Puerto Rico blanked Canada to clinch a ticket to the semifinals

PONCE, Puerto Rico, October 9th, 2025.- Puerto Rico swept Canada (25-15, 25-17, 25-16) to maintain their undefeated record at the NORCECA Men’s Final Six, held at the Juan “Pachín” Vicéns Auditorium, clinching a ticket to the semifinals.

Puerto Rico started the match strong jumping to a quick 3-0 lead. The home team kept the pressure on, controlling the tempo and forcing Canada into early errors winning the set 25-15. Puerto Rico made some changes in the line-up and displayed a high level of the game guided by their setter Howard García, who organized the offensive with fast paced sets to the middle blockers. The Puerto Ricans continued their dominance, closing out the next two sets 25-17 and 25-11.

Puerto Rico outperformed Canada in attacks (36-20), aces (7-4), and blocks (6-3), also made fewer errors than Canada 21-26.

Opposite Jamal Ellis was the top scorer for Puerto Rico with 9 points (8 attacks and 1 block), spiking at an 80% success rate. He was followed by teammate Pedro Molina with 7 points (5 attacks and 2 blocks). Ryden Hargreaves led Canada’s offense with 10 points (7 attacks, 2 blocks, and 1 ace).

On the final day of the Round Robin, Puerto Rico will face the United States, while Canada will take on the Dominican Republic.

Howard Garcia, setter of Puerto Rico: “We knew we had to come out and play hard, and obviously we're respecting all our opponents. We minimized our mistakes that were key for our victory today. The interesting thing about this group is that there are no egos, and everyone is available and willing to play and accept their role. For the game against the United States, we have to prepare mentally first, go to practice, establish a game plan, and hope that everything we planned goes well.”

Matt Lefebvre, setter of Canada: “It was tough. Puerto Rico hasn’t lost a match yet. We played with a different lineup that we’re not used to, but I liked the challenge. This wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but it’s good to face a team of that caliber, and overall, it was a valuable experience. We committed a lot of errors, but we always reset after every point. We have a great leader in Liam Kindle, who didn’t let us give up. Our next match is really important, and we’ll be doing our best to prepare for it.