Volleyball Canada – LIMA, Peru, May 11, 2019 – Cuba, the top ranked men’s U21 team, defeated Canada in the gold medal match of the U21 Men’s Volleyball Pan American Cup at the Manuel Bonilla Coliseum of Miraflores. The final score was 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 29-27). Canada brings home the silver medal.
  
Cubans José Romero and José Gutiérrez stood out with 14 and 13 points respectively. Canadian opposite Xander Ketrzynski was the lead scorer of the match with 18 points.
 
Cuba held a slight advantage in attack (35-32) and blocking (6-5), but the Canadians outscored Cuba in services (11-8). The winners registered 20 unforced errors and 30 for the losing side.
   
“We knew Cuba from when we played them last year, and the teams we had played up to this point of this tournament had not been as big as Cuba. The first set was a bit tight,” coach Adam Simac told www.norceca.net. “In the second and third set we had many opportunities, maybe we were a little nervous, but each one of the guys put on a fight.”
 
Canada’s Xander Ketrzynski also won best opposite and best server awards, while Canada’s libero Landon Currie received “best digger” recognition. 
 
Both teams will play in this year’s World Championship. Cuba has accumulated three silver and two bronze medals at the U21 World Championship so far; and in the last edition held in 2017 in the Czech Republic, they finished in second place after falling to Poland in straight sets in the final. Canada does not have medals in the U21 World Championship and in this 2019 will seek to improve on its eighth place from the Czech Republic in 2017.
 
The U21 World Championships will be held in Bahrain, July 17 to 27, 2019.
 
U21 Pan Am Cup Past Results:
 
Year     Gold     Silver   Bronze
2011     VEN      CAN       CHI
2015     BRA      USA       CAN
2017     BRA      CUB       CAN
2019     CUB      CAN       PUR

Full roster here:
https://volleyball.ca/en/news/volleyball-canada-announces-junior-national-team-roster-for-u21-pan-am-cup

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Info: NORCECA