Brazil wins semi over Guatemala at the U21 Pan Am Cup

FORT MCMURRAY, Canada, May 20, 2017 -  The powerful Brazil won its semi-final over the smaller, but scrappy, Guatemala, at the U21 Pan American Cup at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre at Keyano College in Fort McMurray.

Brazil came out swinging and won 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-20).

“We always try to bring our good game, no matter who the opponent is. We had a day off yesterday, so our players kind of lost their focus a little bit, but for tomorrow’s finals we will have to regain that focus.  Whether it’s Canada or Cuba, we are going to be ready.  We are going to do our best, keep focused and execute our game plan.”

Brazilian middle blocker Gabriel Bertolini contributed 13 points, and teammate Henrique Honorato had 12 points. Erik Flores scored 10 for the losing side.

“We knew facing Brazil will be difficult, they’re better than us. To me, it’s one of the two best teams of the tournament. My guys did their best and they tried to catch up with the Brazilian pace as the game went on,” said Reider Lucas, Guatemala’s head coach.

“The competition is not over yet, tomorrow we’ll play for the bronze medal. We want to enjoy it and finish with a good impression. We need more events like this one where we can play at this level to get better. It took us a lot of work to get there. And if we had more of tournaments like that, we could win a set easier like the third one. It’s a good experience for the kids to compete at this level and slowly we will get better.”