Brazil outclasses Canada in opening day

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, October 24, 2011 – Defending champions Brazil debuted in the men’s volleyball tournament of the Pan American Games by outclassing Canada in straight sets 25-17, 25-13, 25-13 in Pool B on Monday.

In a match of few errors from both sides (15 by Canada and 14 by Brazil) that lasted 1 hour and 4 minutes, the winners held a 9-4 advantage in blocking and blanked the opponents 5-0 in service aces.

Brazil’s Eder Carbonera and Wallace De Souza each registered 3 blocks and finished with 16 and 12 points respectively. Luiz Fonteles added 12 tallies to the winning cause. Spencer Leiske was the only Canadian with double figures with 10 points.

Bruno Rezende (Captain of Brazil): “We played a good match today. The first match you play, you feel always nervous. We had some problems in the service but played good on the reception and our sideout was also very good. We will try to play the semifinals directly, that is our first objective.”

Louis Pierre Maniville (Captain of Canada): “This was a little bit disappointing in the loss; Brazil is a very experienced team. Our sequences were not so good, but we have seen improvements, since the last time we played. We expect a good performance for the rest of the tournament.”

Roberley Leonaldo (Coach of Brazil): “For the first match I think they played great. We had some moments in the first set when we made some mistakes in the service, but after that we could keep all under control. We know there are many strong teams here and we have to be prepared to play them and we are confident in having a good end in this competition.”

Vincent Pichette (Coach of Canada): “We played Brazil twice last week as preparation for the tournament. This is a pretty young team and we have learned some good and positive things. Brazil put a lot of pressure with their serves and we had some problems on the block. We have to learn as young players to manage these situations.”