Puerto Rico opened with victory over Canada 

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, June 3, 2007.- Puerto Rico edged Canada in tour sets (25-17, 17-25. 25-17, 28-26) in the first match of Pool A of the Men’s Volleyball Pan American Cup.

Victor Bird led Puerto Rico with 19 points and Roberto Muniz added 14. Mark Dodd topped Canada with 11 points and Kris Brand and Toonjie Van Lankvelt each contributed 9 tallies.

“We are preparing our team for the Pan American Games and need to test some young players to see if they can help us there,” said Jorge Perez Vento, the Puerto Rican coach.

“It was not the best volleyball for either team in the first three sets with a lot of mistakes, but things changed for good in the fourth set when both teams performed better,” said Chris Green, the Canadian coach.