Puerto Rico fifth at the U21 Pan Am Cup

FORT MCMURRAY, Canada, May 20, 2017 -   Puerto Rico finished with a win and fifth place at the U21 Pan American Cup at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre at Keyano College in Fort McMurray.

Despite a tough loss yesterday, Puerto Rio swept Chile 3-0 (25-22 25-14 25-18) this afternoon.

Puerto Rico’s Sebastian Negron was the match top scorer with 17 points – 11 attacks, two blocks, four aces.

Angel Meléndez, the head coach, said: “We just came out and played with a lot of energy and focus – last night was a very tough match for us, so we talked to the guys and told them we needed their best today. They came out relaxed, fought hard and didn’t commit as many errors. We wanted to be in the final four, but it is a tough tournament.”

Vicente Mardones scored 11 for Chile.

Yesterday Chile had an exciting game against Canada, winning the third set over the bigger hometown favoured side, but today they looked uninspired. 

Chile’s coach Daniel Nejamkin admitted today that they make a lot of technical and tactical mistakes, and were caught off guard:   “We had issues attacking, defending, digging. They didn’t think the game would be that complicated. But the main reason why we lost tonight is because my guys showed they were not able to handle the frustration. One more game tomorrow (for sixth and seventh place) to fix it.”

May 16 (local time)

12:00  Cuba v Chile  3-0

18:00  Brazil v Barbados 3-0

20:00  Canada v Guatemala 3-0

May 17

16:00  Chile v Puerto Rico 1-3

18:00  Guatemala v Brazil 0-3

20:00  Canada v Barbados 3-0

May 18

16:00  Puerto Rico v Cuba 0-3

18:00  Barbados v Guatemala 1-3

20:00  Canada v Brazil 1-3

May 19 (quarterfinals)

18:00 Puerto Rico v Guatemala 2-3

20:00 Canada v Chile 3-1