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DETROIT, USA, May 20, 2015 – The four top-ranked NORCECA men’s
volleyball teams hope to start their road to Rio de Janeiro this
week at the Champions Cup in the Motor City.
The United States, ranked No. 1 in NORCECA, Cuba (No. 2), Canada
(No. 3) and Mexico (No. 4) begin round-robin play Thursday (May
21) and continue Friday (May 22) and Saturday (May 23) at Joe
Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL.
At the end, the top two finishers will qualify for the FIVB
World Cup on Sept. 8-23 in Japan. The top two World Cup
finishers qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Canada enters the competition with some momentum, having beaten
Cuba two nights in a row in FIVB World League competition on May
16-17. Cuba suffered injuries to two players during the matches
and comes to Detroit with only 10 players.
The Champions Cup will be the first major competition of the
season for the United States and Mexico.
Matches will be played at 4 and 6 p.m. each day, with the United
States competing in the 6 p.m. matches against Mexico, Cuba and
Canada respectively.
Matches will also be live streamed at
bit.ly/NORCECACC
Glenn Hoag (Canada)
Our goal is to qualify for the World Cup, which is the first
qualifier for the Olympics. It’s a really important event for
us. We hope to get through in the top two. The guys just came
back from their leagues. They were pretty successful in their
league this year. We’re changing balls (from World League last
weekend to NORCECA this weekend) so that adds another variable.
We’re just trying to get our game going. The guys are focused,
although I think some of them are pretty tired. Their focused
and happy to be training together again.
Rodolfo Luis Sanchez (Cuba)
This is a unique opportunity to participate in a strong NORCECA
tournament and also fight to reach the World Cup in Japan, which
is the main objective. We have prepared hard to play hard
against all the teams. All good teams are difficult to beat, but
we can be equally good. We have 10 players available at the
moment, but that will not be a problem to deliver a great show
for the fans.
Juan Roberto Vilches (Mexico)
The tournament is going to be very strong. The competition is
going to be hard, mostly because the U.S. is a strong team and
they are playing at home with their starting lineup for the
World League. Canada has a high level of competition and they
have already started World League. Even Cuba, which has been
restructuring, has a good team. The competition is going to be
hard. All the teams have very strong squads. We bring a team
that is half young members and half experienced members, which
we believe can be competitive and be the surprise of the
tournament.
John Speraw (USA)
Detroit has been great. We haven’t had a chance to get out too
much because we have been training and preparing. People here
have been great. A lot of our guys have been playing
professionally overseas for the last eight months. They’re
finally home and they would love to take a rest. We’re asking
them to get together and in two weeks get ready for a really
important tournament. It’s a challenge for them. We do
appreciate getting to play in front of a home crowd. |
