Guadalajara, Mexico, October 28, 2011 – World and Pan American champions Brazil will play Cuba for the gold medal of the Pan American Games men’s volleyball tournament on Saturday night.
Hosts Mexico will clash Argentina for the bronze medal while Canada and United States will meet for fifth position and Puerto Rico and Venezuela are to dispute the seventh place of the competition.
In Friday’s matches Cuba prevailed in a five-setter over Mexico 25-21, 25-27, 28-30, 25-15, 17-15 while Brazil defeated Argentina in four sets 26-28, 27-25, 25-22, 25-15. Also, Canada beat Puerto Rico 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-19, 25-20) and United States edged Venezuela in five sets (21-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-18, 15-13).

Cuba v Mexico
Cuba sealed a spot in the finals of the men’s volleyball tournament at the Pan American Games by prevailing against hosts Mexico 25-21, 25-27, 28-30, 25-15, 17-15 in a nail biting five-setter. Raydel Hierrezuelo blocked the spike attempt of Mexico’s Ivan Contreras for the final point of the match. Wilfredo Leon was the top producer for Cuba with 29 points followed by Rolando Cepeda, Henry Bell and Fernando Hernandez with 15, 14 and 13 respectively. Mexico’s Contreras had a match-high 30 points while Tomas Aguilera (17), Samuel Cordova (11) and Gustavo Meyer (10) also had double figures in the scores.

Brazil v Argentina
World and Pan American champions Brazil won the South American battle against Argentina 26-28, 27-25, 25-22, 25-15 to reach the gold medal match of the Pan American Games men’s volleyball tournament. Both teams scored with 8 blocks and in an unusual match for both sides, Argentina made one unforced error more than Brazil (37-36). Wallace de Souza was the top point producer of Brazil with 20 tallies while Thiago Alves charted 13. Gustavo Endres and Renato Russomanno added 8 points apiece. Argentina’s Federico Pereyra and Mariano Giustiniano registered 18 and 11 respectively.

Canada v Puerto Rico
Canada scored a 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-19, 25-20) victory over Puerto Rico in a qualification match for the 5-to-8 positions. Canada outblocked Puerto Rico 10-3. Spencer Leiske was the top scorer for the winners with 19 points while Jacob Kilpatrick and Devon Parkinson added 11 and 10 respectively. Puerto Rico’s Jean Carlos Ortiz had 14 points while Juan Figueroa (12) and Victor Rivera (11) also finished with double figures.

United States v Venezuela
United States advanced to a match for the fifth position after defeating Venezuela in five sets (21-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-18, 15-13). USA’s Evan Patak led the score charts with 25 points including three aces and two blocks while Tony Ciarelli added 9 tallies. Venezuela’s Jhoser Contreras and Luis Arias totaled 18 and 17 points respectively.