The United States captured their first Men’s Pan American Cup title in 14 years after beating Puerto Rico in four sets in gold-medal match.
The Americans recovered from losing the opening set to secure a 3-1 victory, winning 22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-19. The triumph gave the United States sixth gold medal in tournament history and first since 2012.
USA completed the competition with a 6-1 record, including two victories over Puerto Rico. The Americans had previously swept the Caribbean side during the preliminary round. Puerto Rico finished 4-3 and earned their third silver medal in the competition.
Jacob Pasteur led the winners with 17 points, Hobus scored 16 and Rogers contributed 13. Pelegrin Vargas paced Puerto Rico with 15 points, followed by Klistan Lawrence with 14 and Ismael Alomar with 11.
Canada Takes Bronze
Canada secured the bronze medal for the second consecutive edition after defeating Mexico 3-1 in the third-place clash.
The Canadians prevailed 28-26, 25-18, 20-25, 25-23 to finish the tournament with a 5-1 record. Mexico ended their campaign in fourth place at 3-3. Canada dominated blocking 12-5 and committed 28 errors compared with Mexico’s 45. Mexico led 53-39 in attacks and 6-2 in serve points.
Arthur Szwarc scored a team-high 17 points for Canada, with Weekes adding 15. Franky Hernández led Mexico and all scorers with 23 points, while Diego González finished with 10.
Results
Gold-medal match: United States def. Puerto Rico 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-19)
Bronze-medal match: Canada def. Mexico 3-1 (28-26, 25-18, 20-25, 25-23)
Medalists: Gold — United States; Silver — Puerto Rico; Bronze — Canada.
