Canada overcome Dominicans for second victory

LANGLEY, Canada, September 27 2012 — Canada improved to a 2-0 win-loss record at the Men’s U-23 Pan American Cup after downing Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-18, 27-25, 27-25).

Canada outscored the defeated side 17-5 in the blocking category and 5-1 in service aces.

Daniel Jansen Van Doorn and Bradley Kufske were the top scorers for Canada, with 13 points apiece, while Nick del Bianco scored 11, and Branden Schmidt 10.

Pedro Luis Garcia led the Dominicans with 18 points while Luis David Adames concluded with 10.

“We came out with the appropriate energy and we executed our skills at a higher level. Our block defence is what pushed us to the win. Dominican played great and pushed us late but it worked out for us in the end,” said Canadian captain Jarrod Offereins.

Dominican captain Wilfrido Hernández, congratulated his rivals. “We were so close, it was a great match, we tried hard to make it but in the end we could not.”

Canada’s coach Ben Josephson stated: “I thought our blocking was the difference tonight. Their passing was good but our blocking was able to stop some of their great athletes. Our goal was to slow their attackers down and we did just enough to win.”

For Osiel Hernandez, Canada was more accurate and demanding than in the first match played against Mexico. “They were so strong it was tough for us. Unfortunately we made a lot of mistakes at the end, and our captain could not do the things as expected,” he said.