Mexico Captures last Semifinal Spot

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, September 19, 2024. - Mexico captured the last spot in the semifinals of the U23 Men’s Pan American Cup after defeating host Suriname 3-0 (25-19, 25-10, 25-23) at the Anthony Nesty Sporthal in Paramaribo.

Mexico will face Guatemala on Friday at 8:00 p.m. in the second semifinal; the first one will be at 5:00 p.m. between Cuba and Peru. Suriname will play a classification match for positions 5 to 8, starting against Costa Rica at 11:00 a.m.

Mexico and Guatemala secured their berths in the II Junior Pan American Games Asunción 2025 as the two best-ranked non-qualified NORCECA teams in the event. Cuba and the Dominican Republic earned their qualification in last year’s U23 Cup.

Mexico outperformed Suriname with a 44-23 advantage in attacks, 8-3 in blocks, and 4-1 in aces. Suriname made fewer errors (19-25).

Oziel Aguirre and Lorenzo Martínez each scored 12 points for Mexico, while Meson Anakaba scored 10 for Suriname.

The first set was very close, with Shemar Jameson leading Suriname, supported by Lee A Leong, both spearheading the attack. Mexico won the first set by pulling ahead mid set, gaining a comfortable five-point lead (19-14) with the push from Juan García, Lorenzo Martínez, and Franky Hernández. Mexico took the second set without complications, with Oziel Aguirre joining the offense and Alexis Alvarado scoring the final point with an ace. In the third set, Suriname led 15-13 with Meson Anakaba at the front, alongside Sandel Revelino and Carlo Huisden. Mexico ended Suriname’s good streak, tying at 21 points and then going up 22-21 thanks to an attack from Anakaba, followed by an attack from Aguirre. Mexico closed the match with a kill from Isay Toy, despite losing one match point on a kill from Huisden.

Renato Soares, Head coach of Mexico: “It was a match with many ups and downs. I always tell the players that we must maintain a high level of play. We can't play this way because we suffer. In the match before ours, the Dominican Republic struggled against Peru and ended up losing. Our goal was to qualify for the Junior Pan American Games, and we've achieved that. Now, we are going to aim for the final. We have a tough semifinal against Guatemala, and we will prepare well”.

Meson Anakaba, top scorer of Suriname: “We gave our all in the last set, but at the end our mistakes cost us the set which we led most of the time. We have to work on limiting our errors to reach another level of play. I am a bit disappointed, but personally I tried my best”.