Canada claim Men’s Pan American Cup bronze with Empowerment

USA and Puerto Rico take gold and silver in Mexico

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Aug 19, 2026
Canada claim Men’s Pan American Cup bronze with Empowerment

The national team of Canada, supported by FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, claimed the bronze medals at last week’s Men’s Volleyball Pan American Cup in Morelos, Mexico. The United States conquered the trophy, while Puerto Rico finished runners-up.

Volleyball Canada has been funded with a total of USD 1,702,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national volleyball teams, USD 75,000 in volleyball equipment, and another USD 12,000 in knowledge transfer programs. Their men’s national volleyball teams have been benefitting from the expertise of coach David Preston.

At the Men’s Volleyball Pan American Cup played at Poliforum 2 of the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, Canada started off by winning Pool A undefeated, with victories over Trinidad & Tobago, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and USA. They qualified directly to the semifinals, where they suffered their only loss of the tournament, which cost them a spot in the final. Meeting Puerto Rico for the second time, Canada conceded a 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 25-20) defeat. They got back on the winning track to claim the bronze after a 3-1 (28-26, 25-18, 20-25, 25-23) win over hosts Mexico in the third-place game.

“After the semifinal performance, I was really proud of how they recovered,” coach Preston told NORCECA after that match. “Yesterday was pretty tough for us. We made a lot of mistakes, and we talked about not repeating those mistakes today. So, I was really, really proud of our guys. It’s amazing to play here. The fans are so supportive of volleyball in general, not just of Mexico. It’s such a great place to play. We’re really happy.”

After finishing pool runners-up on a 3-1 win-loss record, USA allowed no more setbacks. They took out the Dominican Republic in a four-set quarterfinal. Then, they produced a 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-16) sweep of their semifinal against Mexico and went on to beat Puerto Rico by 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-19) in the gold medal showdown.

Puerto Rico finished third in their pool, won their quarterfinal against over Cuba and went on to bring home silver.

Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Curacao and Trinidad & Tobago took the places from fourth to 10th in the final standings.

USA’s 22-year-old outside hitter Patrick Rogers was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and recognized on the tournament’s Dream Team, which also featured setter Michael Wright (USA), opposite Daniel Martinez (Cuba), outside hitter Franky Milantony (Mexico), middle blockers Parker Tomkinson (USA) and Jeremy Venega (Costa Rica), and libero Darian Picklyk (Canada). Martinez, Picklyk (pictured in the main photo; source: NORCECA) and Milantony also took the awards for Best Scorer, for Best Digger and for Best Server, respectively. The Best Receiver prize went to Puerto Rico’s Pedro Molina.

All results, standings and statistics

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