The 13th men’s Pan American Cup in Veracruz (MEX) finished with an undefeated Argentina defeating Brazil in five sets to defend its 2017 title.
The group stage saw the 12 teams divided into three groups and five teams won their two group games: Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Canada and Argentina. In the quarterfinals, Mexico was defeated by Puerto Rico and Cuba defeated Canada to get to the semis.
Argentina handled Cuba, 3-1, in the first semifinal and Brazil defeated Puerto Rico, also by 3-1. So in the final, it was two 3-0 teams and it was just that close. Brazil won the first set, 27-25, then Argentina won the next two by 25-17 and 25-22. Brazil came back to win the fourth set, 27-25, but Argentina was able to triumph in the fifth and final set, 15-10, to win back-to-back titles in 2:04.
Cuba defeated Puerto Rico in the bronze-medal match, 3-1, so the final standings showed:
1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Cuba
4. Puerto Rico
5. Mexico
6. Canada
7. United States
8. Chile
9. Colombia
10. Dominican Rep.
11. Guatemala
12. Peru
Argentina’s title was its second; in the history of the event, the U.S. still leads with five; Brazil has three wins and Cuba also has two.
The U.S. finished seventh, defeating Chile in the 7-8 classification match, 3-1.
