Canada Defeats Chile and Advances to the Semifinals

CUERNAVACA, Morelos, July 11, 2025.- Canada secured a spot in the semifinals of the U19 Boys’ Pan American Cup after defeating Chile in four sets (25-17, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19) at the Gymnasium of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM) in Cuernavaca.

Canada moves on to face the United States in the semifinals. In the other semifinal, Mexico will take on Venezuela. Chile will face Panama in the classification matches for positions 5 to 8.

After dropping the first two sets, Chile responded with a strong performance in the third, significantly improving their blocking and defense. In the fourth set, the South Americans fought to come back from a six-point deficit (14-20), but their effort fell short against Canada’s momentum.

Canada led the match in attacks 55-41, in blocks 11-7 and 2-1 in aces. However, they committed more unforced errors than Chile, 29 to 26.

Outside hitter Mason Lange led the Canadian offense with 16 points, including 14 kills and 2 blocks. Three other players scored in double digits: opposite Jarom Rowin (14), middle blocker Cameron Hutt (13), and fellow middle Simon Oberbuchner (12).

For Chile, opposite Joaquín Valjalo, tallied a match-high of 18 points. Mateo Sanz added 10 points.

Taylor Jordan, Head Coach of Canada, on the third set against Chile: “Our opponent played much better in that set. Sometimes, it’s less about what you’re doing and more about recognizing the performance on the other side. Their opposite, Joaquin Valjalo, was phenomenal, and their libero was flawless with his digs."

Speaking about his own team, he added: “Our brotherhood and team culture really showed today. We’re trying to build a new group that hasn’t played together before, and we finally started to see that family aspect come together. Some of our leaders stepped up — we were hungry, and we got rewarded for it”.