Canada beats Cuba to stay undefeated at Final 6

GATINEAU, CANADA. Aug. 22, 2024:  Canada earned its third win in a row at the Men’s Final Six at the Slush Puppie Centre arena in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

With this 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-21) win over Cuba, Canada is 3-0 in the tournament so far. Cuba has one win and two losses.

Today, Canada led in attack points (46-41), blocks (10-5) and ace serves 5-1.  Cuba made fewer errors (14-17).

Outside hitter Skyler Varga of Canada was the match top scorer with 18 points, followed by teammate Reeve Gingera contributed 13 points (9 attack points, 1 block and 3 aces).

Opposite Bryan Camino Martinez topped the charts for Cuba with 13 points.

Canada faces USA, also undefeated, on Friday evening.

Canada’s head coach Glenn Hoag: “It was probably our best match so far, but Cuba also played better today than in other matches in the tournament. The guys stayed disciplined and followed the game plan pretty well. … We can do even better I think, as it’s a young group. But I’m really pleased - they came in today and really competed well.”

Team Canada player Isaac Heslinga: “I think we have been figuring things out on receive, with the harder serves coming from Cuba. And we learned to contain the balls – they hit balls hard and I think we did a good job of slowing things down on blocks and were able to transition and recycle if needed. … In the end, we’re here to have fun and build relationships and we are enjoying our time as a team.”