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.
“We still have inconsistency and we need to
polish the rough edges of our game,” said Gotch.
“We will not be able to get away with those
mistakes against a team like USA.”
“I think our players took it lightly in the
first two sets and you can’t allow that at this
level,” said Vincent Pichette, the Canadian
coach. “We improved our game in the third and
fourth sets but we need to have better
discipline.”
“We made a lot of mental mistakes and our
services were not good after the first set,”
said Jorge Azair, the Mexican coach. “On the
other side of the coin, Canada improved its
serves both in strength and location.”
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