Argentina edges Canada in five sets and goes on top of Pool C

TIJUANA, Mexico, August 13 2014 - In a long five setter battle, Argentina edged Canada 25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 23-25 y 19-17 at IX Men’s Pan American Cup.

The team coached by Hernan Ferraro finished atop of Pool C and was waiting for a rival on the second round. Pablo Koukartsev was the leader on the Argentinean side with 19 points, followed by Rodrigo Villalba with 18 and Facundo Imhoff with 15, while Gonzalo Quiroga scored 10.

For Canada Dallas Soonias closed with 27 puntos, Toontje Van Lankvett with 16, Graham Vigrass with 13 and Jason DeRocco with 10.

“We need to close matches, because we struggled a little bit during this one, and define key points. In the fourth set we had a chance to finish and won until fifth with a two point difference. However we feel glad for this victory and for advancing at the cup. ,” said Argentinean captain Demian Gonzalez.

“It was a very well fought match, very well played by the two teams until the end, with a high game volumen. Everybody led their spirit on the court,” coach Ferraro said about Argentina. “They played different, tactically they used they opposite players a lot and I think we saw the best performance of Canada at this Pan Am Cup, it was really a nice match.”

For Canadian captain Toontje Van Lankvelt, it was a good start but they made a lot of mistakes. “We started playing some good volleyball. We played really well as the game went on, but still after 20 we were making some mental mistakes and our execution after 20 has to be a lot better,” He stated.

Coach Georges Laplante remarked about Canada: “We played well. We missed a little bit opportunity but we fought hard. We fought hard tried to apply every point. It just didn’t fall on our side. And we must play point by point with more intensity”