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BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 13, 2009 – USA
beat Panama 25-13, 25-15, 25-8 moving to a tie
with Canada atop of Pool B of the NORCECA Men’s
Continental Championship. The Americans
dominated their rivals 13-1 in blocks and 9-0 in
service aces,
USA and Canada, both with 2-0 records, clash on
Wednesday for the pool’s first place in the
preliminary round and a direct ticket to the
semi final phase. Panama fell to 0-2.
Riley Salmon led four Americans in double
figures with 12 points. Evan Patak and Reid
Priddy each contributed 11 points with Patak
recording six aces while Andrew Hein compiled
10. For Panama Domingo Avila scored 10 points.
“Today definitely we served better and blocked
better,” said Thomas Hoff, the captain of USA.
“We handled the ball better and our overall game
improved.”
“It’s an honor for us to play a team like United
States, the Olympic champions,” said Ricardo
Brown, the captain of Panama. “People don’t
believe us when we say that we played against a
team they have seen only on TV. It was a
learning experience.”
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