Brazil tops Group B after beating Canada in straight sets.

Guadalajara, August 16, 2023.- Brazil secured first place in pool B by beating Canada 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-21) on second day of XVI Men's Senior Pan American Cup.

Canada debuted the tournament and found a very strong Brazilian team in attacks and serves, scoring 10 aces, especially with Darlan Ferreira and Marcus Evangelista.

Brazil was better in attacks 36-28, in blocking they were surpassed by Canada 4-3, but made a large difference in serves 10-1, finishing with 24 errors against 26 by the Canadians.

Marcus and Darlan finished with 12 points each for Brazil, while Isaac Heslinga had 9 points for Canada.

Canada will play the Dominican Republic for second place in group B this Thursday at 4:00 p.m., while Brazil finished top in this pool undefeated advancing to next round.

Carlos Schwanke, coach of Brazil: “we reached our first goal which was to advance to next round, now we must wait for our opponents, and we are going to work based on that. Once again it was a good game, it allowed us to give other players space to gain experience, which is an important part for us."

Marcus, Brazil wing spiker: “I feel very good, we played well, we managed to overcome adversity and we controlled the game in difficult moments and above all we didn't were too confident during the match. A good teamwork, I am very happy for everyone and now we must wait for our opponents since we are qualified for the next round”.

Daniel Lewis, coach of Canada: “Brazil is a great team, for them it was their second match, and they were already familiar with the game. The first set was one of adjustments for the boys, in the second they had already found their rhythm and played well, which you could see by the final score of the set. I think that at critical moments we weren't making the right plays, we were able to extend the match to a fourth set, although Brazil handled the pressure well.”

Fynnian McCarthy, captain of Canada: “I feel a bit frustrated with how we started, we weren't as good as we expected. Throughout the game we were growing and increasing our level matching to what we’ve trained for the last 10 weeks. We're getting better and the first match is always difficult. I think we feel good about the path we're on."