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RENO, USA (Aug. 16, 2015)
– Argentina got 23 points from opposite Frederico Martina and 13
points from three other players and took advantage of 25 errors
by Canada to defeat the North Americans, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25,
25-21 at the Pan American Cup on Sunday at the Reno Events
Center.
Argentina (4-0) will play in Monday’s gold medal match. Canada
(3-2) will play for bronze.
Argentina got great offensive production from Martina, who
scored on a match-high 20 attacks and a match-high three blocks.
Outside hitters Juan Villarruel and Lisandro Zanotti along with
middle blocker Pablo Guzman all finished with 13 points.
Argentina out-hit Canada (63-59) and scored 25 points off Canada
errors while committing 15. Argentina’s hitting efficiency was
.400 while Canada’s was .368.
Canada led in blocks (9-7) and aces (4-3). Canada was led by
outside hitter Stephen Marr who had 18 points on 17 spikes and
one block. Opposite Casey Schouten added 15 points on 12 spikes,
two blocks and one ace.
After Argentina won the first set easily, Canada led the second
set 17-15, but Argentina came back to tie it at 17-17. Canada
led 22-21, but Argentina score the final four points for the
victory.
Canada took a 19-12 lead in the third set, but Argentina did not
give up and closed the gap to 23-18. But the South Americans
only scored one more point before Canada got the win.
The fourth set went back and forth until the score was tied
17-17. Argentina used a 4-0 run to pull ahead and Canada never
recovered.
Canada head coach George Laplante
Really up and down and we didn’t have consistency. We had a good
sequence in the first, good sequence in the second, but not
enough to be consistent and sideout at a high level. The guy’s
tried hard but we just came up short in the end.
Canada captain Brett Walsh
“It was an exciting match. Argentina is a really good and they
execute really well, they have a chip on their shoulder. If we
wanted to win that match, we had to do a better job of going
back at them and matching their aggression. We didn’t do that
today but we’re going to go back out there and play tomorrow.”
Argentina captain Demian Gonzalez
“I’m very happy and proud of the team. We played the first,
second and fourth sets really well and in the third the opponent
made some good changes. We’re one step closer towards our goal.
We’re going to watch a little bit of Brazil and Venezuela and
then rest.”
Argentina head coach Martin Ariel Lopez
“I’m very happy with the victory, I think we played at a higher
level today than in the other matches in the tournament. We
played against a very strong team and they showed in the third
set when they were able to come back. There are four teams in
the semifinals and all of them deserve to advance to the finals
but only two will. It’s always wonderful to reach a final which
is what this young group did after working so hard for the last
six months.” |
