PR men’s volleyball team falls to Canada to open Pan Am Cup

Puerto Rico men’s volleyball coach Jamille Torres encourages his players during a timeout in their match against Canada.

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico head volleyball coach Jamille Torres made no excuses following his team’s opening-match loss to Canada on Monday at the Men’s Pan American Cup in the Mexican state of Morelos. For him, the match served as a necessary wake-up call.

“In Puerto Rico, we say a timely slap in the face is a good thing,” Torres said after Canada asserted its dominance at the net with 19 blocks to defeat Puerto Rico, 3-1. “Things had been going too well for us all year, and we needed someone to open our eyes.” 

The set scores were 20-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-11 in the Group A pool play match at the Poliforum 2 on the campus of the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos.

Canada bounced back after dropping the first set to notch its second win of the tournament. 

Canada’s 19-5 advantage in blocks proved to be the deciding factor in the match. The Canadians also led in attacks (40-34) and serves (7-3), though they conceded 34 points on errors compared to Puerto Rico’s 29.

Daniil Hershtynovich led Canada with 17 points, followed by Trent Cherewaty (13), Kaden Schmidt (12) and Erik Siksna (10). Pedro Molina was Puerto Rico’s top scorer with 10 points.

After dropping the first set, Canada rallied for a 2-1 lead and then took complete control in the fourth. The Canadians opened with five consecutive points -- including three blocks -- forcing Puerto Rico to call an early timeout. Canada continued to dominate at the net and quickly extended their lead to 10-2. From there the deficit grew to 15-6 and 20-8 before Canada closed out the match.

Puerto Rico was to play the United States on Tuesday afternoon, followed by Costa Rica today and Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday.