Canada beats Venezuela in opening match

MONTERREY, México, November 6, 2013.- Canada opened the I Men’s Final Four Cup beating Venezuela by 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-18) at Nuevo Leon Unido Gym on Wednesday.

Venezuela’s late arrival at Monterrey took a toll on their performance, although they were able to keep the score close. Canada showed more consistency even if they had some reception difficulties.

Canada held advantages of 8-5 in blocking, 8-2 in service points and 35-31 in spikes. Their unforced errors were similar, Canada with 22 and Venezuela with 24.

Henry Voth led Canada with 12 points followed by Steve Gotch with 10. For Venezuela, Luis Arias finished with 9 points while Daniel Escobar and Hector Salerno chipped in with 8 points apiece.

“We were nervous in the beginning, for me this is my first international match with our national team; I tried to do my best and always keeping in mind that with more preparation and practice we’ll do better. Venezuela has tall players who made things difficult for us” said captainJustin Boudreault.

For Luis Arias, captain of Venezuela, his team had a good performance despite their difficulties in arrival, “first I congratulate Canada for the win; as for my team, it was hard to get in the rhythm we’re used to and play more confident. I don’t want to diminish Canada’s performance, but if the conditions were better Venezuela could have won. I hope we’ll improve as the tournament advances”.

Canadian coach Vincent Pichette expressed “I sympathize with Venezuela, even if our traveling arrangements weren’t good either. We knew Venezuelans had good character, it was a tough match and I instructed my players not to take anything lightly. This match was getting the jitters out because it was a first experience for almost the entire team”.

“I am very proud of my team” began saying Cuban coach Gerardo Nodarse for Venezuela. “My boys come from sleeping two nights in airports, we have never practiced nor played with a Molten ball and the outcome was great. They played with good attitude and this tournament will prepare us for Bolivariano Games in two weeks” he added.