Brandon Legall tallied 21 points for the second straight match to lead three T&T players in double-figure scoring in a 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19 victory over El Salvador for fifth spot when the Second Under-23 Men’s Pan American Cup ended at the Palacio De Los Deportes, Ciudad Deportiva, La Habana, Cuba on Friday. In addition to Legall who 18 spikes and two aces in his total, Nicholas Prescott and Marlon Phillip were the two other players in double-figure scoring with 16 and 11 points respectively while Joel Theodore added seven. For T&T, which also defeated El Salvador 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 on Thursday in their final round-robin match, it was another dominant showing on spikes, 50-26 while both teams had the same total in blocks (8-8) and services (5-5).
However, once again, T&T kept its opponent in each set by too many unforced errors, 34 to its rival 44. For the Central Americans Mario Rivas with 13 and Armando Guatemala, 11 were the only players who had double digits while Carlos Guatemala got eight. Speaking after his team’s second win in as many nights after starting with four defeats, T&T coach Gideon Dickson, assessed the tournament as excellent, with a high-level. Legall added, “It was a good match. We were good at pass and reception. I think in general we played well and the victory we attained yesterday against the same rival influenced on it.”
Dominican Republic secured the bronze medal by defeating Guatemala 25-18, 25-20, 25-15 while Cuba won gold by achieving its sixth consecutive victory overcoming Mexico 25-23, 25-14, 25-23. Prior to the final, both teams had already qualified for the FIVB Under-23 World Championship next year. Following the final, host player Osniel Rendon was voted as Most Valuable Player of the competition. Osniel, a 2,02 meter-height boy who will turn into 18 years old on October 26th, was also the Best Server, while the Dominican Luis Adames was the Best Scorer and the First Best Spiker while Cuban Lazaro Fundora was the Second Best Spiker. Completing the All Stars, the blockers Livan Osoria (Cuba) and Mario Frias (Dominican Republic), the also Cubans Ricardo Calvo (Best Setter) and Yonder Garcia (Best Receiver), the Mexican Alexis Garay (Best Opposite) and the Dominican Enger Mieses (Best Libero and Best Digger).
