BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 17, 2009 –Cuban sensation Wilfredo Leon was elected the Most Valuable Player of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship won by his team on Saturday. 

The teen-ager Leon was also the best spiker of the competition and received the award as the “Rising Star”. 

Cubans Roberlandy Simon and Raydel Hierrezuelo took home the plaques as best blocker and best setter respectively and Orlando Samuels received the “Jim Coleman Award” as the best coach. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 17, 2009 – Cuba defeated United States 25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22 claiming the gold medal of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship and the last remaining ticket to the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup.

It is the 14^th top finish for the Cubans in the 21-year history of the regional competition. They now join host Japan, Brazil, Poland, Iran and Egypt in the men’s world event to be held in Osaka and Nagoya, Japan from November 18-23. Hosts Puerto Rico won the bronze medal in a five-set battle with Canada that finished 25-16, 24-26, 25-20, 22-25, 15-9. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 17, 2009 – Enrique Escalante led hosts Puerto Rico to a thrilling five-set victory (25-16, 24-26, 25-20, 22-25, 15-9) against Canada in the bronze medal match of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship on Saturday.

Escalante topped five Puerto Ricans scoring in double figures with a match-high 21 points including four aces and two blocks. Luis Rodriguez and Victor Rivera each contributed 19 points while Hector Soto and Jose Rivera charted 18 and 11 points respectively. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 17, 2009 – Mexico erased a 1-2 deficit and edged Dominican Republic in the match for the fifth position at NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship. The score was 25-19, 18-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-13.

The Mexicans, who also prevailed in five sets against Dominican Republic in Guadalajara last August in a match for the ticket to the FIVB World Championship, were topped by the 31 points of Leonardo Manzo. Richard Lazcano and Edgar Herrera added 16 and 15 respectively. Jose Caceres, the leading scorer of the competition, had a match-high 37 points for the Dominican Republic. Victor Batista and Johan Lopez added 14 and 10 respectively. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 17, 2009 – Barbados defeated Panama 20-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-15 to take the seventh position at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship.

Elwyn Oxley led Barbados with 21 points including four blocks and Fabian Cox added 18 all via attacks. Damien Danzell contributed 13 points to the winning effort including seven blocks and two aces. Domingo Avila and Donaldo Ureña recorded 14 points apiece for Panama and Ricardo Brown tallied 11. “It is good to go back home with this victory,” said Ludger Niles, the coach of Barbados. “We need to play more matches against teams like Mexico. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 16, 2009 – Three-time defending champions USA advanced to a final match against Cuba at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship after a 25-16, 25-23, 25-22 victory against hosts Puerto Rico on Friday.

Cuba has 13 titles in the 20-year history of the event and USA has won the other seven including the last three editions. David Lee and William Priddy had stellar offensive performances with Lee recording 15 points (13 of 16 attacks) and Priddy adding 13 points. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 16, 2009 – Cuba defeated Canada in straight sets 25-22, 25-16, 25-21 and will play on Saturday for the title of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship and the ticket to the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup.

The Cubans, winners of the competition 13 times, relied on their powerful serves led by Fernando Hernandez, who came from the bench to record three aces. Cuba had a 7-2 advantage in serving aces and both teams scored with 8 blocks. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 16, 2009 – Dominican Republic will play with Mexico for the fifth place of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship after scoring a 25-19, 25-18, 25-22 victory over Panama on Friday at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum.

Jose Cáceres led Dominican Republic with 24 points and Domingo Avila charted 10 points for Panama. The Dominicans had a 8-2 advantage in the blocking department.

“Today many of our younger players saw action as they need to get exposed to the international competition,” said Dominican captain Victor Batista. “Tomorrow we are going hard against Mexico. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 16, 2009 – Mexico defeated Barbados in straight sets 21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 29-27 advancing to the match for fifth place at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship.

Leonardo Manzo paced Mexico’s offense with 28 points and Edgar Herrera and Samuel Córdova added 14 and 13 respectively. Elwin Oxley topped Barbados with 20 points while Fabian Cox added 18 and Shawn Simpson tallied 12 points. “The team of Barbados is improving a lot and is better structured and organized with many potent players,” said Jorge Azair, the Mexican coach. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 15, 2009 – Puerto Rico scored a 25-15, 25-17, 25-20 victory against Mexico completing the final four teams of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship. The win sends Puerto Rico to a semi final clash against the three-time defending champions United States.

Ivan Perez came off the bench and topped Puerto Rico with 13 points and Hector Soto and Jose Rivera added 12 apiece. Leonardo Manzo was the best Mexican with 10 tallies. “It was a good match and Mexico was a tough rival,” said Luis Rodriguez.  More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 15, 2009 – Canada pulled off a five-set victory against Dominican Republic advancing to a semi final match against Cuba in the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship. The score was 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13 in two hours of play.

Louis-Pierre Mainville led four Canadians in double digits with 18 points. Tim Gourlay came from the bench to contribute 15 points and Joel Schmuland and Stephen Gotch added 12 and 11 respectively. Dominican Jose Caceres had a match-high 29. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 14, 2009 – Cuba edged Puerto Rico 25-21, 25-22, 25-20 to capture the Pool A and a direct spot in the semifinals of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship. More than 6,000 fans were in attendance at Ruben Rodríguez Coliseum.

Cuban Roberlandy Simon recorded three blocks and was good with 9 of 12 killing attempts to finish with 13 points. Wilfredo Leon and Michael Sanchez had 12 apiece and Yoendry Leal contributed 8 points. Puerto Ricans Hector Soto and Jose Rivera each scored 12 points. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 14, 2009 – USA defeated Canada 3-1 (21-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-21) advancing to the semi final round as winner of Pool B at NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship.

The Americans established the advantage at the net with 14 blocks against 7 from their rivals and also outscored them in serving aces 4-1. Clayton Stanley and Sean Rooney led the USA squad with 22 and 19 points respectively. Reid Priddy (13), David Lee (12) and Andrew Hein (10) also finished in double digits. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 14, 2009 – Mexico finished in third place of Pool B of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship by scoring a 25-19, 25-14, 25-21 victory against Panama. The win gave the winners a berth in the quarterfinals with a 1-2 record while the losers dropped to 0-3.

The Mexicans dominated the battle at the net with a 9-1 advantage in the blocking category during the match that lasted just 64 minutes. Leonardo Manzo paced the Mexican scoring with 15 tallies, Edgardo Herrera added 11. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 14, 2009 – Dominican Republic finished in third place of Pool A of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship by defeating Barbados 25-18, 25-18, 25-15. The win secured the winners a spot in the quarterfinals with a 1-2 record while the losers dropped to 0-3.

The Dominicans had an 11-5 advantage in the blocking category and blanked their opponents 4-0 in the aces department. Dominicans Jose Caceres and Victor Batista led their side with 17 and 14 points. Caceres landed 13 spikes of his 23 attempts and Batista went 12-for-20.   More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 13, 2009 – Puerto Rico remained unbeaten in two outings in Pool A after defeating Dominican Republic 25-18, 25-20, 25-19 in the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship being staged at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum of Bayamon.

The victory earned Puerto Rico a tie with Cuba atop of Pool A both with 2-0 records. These teams play on Wednesday for the first place and a direct berth in the semi final phase. Hector Soto topped the winners with 15 points landing 13 of 22 killing attempts. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 13, 2009 – USA beat Panama 25-13, 25-15, 25-8 moving to a tie with Canada atop of Pool B of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship. The Americans dominated their rivals 13-1 in blocks and 9-0 in service aces,

USA and Canada, both with 2-0 records, clash on Wednesday for the pool’s first place in the preliminary round and a direct ticket to the semi final phase. Panama fell to 0-2. Riley Salmon led four Americans in double figures with 12 points. Evan Patak and Reid Priddy each contributed 11 points. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 13, 2009 – Cuba booked an easy 25-10, 25-11, 25-16 victory against Barbados improving to 2-0 its mark in Pool A of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship. Barbados fell to 0-2.

Leonardo Leyva led Cuba with 10 points and Michael Sanchez charted 9. Wilfredo Leon and Osmany Camejo recorded 7 apiece. Fabian Cox and Elwin Oxley each had 10 points for Barbados. Cuba built a 10-2 advantage in the blocking department. “It was a preparation match for us against a team that is not very strong,” More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 13, 2009 – Canada recovered from losing the first set and went on to defeat Mexico 21-25, 25-16, 26-24, 25-12 improving its record to 2-0 in Pool B of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship. The Mexicans dropped to 0-2.

Stephen Gotch topped Canada with 25 points including four aces and Louis-Pierre Mainville added 17. Justin Duff had 6 blocks among his 13 points and Joel Schmuland contributed 11 tallies. Leonardo Manzo paced Mexico with 21 points and Edgar Herrera compiled 16. The winners had a 15-9 advantage in blocks and 6-2 in the aces category. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 12, 2009 – Puerto Rico beat Barbados 25-9, 25-16, 25-18 in the last match of opening day at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship. The home team dominated at the net with a 10-5 advantage in blocks and also from the service line 6 aces to 1.

Josue Rivera landed 8 of 12 killing attempts and led the balanced scoring of Puerto Rico with 10 points. Hector Soto was effective in 7 of 12 and compiled 9 tallies and Luis Rodriguez added 8 points.

“It is good to start with a victory,” said Luis Rodríguez, the  captain of Puerto Rico.  More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 12, 2009 – Cuba made an impressive debut in Pool A by defeating Dominican Republic 25-17, 25-15, 25-14 in the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship. The winners outscored their rivals 9-3 in the blocking category.

Teen-ager Wilfredo Leon tallied 11 points for Cuba and Michael Sanchez added 10 points. Captain Roberlandy Simon and Osmany Camejo each contributed 9 points to the winning effort. Jose Caceres and Victor Batista scored nine points apiece for Dominican Republic. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 12, 2009 – Canada scored a 25-13, 25-23, 25-19 victory over Panama in the second match of Pool B at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship that lasted 1 hour and 12 minutes.

Joel Small led the Canadians with 13 points, including five blocks and Louis-Pierre Mainville added 10 points all but one via spikes. Domingo Avila topped Panama and all the players with 14 points. “We made some execution mistakes and we need to clean up those errors in our upcoming matches against tougher opponents,” said Vincent Pichette, the coach of Canada. More Spanish

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 12, 2009 – Three-time defending champions USA recorded a 25-15, 28-26, 25-16 victory over Mexico in the first match of Pool B of NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum.

The Americans outscored their opponents 11-5 in blocks and 12-4 in the ace services category.

Evan Patak led the winners with 16 points including four aces, Sean Rooney compiled 11 points with four blocks and Paul Lotman scored six aces en route to 11 tallies. Thomas Hoff contributed 9 points, all but one via blocks.More Spanish

Bayamon, Puerto Rico, October 12, 2009 – Three-time defending champions USA and 13-time winners Cuba are the favorite teams to win the single ticket available to this year’s Grand Champions Cup at the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship that kicks-off on today at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum of Bayamon.

Both teams are loaded with much of their best talent and considered to be at least a notch above the rest of the competitors here. More Spanish