FIVB Volleyball Empowerment beneficiaries Colombia claimed bronze at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games men’s volleyball tournament, their first medal in the history of the competition. Brazil earned the title, while defending champions Argentina settled for silver.
Boosted by a coach support grant of CHF 72,000 from Volleyball Empowerment, the men’s national team of Colombia completed their remarkable story in Chile standing on the podium after a hard-fought 3-1 (32-31, 15-25, 29-27, 25-17) win over Cuba in the third-place match on Saturday. Middle blocker and captain Leandro Mejia led the way with 19 points, including six kill blocks.
In the first phase of the tournament, Colombia lost to both Cuba and Brazil, but managed to defeat Mexico in straight sets to finish third in Pool A and advance to the quarterfinals, where they knocked out hosts Chile in four sets to meet Brazil again in the semifinals. The Colombians bounced back from a 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-15) loss with a victory over Cuba to celebrate a historic success.
The Colombians lift coach Schmidt in the air in celebration of their historic success
Brazil went through the tournament undefeated, but topped the final Pool A standings only after a nail-biting five-setter against Cuba, in which they celebrated as winners after an 18-16 tie-breaker. Those were the only two sets they lost in the five matches played in Santiago. Their victory run was crowned with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-22) win over South American challengers Argentina in the gold medal game. Another middle blocker led the winners’ scorers in this match. Putting away 10 spike kills, two kill blocks and an ace, Judson Nunes finished with 13 points. It was the fifth time Brazil won the event, improving their Pan American Games medal count to five golds, seven silvers and five bronzes.
The champions of the previous two editions, Argentina, picked up their first-ever silver medal. Their collection also contains three gold and four bronze medals. Argentina topped Pool A after victories over Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Chile to progress straight to a semifinal clash with Cuba, which they won in four sets, 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-18), with a 24-point match high from opposite Bruno Lima.
The teams of Dominican Republic, Mexico, Chile and Puerto Rico lined up in the places from fifth to eighth in the final standings.
Brazilian outside hitter Enrique Honorato was awarded the Most Valuable Player at Santiago 2023, while the tournament Dream Team consisted of setter Matheus Silva (Brazil), opposite Darlan Ferreira (Brazil), outside hitters Miguel Lopez (Cuba) and Mauro Zelayeta (Argentina), middle blockers Leandro Mejía (Colombia) and Gustavo Maciel (Argentina), and libero Enger Mieses (Dominican Republic). The latter also took the award for Best Digger. Brazil’s Maique Nascimento and Darlan Ferreira (pictured in the main photo) were named the Best Receiver and the Best Server, respectively, while Miguel Lopez was also honoured as the Best Scorer of the competition.
Source : fivb.com
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