Canada set to face Brazil for pool B top spot in Pan Am Cup

CORDOBA, Mexico, August 29, 2018.- Canada beat Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-16) to face Brazil for pool B top spot at the thirteenth Men’s Pan American Cup at the Arena Cordoba in Cordoba, Mexico.

Canada arrives into the last day of pool-play on Thursday, with the same unbeaten 2-0 record as Brazil, who earlier prevailed over Peru.  Canada and Brazil will decide pool B winner, while Peru and Dominican Republic will battle to remain in the battle for one of the five tickets for the Pan American Games.  

Canada had some difficulties in set two, recovering from a three point deficit as Dominican Republic’s attackers found their way around Canada’s blockers.

Canada outblocked Dominican Republic 7-2 and held a comfortable 6-0 margin in aces. The Canadians finished with a small 39-35 advantage in attacks. Canada benefited from Dominican Republic’s 24 unforced errors and allowed 19 points on their errors.

Wing spiker Brandon Koppers led Canada with 14 points; followed by wing spiker Blake Scheerhoorn with 13 points and middle blocker Justin Duff added 10 points. Henry Lopez with 10 points was the only Dominican with double-figures.

Top scorer Brandon Koppers said “as Canada’s B team we’re here to do our best. Our big goal is to qualifier for the Pan American Games; in addition we want to have fun and enjoy Mexico’s crowd, it’s very exciting”.

Blake Scheerhoorn also added “we’ve been preparing all summer; we came here just to develop and get better with every single game”.

Jose Miguel Caceres of Dominican Republic, one of the tallest players in the tournament (2.10mts), said “it was a well disputed match; we had problems in receiving but generally speaking we improved. This is a young a team, that is why we perform with ups and downs, we are preparing for the World Championship and there’s a good future ahead”.