Mexico advances to the semifinals with a straight-set victory over Suriname

Mexico advances to the semifinals with

a straight-set victory over Suriname

PONCE, Puerto Rico, October 10th, 2025.- Mexico beat Suriname in straight sets (25-21, 25-14, 25-18), securing a spot in the semifinals of the NORCECA Men’s Final Six at the Juan “Pachín” Vicéns Auditorium.

Mexico started strong and dominated throughout the first set, gaining a 21-17 advantage. Suriname attempted to fight back but ultimately lost the set 25-21. Mexico maintained a solid lead in the second set and secured a 25-14 win. Suriname came out strong in the third set, jumping to an early 6-2 lead. Mexico responded by adjusting its lineup and gradually closed the gap, leveling the score at 13-13. Ultimately, Mexico took control of the set with an 18-15 lead and closed it out 25-18.

Mexico led in attacks (40-26), blocks (5-3) and serves (14-2) while Suriname committed fewer unforced errors (16-22).

Leonardo Maldonado, Mexico’s outside hitter, topped all scorers with 18 points (14 kills, 1 block, 3 aces). He was followed by Juan Salvador Garcia and Daniel Cravioto Ross, who each contributed 8 points.

For Suriname, Javier Nasibdar and Gianni Ritfeld led the way with 9 points each.

Leonardo Maldonado, Mexico’s outside hitter: “I think we could have done better, been more stable, but in the end, we won in straight sets, which is what we wanted. I feel good about my performance individually and I'm happy with what we did today. Overall, I think we lacked some things; things we need to improve, but we were confident we could win. We need to improve our consistency. I think we have enough talent to win, but we must be consistent and always focus on the game.”

Timothy Lambert, Suriname’s Middle Blocker: “I think the match went really well. It’s a new experience for us and we are working to get stronger while in the tournament so I’m really happy with the growth of the team. My team is a really young but we fight and always count and depend on each other. For our next match, we are going to train really hard, re-watch some matches and hopefully we will get a good result.”