Canada's men's volleyball team finishes just off the podium at Pan Am Cup
Argentina takes gold over Puerto Rico
Cuba defeated Canada 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23) on Sunday to claim bronze at the Pan American Cup in Gatineau, Que.
The gold and bronze medallists from the 2016 edition, Cuba and Canada met for the first time in this year's tournament with the host country fielding a younger team.
"It was a good developmental game for us," said Canada's coach Larry McKay. "At times we matched the level of that Cuban national team, which was very good for our group."
Miguel Angel Lopez led the Cuban offensive with 21 points as Miguel David Gutierrez added 16, including three aces. Ryan Sclater was Canada's top contributor with 25 points and Blake Scheerhoorn had 12.
"It was a tough game for me, I felt that things were not going well at the start, but then it was a process trying to build back in," Sclater said. "It was sweet though because our team is really tight and does a good job of supporting each other. So it was really helpful for me to have them build me up and get back into the game. It was tough down the stretch because Cuba is a great team, but we played some good volleyball at times."
Later, Argentina won gold with a 3-1 victory over Puerto Rico.