Canada to play USA for fifth position

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, October 28, 2011 – Canada scored a 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-19, 25-20) victory over Puerto Rico in a qualification match for the 5-to-8 positions in the men’s volleyball tournament at the Pan American Games.

Canada outblocked Puerto Rico 10-3 and now will play United States in a duel between neighbors for the fifth position on Saturday. Puerto Rico and Venezuela are to dispute the seventh place.

Spencer Leiske was the top scorer for the winners with 19 points while Jacob Kilpatrick and Devon Parkinson added 11 and 10 respectively. Puerto Rico’s Jean Carlos Ortiz had 14 points while Juan Figueroa (12) and Victor Rivera (11) also finished with double figures.

Louis-Pierre Mainville (Captain of Canada): “I am happy with this win. Yesterday we had the chance to rest and practice some things that we applied today.”

Héctor Soto (Captain of Puerto Rico): “It is difficult to play a match that doesn’t count. After playing five sets the day before we felt like we were not on the court. They are so young and had a real wish to win.”

Vincent Pichette (Coach of Canada): “We lived the same situation two days ago, playing a lot of sets. We made some mistakes, and there are some things we have learned and have to improve, but we feel happy for this victory.”

Ramon Hernandez (Assistant coach of Puerto Rico): “They just were much better than us. It is difficult to recover in less than 24 hours, but we don’t take off the credit of the victory by Canada.