Today was the final day for men’s preliminary matches and all 6 men’s teams were in action on the final day before semifinals begin tomorrow.

In the first match of the day, Canada handed Colombia a 3 set defeat by scores of 25-19, 25-23, and 25-19. The Colombians played well and pushed the Canadians in the second set for bowing to them.

The second match of the day pitted Mexico against Costa Rica in the closest match of the competition so far. The match went a full five sets and lasted almost two hours. Costa Rica came out on top by scores 19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 20-25 and 15-13. The lead changed hands throughout each game and the final result was always in doubt until the final moments of each set as evidenced by the scores.

The third match of the day saw the two undefeated teams from Brazil and the USA compete to see who would finish first in the pool. Brazil took the first set 25-14 and looked like they might sweep the Americans. However, the USA squad showed great defense in the second game and handed the Brazilians a 25-19 setback. The Brazilians would take the next two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-15 to finish the preliminary round undefeated.

Standings after the preliminary round – men

1. Brazil 5 wins – 0 losses
2. USA 4 wins – 1 loss
3. Canada 3 wins – 2 losses
4. Colombia 2 wins – 3 losses
5. Costa Rica 1 win – 4 losses
6. Mexico 0 wins – 5 losses

Standings after the preliminary round – women

1. USA 3 wins – 0 losses
2. Brazil 2 wins – 1 loss
3. Canada 1 win – 2 losses
4. Cuba 0 wins – 3 losses

Competition Schedule for August 13

11:00 Brazil vs Colombia men – semifinal
1:00 USA vs Cuba women – semifinal
17:00 USA vs Canada men – semifinal
19:00 Brazil vs Canada women – semifinal