ANAHEIM, California, September 21, 2007.- Upstart Puerto Rico put up a fight, but the U.S. National Volleyball Team took a 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23) victory to win the gold medal at the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

The U.S. Men finish the tournament with a 5-0 record. Puerto Rico wins the silver medal with a 4-2 record with two losses to Team USA.

With the victory, the U.S. claims an automatic berth into the FIVB World Cup held November 18-December 2 in Japan.  More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 21, 2007.- The Cuban National Volleyball Team came back from Thursday’s difficult semifinal loss to Puerto Rico to defeat Canada 3-0 (38-36, 25-21, 25-22) on Friday to win the bronze medal at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Cuba finishes the tournament with a 5-1 record. Canada finishes at 3-3 with two losses to Cuba and one to the United States.

Cuba’s Raydel Corrales led all scorers with 20 points, Oreol Camejo scored 14 points, Rolando Jurquin added 12, Odelvis Dominico Speek tallied 10 points and Robertlandy Simon chipped in 9 points.  More Spanish P-2 form

Dominican Republic Blanks Barbados for Fifth Place

ANAHEIM, California, September 21, 2007.- The Dominican Republic National Volleyball Team had little trouble defeating Barbados 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-16) for a fifth-place finish at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

The Dominican Republic finishes the tournament with a 3-3 record. Barbados finishes sixth with a 1-4 record.

The Dominican Republic’s Elvis Daverson Contreras led all scorers with 16 points, Victor Batista scored 11 points and Eduardo Concepcion added seven points.More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 21, 2007.- A young and undermanned Mexican National Volleyball Team closed out its time at the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 27-25) victory over Trinidad & Tobago good for seventh place on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Mexico finishes the tournament with a 2-4 record. Trinidad & Tobago finishes 0-6.

Edgar Herrera led Mexico with 13 points, Tomas Aguilera added 12, Francisco Enriquez scored 9 tallies and Mario Becerra scored 8 points.

Trinidad & Tobago’s Nolan Tash led all scorers with 15 points. Kevin Nimrod added 14 and Christian Francois contributed six points. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 20, 2007.- The USA Men's National Team made good on several late set rallies to defeat Canada 32-30, 19-25, 25-19, 26-24 in the semi finals of the NORCECA Men's Continental Championship on Thursday evening to reach the gold-medal match against Puerto Rico set for Friday.

Meanwhile, Canada will play Cuba for third place preceding the NORCECA championship match.

Reid Priddy paced five USA scorers in double figures with 18 points. Clay Stanley and Ryan Millar each totalled 15 points, and Riley Salmon and Gabe Gardner contributed 10 points apiece.

Canada's Dallas Soonias led all scorers in the match with 24 points. Fred Winters charted 14 points and Murray Grapentine contributed 10 Canadian points. 

 More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 20, 2007.- Showing patience and determination, a jubilant Puerto Rico qualified for a berth at the FIVB World Cup with a 3-2 (26-24, 11-25, 22-25, 26-24, 15-11) victory over favored Cuba on Thursday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

 
Puerto Rico, which has never won a medal at the NORCECA Men's Continental Championship, will face the winner of the semifinal match between the United States and Canada in the title match on Friday. Cuba, which had won 13 of 19 NORCECA Men's Continental Championships, will face the loser of the United States and Canada in the bronze-medal match.

Hector Soto led Puerto Rico with 28 points, all coming from 28 kills. Enrique Escalante added 13 points, and Jose Rivera and Victor Rivera each charted 11 points in the victory. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, 20 de septiembre, 2007.- - Winning its first match of the 2007 NORCECA Men's Continental Championship, Barbados pulled out a five-set victory over Mexico (25-23, 22-25, 19-25, 25-18, 17-15) on Thursday to advance to the fifth-place match at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena..

Barbados will play Dominican Republic on Friday for fifth place in the tournament. With the loss, Mexico will play for seventh place against Trinidad & Tobago.  More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 20, 2007.- Dominican Republic defeated Trinidad & Tobago for the second time in 48 hours with a 21-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-19 victory during NORCECA Men's Continental Championship action Thursday afternoon in the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. Dominican Republic secured a three-set victory over the same team to conclude pool play on Tuesday.

Dominican Republic moves into the fifth-place match scheduled for Friday. It will play the winner of today's Mexico-Barbados match. With the loss, Trinidad & Tobago will play for seventh place against the loser Mexico-Barbados.

Jose Caceres highlighted the Dominican Republic offense with 16 points, Elvis Contreras turned in 13 points, while Victor Batista contributed 11 tallies. Nolan Tash scored a match-high 20 points to lead Trinidad & Tobago. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 19, 2007.- Canada made quick work of Mexico on Wednesday to set up a meeting with another North American power.

Canada defeated Mexico 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-21) in the quarterfinals of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Qualifier and will advance to Thursday’s semi finals where it will play the United States.

Mexico will have a rematch against Barbados in classification round 5. The two played in pool play and Mexico won 3-1.

The top two finishers at the NORCECA Continental Championship will qualify for the 2007 FIVB World Cup (Nov. 18-Dec. 2) in Japan. The top three finishers at the World Cup qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 19, 2007.- Puerto Rico’s power and experience won out as it defeated the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-15) on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

 
Puerto Rico advances to the semi finals on Thursday where it will play Pool B winner Cuba. The Dominican Republic will play Trinidad & Tobago in classification round 5.

Puerto Rico team captain Hector Soto led all scorers with 17 points, Victor Rivera added 11 points and Jose Rivera scored nine points.

“Normally we have tougher matches with the Dominican Republic,” Soto said. “I thought we did well with our blocking. We didn’t get a lot of blocks but we got a lot of touches.”More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 18, 2007. – Puerto Rico provided the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team with its greatest challenge of the tournament, but Team USA ended up with a 3-0 (25-19, 27-25, 25-18) victory on Tuesday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship Center Arena before an estimated crowd of 725.

The U.S. Men (3-0) complete pool play without dropping a set to win Pool A. They will have Wednesday off and play the winner of the match between Mexico and Canada on Thursday.

Puerto Rico (2-1) finishes second in Pool A and will face the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 18, 2007. – A young Mexican team that brought only 10 players to the tournament picked up its first victory at the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on the final day of  pool play on Tuesday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Mexico defeated Barbados 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 18-25, 25-22) to improve its record to 1-2 and finish third in Pool A. Barbados (0-3) places fourth. Mexico will face Canada in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Barbados will have Wednesday off and then play the loser of the match between Mexico and Canada on Thursday.  More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 18, 2007. – In a battle of undefeated teams, Cuba came out on top, defeating Canada 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18) on the final day of pool play at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Tuesday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Cuba wins Pool B with a 3-0 record and will take Wednesday off for the quarterfinals and come back to play in the semifinals on Thursday. Canada will next play the third-place finisher in Pool A.

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ANAHEIM, California, September 18, 2007. – The Dominican Republic overcame Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-16) on the final day of pool play on Tuesday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Trinidad & Tobago finishes four in Pool B at 0-3 and will take Wednesday off to find out who it will play Thursday in the classification round 5. The Dominican Republic finishes third in Pool B at 1-2 and will play the second-place team from Pool A on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Trinidad & Tobago’s offense struggled and the Dominican scored 27 points on errors while only giving up 15. More Spanish  P-2 form

ANAHEIM, Calif. (Sept. 17, 2007) -Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, Calif.) set the U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team to .684 team attack percentage (43 kills, 4 errors, 57 attacks) as the Americans blitzed Barbados 25-13, 25-13, 25-4 on the second of three days of pool play at the NORCECA Men's Continental Championship Monday evening at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. 

The U.S. improves to 2-0, while Barbados falls to 0-2. Team USA squares off against undefeated Puerto Rico on Tuesday at 8 p.m. PT for the top seed out of Pool A. The winner earns a quarterfinal bye, an off-day on Wednesday and a direct spot into the semifinals on Thursday. Barbados takes on Mexico (0-2) at 5 p.m. PT on Tuesday to conclude pool play. 

Team USA's David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) lead all scorers with 12 points via six kills on seven errorless attacks and six blocks. More P-2 form

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Canadian Men’s National Team had little trouble dispatching Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-10) on Monday on the second day of the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Canada improved to 2-0 in Pool B. Trinidad & Tobago falls to 0-2.

Team Canada used all but one of its players as Head Coach Glenn Hoag used the match to work on his team’s offensive weaknesses. Everyone who played scored at least one point.

Dallas Soonias led Canada with 10 points on seven kills and three aces. More

P-2 form

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Hector Soto scored 15 points for Puerto Rico and Victor Rivera added 13 as the Puerto Rican Men’s National Volleyball Team overcame a young and undermanned Mexican team 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-20) on Monday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Hilton.

Puerto Rico improves to 2-0 in Pool A. It will face the United States (1-0) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Mexico falls to 0-2 and will play Barbados (0-1) at 5:30 p.m.

Puerto Rican Coach Carlos Cardona said he congratulated his team following the match and said the team had made the adjustments they had talked about after Sunday’s match against Barbados. More P-2 form

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Cuba's Men's National Volleyball Team continued its reign over Pool A on Monday with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-17) defeat of the Dominican Republic on the second day of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Cuba improves to 2-0 and is tied with Canada atop the pool. The two teams will square off on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. PDT. The Dominican Republic falls to 0-2 and will play Trinidad & Tobago at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Cuba’s height had its advantages as it dominated the blocking battle 16-3. Cuba’s Raydel Hierrezuelo Aguirre had five scoring blocks on six attempts. Rolando Jurquin Despaigne had four out of six and Oreol Camejo Durruthy converted three of four. More P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 16, 2007.-  Mexico did not go quietly; but in the end, the U.S. Men’s National Team overpowered their neighbours to the south, 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-20) on Sunday at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena

The U.S. Men improve their record to 1-0 and are tied with Puerto Rico for the lead in Pool A after the first day of the tournament.

Reid Priddy led Team USA with 12 points on nine kills and three aces. Gabe Gardner added eight points on six kills and two aces. Riley Salmon scored eight points on five kills and three blocks and Tom Hoff tallied seven points on six kills and one block.

Martin Petris and Tomas Aguilera paced Mexico with seven points each. Each had five kills, one block and one ace.. More Spanish P-2 form

Puerto Rico turns back Barbados

ANAHEIM, California, September 16, 2007.-  Barbados showed flashes of talent, but it was no match for Puerto Rico’s dominant net play and serving as Puerto Rico defeated the Caribbean champion 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-16) at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Every member of the Puerto Rican team started at least one set and scored at least two points except for libero Gregory Berrios. Victor Rivera led the way with eight points on six kills, one block and one ace. Four Puerto Rican players scored six points each: Angel Perez, Luis Rodriguez, Enrique Escalante and Leonardo E. Aquino.

Elwyn Oxley led Barbados with eight points on six kills and two blocks. Renier Grace scored six points on six kills..  More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 16, 2007.-  Canada rallied from deficits of 21-17 in both the first two sets against Dominican Republic en route to winning 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 Sunday afternoon at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Frederic Winters sparked the Canadians with 18 points on 14 kills, three blocks and an ace. Dallas Soonias added 13 points via 11 kills and two blocks in the victory.

Elvis Daverson Contreras turned in 12 points for Dominican Republic, while Jose Miguel Caceres added nine points.

Canada held a 13-9 advantage in blocks and produced a 47 kill percentage on 83 swings. Dominican Republic enjoyed a 4-1 margin in aces. More Spanish P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 16, 2007.-  Cuba opened the 2007 NORCECA Men's Continental Championship with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-19) victory over Trinidad & Tobago in 1 hour, 4 minutes on Sunday afternoon at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

Pedro Iznaga Ortiz paced Cuba with 14 points via 13 kills on 16 errorless swings to go with a block. Robertlandy Simon Aties added 10 points with seven kills on seven attacks, two blocks and an ace. Oreol Camejo Durruthy totaled three aces for Cuba as part of an eight-point performance.

Nolan Tash led Trinidad & Tobago with 14 points, all on kills from 32 attacks. Sean Morrison added eight points in the loss.

Cuban Head Coach Orlando Samuels thought his team could have played better and played down to the level of the young team from Trinidad and Tobago. More Spanish  P-2 form

ANAHEIM, California, September 15, 2007.- USA is considered the heavy favourite to win the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship where the top two teams will be rewarded with one berth at the World Cup, the first qualifier to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Here is what the coaches said before the start of the competition: 

Ludger Niles – Barbados 

“It’s a privilege to be here in the USA in the company of the likes of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Our team is in a transition phase at this moment. We’ve brought along a lot of young players, hoping that they would gain experience by playing against the more experienced teams that  More Spanish

WINNIPEG, Canada.- USA and Cuba have disputed the gold medal match in 14 of the 19 editions of the NORCECA Senior Continental Women’s Championship and the history could be replayed on September 17-22 when the biennial event takes place in Winnipeg.

Team USA has won the last three editions, stopping the eight-year domination of Cuba. Only Mexico, besides the two major powers, has emerged victorious of this competition inaugurated in 1969. More Spanish

ANAHEIM, California, September 13, 2007.- USA Team will be looking for a third consecutive crown in the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on September 16-21 at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

The American Men’s won the last two editions of this event held every two years, taking the gold medal in Mexico 2003 and Canada 2005. This time they should have the benefit of the home crowd support as they look for their seventh all-time title.

The top two finishers at the NORCECA Championship will qualify for the 2007 World Cup in Japan. The top three finishers at the World Cup will qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Many of the players on the roster have made key contributions to the USA Men’s success so far this season. . More Spanish