

USA opposite Jake Hanes: “It’s always fun, especially at home with a U.S. crowd. You only get a couple opportunities like this every few years, so you have to take advantage of it.”

Suriname Head Coach Carlos Orta Fellove: “The first set, I was happy because we scored at least 14 points for the first time in my life against the USA. They played well. I think they learned a lot today. The American team is very good… I am happy with the way my players played, but the more important thing is that they learned.”

CHARLESTON, West Virginia, USA (Sept. 5, 2023) – Cuba started slow but gained speed in a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-15) win over Puerto Rico in a pool play match at the NORCECA Senior Men’s Continental Championship at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

It was the first match of the tournament for both teams.

Cuba led Puerto Rico in attacks (34-25), blocks (11-6) and aces (8-3). The teams were close in errors with Puerto Rico committing 22 scoring errors and Cuba committing 21.

Cuba outside hitter Miguel Ángel López led all scorers with 13 points on eight attacks, one block and a match-high four aces. Outside hitter Marlon Yant added 12 points on a match-high 10 attacks, one block and one ace.

Opposite Jamal Ellis led Puerto Rico with 11 points on nine attacks, one block and one ace.

Cuba middle blocker Roamy Alonso had five blocks and Puerto Rico outside hitter Klistan Lawrence had four.

Head Coach of Cuba, Jose Angel Cruz:  “A first game is important to start with a victory. Puerto Rico is an opponent we already know; we have played several tournaments against them. The first victory is always important. It’s good to start any tournament with a win.”

CHARLESTON, West Virginia, USA (Sept. 5, 2023) – Canada got the 2023 NORCECA Senior Men’s Continental Championship off to a fast start with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-8, 25-12) pool play win over the Dominican Republic on Tuesday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Canada dominated the match, leading in attacks (39-17), blocks (15-0) and aces (6-2).

Canada had the match’s top four scorers, led by outside hitter Stephen Marr who finished with 14 points on a match-high 11 attacks, two blocks and one ace. Opposite Arthur Szwarc added 10 points on seven kills and three blocks.

Adrian Figueroa paced the Dominican Republic with seven points on seven attacks.

Canada Head Coach Tuomas Sammelvuo: “It’s important to start with a win. I will take the focus and the concentration (away from the match). No matter the score, we were very focused and concentrated. Even if we were leading by a lot of points, it didn’t affect our focus on our own game.”

Canada Captain Nick Hoag: “We try to focus on our side, regardless of who’s on the other side. That’s what we are going to try to do the whole game, especially to get ready for the Olympic qualifier. The big thing we took from this game is if we lower our mistakes, we should be good, so serving a lot of variations and making them play. Our defense is going to do the rest of the job and that’s what we did today. I thought we communicated really well. We stuck to the game plan and if someone got out of the game plan, we got them back right away.”

Dominican Republic Head Coach Jose Gutierrez Sanchez: “It was a very hard match for us. We know it. Canada is a very good team. We have a young team for the future. They pushed our service reception and we made many mistakes. When you have a young team, this happens.”     

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Sept. 4, 2023).-  Seven teams are ready and excited to compete at the 2023 NORCECA Senior Men’s Continental Championship on Sept. 5-10 at the Charleson Coliseum and Convention Center.

Canada Head Coach Tuomas Sammelvuo: “I have no idea how we will do. We are well prepared. That is the main thing. Every game will be a story in itself. We have done a very big load of work during this preparation. Now, all our thoughts have to be here, not at the Olympic qualifiers. We are happy to be here. I personally am happy to be here to see something that I haven’t seen. It is important to focus on one game at a time and, inside the game, one rally at a time. We would like to grow up during the tournament. On the court, I hope we can see the things that we have been working on.”

Cuba Head Coach Jesus Angel Cruz Lopez: “This is a very important tournament as it grants points for the world ranking. We all know that countries are in the fight for Olympic qualification, and this is an opportunity to earn points and move up in the ranking. That’s why most of the teams are here with their A-team, as we’ve seen in the European and South American tournaments.”

Dominican Republic Head Coach Jose Gutierrez Sanchez: “It is a great pleasure for us to be here. We are clear that this tournament has three levels: USA, Canada and Cuba are in the first level. The second level is Mexico, Puerto Rico and us. The other level is Suriname. The competition for us is trying to play our best and, if possible, to beat Mexico and Puerto Rico. For us, that is the main goal.” –

Mexico Head Coach Jorge Azair: “Our team is young. For us, this tournament is for experience, and we will try to get points for future tournaments.”

Puerto Rico Head Coach Oswald Ontonetti Cameron: “We brought a younger team. We think they are talented. It’s going to be a tough competition. We know that every team brought their best team. Hopefully we will keep improving with every point of every match.”

Suriname Head Coach Carlos Orta Fellove: “It’s a pleasure to participate in the tournament. Suriname volleyball is coming up and growing now. It is always difficult to play teams like Canada and Cuba. We are going to try. We are going to play hard. We are going to show all the teams here that Suriname is improving. We won the Caribbean Cup, which allowed us to come to this tournament. We are going to do our best to win at least one set. I think if we play hard, we have a chance to win one or two sets. I expect all the players to play well, because the most important thing is that we reach at least this level. Cuba, Mexico and USA, they started like us and now they are at the top. I hope Suriname one day will also be at the top.”

U.S. Head Coach John Speraw: “We’re very excited after a month of training and after VNL and some time off to get back into competitive mode. We’ve made some nice improvements over the last month. The team has been focused and intentional about the time that we have, which is very rare, so I think it was valuable. The team is focused on Suriname, which is a team we don’t know very much about. We’re going to go out and try to use this moment to not only win this tournament but prepare for the Olympic qualifier. So it’s a good test to see how much we’ve improved over the last month and get a nice opportunity to see if we can win the NORCECA championship.”

WEST VIRGINIA, United States, August 31, 2023.- Charleston, West Virginia will host the 2023 NORCECA Senior Men’s Continental Championship at the Charleston Coliseum from September 5-10.

Teams competing at the Continental Championship will receive points toward their world rankings, which will help determine who qualifies for the 2024 Olympic Games.

Seven teams have been divided into two groups, with Group A consisting of Canada, Dominican Republic and Mexico; Cuba, Puerto Rico, Suriname and hosts United States, the number 2 team in the world are gathered in Group B.

Group winners after three-day preliminary round will advance into semifinals to be held on September 9. Second and third placed teams will battle in quarterfinals on September 8.

Puerto Rico is the reigning champion, they made history in 2021 winning their first gold medal in after defeating Canada 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-23) in Durango, Mexico.

Cuba is the top winner in the history of the event, with 15 gold medals, followed by the United States with 9, while Canada and Puerto Rico have won the NORCECA Men’s title once each.

Preliminary round schedule

September 5

3:00pm  Canada v Dominican Republic

5:00pm  Cuba v Puerto Rico

7:30pm  United States v Suriname

September 6

3:00pm  Suriname v Cuba

5:00pm  Canada v Mexico

7:30pm  Puerto Rico v United States

September 7

3:00pm  Suriname v Puerto Rico

5:00pm  Dominican Republic v Mexico

7:30pm  United States v Cuba

Link for the livestream: https://www.youtube.com/@VolleyballSource