Argentina Beats Brazil in a Stunner to Claim Pan Am Cup Gold

2018 PAN AM CUP

Argentina claim the crown at the 2018 Pan Am Cup for the second consecutive year and the second time in their country’s history. They did so in a dramatic fashion, beating Brazil in the tie-break. Cuba took the bronze after beating Puerto Rico 3-1, and Mexico placed 5th by virtue of a 3-1 victory over Canada.

CHAMPIONSHIP: ARGENTINA DEF. BRAZIL 3-2

Argentina defeats Brazil 3-2 (25-27, 25-17, 25-22, 25-27, 15-10)
Argentina wins the gold medal for the second time; Brazil wins their first silver medal at this event

Argentina was close to ending this match in a sweep, but Brazil hung tight in the first and fourth sets to force this match to a tie-break. In the end the outside attack of Argentina was too much for Brazil to overcome. Ezequiel Palacios, the tournament MVP, led the scoring with 21 points on 19 kills, 1 block and 1 ace. The outside hitter did not commit and attack error and hit a blistering .588 for the match. Luciano Palonsky was right behind with 17 kills and 2 aces with a .364 hitting percentage. Nicolas Bruno was a stalwart in serve receive, and scored 17 points on 16 kills and 1 ace. He hit .387 for the match.

Joaquin Gallego led the match with 4 blocks in the middle of Argentina. He also put away 6 kills to finish with 10 points. Gaston Fernandez, the other middle blocker, scored 9 points on 8 kills and a block. Franco Massimo led Argentina in passing and digs (13). Matias Sanchez set Argentina to a .428 attack average as a team.

Alan Souza did not start in the second set (he started in every other set), but led Brazil with 19 points. His points came from 16 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace while hitting .315. Henrique Honorato led Brazil in kills with 18, accounting for all of his points. They used Leonardo Nascimento, Victor Cardoso, and Gabriel Pessoa at the other outside hitter role. They accounted for 4, 3, and 8 points respectively.

Flavio Gualberto scored 11 points in the middle on 9 kills and 2 blocks. They used Leandro Santos and Matheus dos Santos at the other middle blocker position. They scored 4 and 7 points respectively. Thiago Veloso led the match with 14 digs and set Brazil to a .351 hitting percentage.

3rd PLACE: CUBA DEF. PUERTO RICO 3-1

Cuba defeats Puerto Rico 3-1 (20-25, 25-9, 25-18, 25-17)
Cuba wins the bronze medal, a repeat of their performance last year, Puerto Rico finishes in fourth place

After a slow start in the first set against Puerto Rico, Cuba put their foot on the gas and never let up. Marlon Herrera did not start the match for Cuba, but he came on partway through the first set and never looked back. He was the leading scorer in the match with 18 points on 13 kills, 4 aces and 2 blocks. Jaime Herrera led the match with 5 service aces. The opposite for Cuba finished the match with 16 points. Miguel Castro led Cuba with 14 kills and contributed 3 aces to finish the match with 17 points.

Maurice Torres was the lone shining star for Puerto Rico. The opposite from Pepperdine University scored 18 points on 15 kills, 1 block, and had his team’sonly 2 service aces. Pablo Guzman scored 9 points on 9 kills. Jessie Colon scored 9 points on the middle in the defeat form 7 kills and 2 blocks.

5th PLACE: MEXICO DEF. CANADA 3-1

Mexico defeats Canada 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 25-17)
Mexico finishes in fifth place and qualifies for the 2019 Pan Am Games; Canada takes sixth place

Daniel Vargas came up big for Mexico with 18 points on 15 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace. Jorge Barajas scored 14 points all on kills. Pedro Rangel, Mexico‘s setter, led the match with 4 blocks. He was the team’s third-leading scorer with 11 points. Jonathan Garcia scored 5 points in the middle on 2 blocks, 1 ace, and 2 kills. Jesus Rangel led the match with 23 digs.

Blake Scheerhoorn led Canada with 17 points on 14 kills, 2 aces and 1 block. Andrew Richards and Terrel Bramwell, a substitute at opposite, both finished with 8 kills. Bramwell also contributed 2 kills and 1 ace to finish with 11 points. Justin Duff led the charge in the middle for Canada with 8 points. Deenan Gyimah came off the bench to play middle for Canada in the second set and scored 7 points on 4 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace.