HAVANA, Cuba, June 10, 2023 – Canada defeated Puerto Rico 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 21-25, 25-16) at the U21 Men’s Norceca Pan American at the Ciudad Deportiva in Havana.
Canada had the advantage in kills (56-35), in blocks (10-5) and serves (7-4) but ended with more unforced errors (23-33). Canada’s strong offense was led by opposite and team captain Jacob Sargent with 24 points, followed by Brendan Mills (19), Kaden Schmidt and Jonah Dueck, both with 12 points.
Opposite hitter Gregory Torres reached 17 points for the losing side.
Canada’s coach Arnd Ludwig said, “I think third place represents where we are. We rebounded well and today’s win shows that we progressed over the tournament. Especially today, our blocking was better; it’s going in the right direction. We still have a lot of things to work on during the next three weeks to prepare the squad for the U21 World Championship.”
Canada had met Puerto Rico earlier in the tournament, winning in five sets.
Host country Cuba won the final (gold) over the USA (silver) in five sets this evening in Havana.
Pan Am Cup at www.norceca.net
2023 U21 Men
Devin Cooney, Kanata ON
Dennis Cota, Mississauga ON
Jonah Dueck, Rosenort MB
Reeve Gingera, Calgary AB
Spencer Grahame, Selkirk MB
Mason Greves, Calgary AB
Josh Jehle, St. Andrews MB
Samuel Ludwig, Winnipeg MB
Isaiah Mamer, Wilkie SK
Brendan Mills, London ON
Lucas Musschoot, Grenfell SK
Renn Petryk, Edmonton AB
Matthew Rugosi, Toronto ON
Jacob Sargent, Lethbridge AB
Kaden Schmidt, Mississauga ON
Cory Schoenherr, Waterloo ON
Staff
U21 Head Coach: Arnd (Lupo) Ludwig
U21 Asst. Coach : Mike Stephens
U21 Asst. Coach : Sean McKay
U21 Statistician Christophe Elek
U21 Therapist: Meredith Waisman
NextGen & U21 Strength and conditioning: Louis-Jean Tremblay
U21 MPC : Brendan Dinsdale
High Performance Director: Julien Boucher
Team Coordinator Matheus Braz
U21 Team Manager : Melanie Desrochers
Photo: VolleyballWorld
Volleyball Canada Media Contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676
