Canada Tops Pool B and Advances Directly to Semifinals

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, June 25, 2026. – Canada secured first place in Pool B and a direct berth to the semifinals of the 2026 Men’s U21 Pan American Cup after defeating host Guatemala 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 26-24) on Thursday at Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium.

With the victory, Canada completed the pool stage undefeated and advanced straight to the semifinals. Guatemala finished third in the pool and will face Mexico in Friday’s quarterfinals at 5:00 p.m. Costa Rica, which placed second in Pool B, will take on Venezuela at 7:00 p.m.

Canada held the advantage in every skill, leading 40-22 in attacks, 14-6 in blocks and 10-0 in aces. However, Guatemala capitalized on Canada's unforced errors, scoring 30 points off them, while committing just 12 of its own.

Marcus Barrett led the Canadian offense with 19 points, followed by Cole Czepuryk with 14 and Massimiliano Riolino with 13. Guatemala’s José Luis Samayoa finished as his team's top scorer with 13 points.

The opening set was highly competitive, fueled by the enthusiastic support of the home crowd. Canada built a 10-6 lead behind the attacks and serving of Matthew Brown, along with a block by Finn Hughes on Santiago Mena. Guatemala responded through José Luis Samayoa and Christian Álvarez to narrow the gap, but Canada remained in control. A huge block by Juan David Zúñiga denied Canada's first set point before Marcus Barrett closed the set with a powerful attack.

After an even start to the second set, Canada broke away thanks to a Guatemalan error and two consecutive aces from Cole Czepuryk to move ahead 7-4. The Canadian outside hitter continued to make an impact with two more service winners and an attack, while Barrett kept leading the offense. Consecutive blocks by Massimiliano Riolino and Matthew Siebenga helped Canada pull away and comfortably extend its lead.

Guatemala played its best volleyball in the third set. After several ties, the hosts took their first lead of the match at 12-10, capitalizing on Canadian errors and attacks by Gerson Carranza and José Luis Samayoa. Barrett and Czepuryk answered to level the score several times, including at 22-all. Canada reached match point on a Barrett attack (24-22), but a service error followed by an attack error allowed Guatemala to tie the score. Koray Low-Ring restored Canada's advantage, and Barrett sealed the victory and the top spot in the pool with an attack off the block.

Canada head coach Mike Hawkins said: “That was a great lesson for us—not just in the final set, but throughout the entire match. The atmosphere here was incredible. We were hoping the crowd would be as loud as it had been during the first few days, and it certainly was. It created an exciting environment to play in. Guatemala is an incredibly well-organized team, and that makes them very difficult to play against. You saw that, especially in the final set. I thought we did a good job with our serving and blocking, but Guatemala responded extremely well and kept putting us under pressure. Reaching the semifinals is one step forward, but that's been our mindset since we came together in training camp a few weeks ago. With such a short preparation period, you can't focus only on the finish line. You have to look for ways to improve every single day. We'll gladly take the rest day. We'll use the time to recover, watch video, prepare for whoever our semifinal opponent is, and focus on becoming the best version of ourselves.”

Guatemala's Gerson Carranza said: “The key to staying so close on the scoreboard in the third set was reducing our errors. We leave with a good feeling because we played well and gained valuable experience against a team of this level. Now we're ready to face Mexico. We hope to continue improving and, hopefully, earn a place among the tournament's top four teams.”