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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, September 8,
2021 – Canada defeated Dominican Republic in
straight sets 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-20) on
Wednesday to join Mexico in the gold medal match
of the Men’s Volleyball Pan American Cup.
It was the second win of Canada over Dominican
Republic in the competition following their 3-1
victory when the two sides met with undefeated
record at 3-0 in the preliminary phase.
Canada outscored Dominican Republic in blocking
(6-1) and aces (5-0) while leading in attacks
(46-33). The winners made 12 unforced errors to
18 by the defeated side.
Jesse Elser and Brodie Hofer, the two top
Canadian scorers, once again led their side with
19 and 17 points, respectively. Jackson Howe
chipped in with 9 points, including four blocks.
Henry Tapia and Alexis Cruz were the main
Dominican weapons with 13 and 12 points,
respectively.
Ben Josephson, coach of Canada: “The Dominican
team has a lot of power with their serves so our
plan was to focus on a good reception and then
use our velocity to have a chance. Our reception
worked very well, we had long rallies and then
we were able to close before the Dominicans got
in a groove.”
José Mañon, coach of Dominican Republic: “I
really don’t know what to say about this match.
We came in with a lot of illusions that began at
the training session and look what happened: a
3-0 loss. The last set was very bad but in the
other two we battled. This is a group of young
boys with a lot of talent who needs to play
together.” |
