Cuba forced their strategy over Canada at Men’s Pan Am Cup

COLIMA, Mexico, June 17, 2019. - Cuba forced their strategy 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-19) over Canada on day two of the fourteenth Men’s Pan American Cup being played at the Multfunctional Auditorium in Colima, Mexico.

Cuba keeps their undefeated record in pool A with 2-0 mark, despite Canada’s effort in moving ahead several times and tying the scores on numerous occasions throughout the three sets. Canada stands with 1-1 record.

Cuba led in kills 31-28 and in serving points 5-2, Canada did better in blocks with 8-6 margin. Cuba capitalized on 33 Canadian errors, allowing 20 points on their errors.

Opposite Jaime Herrera topped Cuba with 12 points on 10 kills and 2 aces, while outside hitter Osniel Mergarejo contributed with 10 points including 7 kills and 2 blocks. Middle blocker Danny Demyanenko was Canada leading attacker with 10 points, opposite Blake Scheerhoom and outside hitter Craig Ireland tallied 9 points apiece.

The preliminary round in pool A concludes with Cuba (2-0) facing Suriname (0-2) and Canada (1-1) playing against defending champion Argentina (1-1).

Jaime Herrera, top scorer Cuba: “We are confident that we’ll advance; the team we had to beat in our group was Argentina and the other games are more accessible, we’re never overconfident and we always give our best effort. We consider to no setbacks against Suriname and we’ll have to wait for the crossovers”.

Danny Demyanenko, captain Canada: “Cuba played a very aggressive game, they were serving very tough which initially made us struggle, we had some hesitation; after keeping this under control we started to pick up and keeping it close. Unfortunately we weren’t that consistent as we wanted to progress”.

Nicolás Vives, coach Cuba: “Canada is a team that knows how to play, with tall players and with good level; we performed well, we could have done it better, but we need to grow. This is an extremely young team and we need to work for them to keep focused and finish with the opponent as soon as possible”.

John Barrett, coach Canada: “We had some opportunities, but we were unable to stay focused and in control. We are a young team with young players getting their first international experience, so the basic aspects of the game: serving, being focused on key moments takes a lot of work, time and experience is the only remedy to that”.