Puerto Rican national team libero Dennis Del Valle feels pretty good about the future of his squad, which begins its season at next week's NORCECA Pan-American Cup in Gatineau, Canada.

Thanks in large part to the recent success of the Puerto Rico women's national team, which qualified for the 2016 Olympics, new life and new funds are flowing into the sport; San Juan will even host the 2018 NORCECA Men's Pan-American Cup.
"This last [Olympic] cycle, our federation wasn't in a very good spot financially," Del Valle explained. "[The women's team going to the Olympics] was huge for the whole volleyball community in Puerto Rico because everybody was losing hope in volleyball in Puerto Rico. Things weren't going very well with our pro league, there were a lot of issues financially, so having [the women] qualify for the Olympics brought a lot of hope and a lot of new sponsors."

For the men's team, one of the biggest changes as the quad begins is a new coach at the helm: Ramon "Monchito" Hernandez. Hernandez grew up in Puerto Rico, but played his college ball at Penn State, where he was a three-time All-American, led the team to its first national championship, and set the school record for career solo blocks. After graduating and returning to Puerto Rico, Hernandez took his talents out to the beach, qualifying for the 2004 Athens Olympics with his partner Raul Papaleo Perez.

"It's good to have a new organization, a new philosophy," Del Valle said. "[Hernandez is] really focused on details, and a lot of people respect him. I think his personality fits in our team right now because he's really strict, he's really organized, and he's focusing on a lot of technique stuff, fixing little things that we have to get better at."


Puerto Rico Men's National Team at 2016 FIVB World League | Photo courtesy FIVB

The Puerto Rican team, Del Valle pointed out, usually isn't the tallest in the gym, so they have to rely on other aspects of their game. Hernandez has the team working on running a faster offense.

"He knows there are going to be mistakes, the margin of error is going to be bigger with the speed that we are playing, but still we're emphasized on getting better at it instead of [slowing] the offense down because it's not working," Del Valle said. "He's staying really positive and encouraging everybody to believe in themselves and keep working hard because this is what we are going to do for the next four years."

While most teams kicked off 2017 at World League, the Puerto Rican squad was stuck at home after not being able to attend the 2016 Pan-Am Cup, where they could have qualified for the World League tournament, due to a lack of federation funds.


Dennis Del Valle, World League 2016 | Photo courtesy FIVB

This year, first and foremost, the Puerto Rico men are aiming to finish in the top five in order to earn a spot in the 2018 World League competition. Once they cross that hurdle, they'll set their sights on the podium.

"Puerto Rico hasn't been on the [Pan-Am Cup] medal podium since 2010, so we obviously are looking to get on that. Especially now that our women's team got bronze -- it's a motivation for us. We are good enough to do as well as they did."

To make it on the podium, Puerto Rico will have to contend with teams like the USA, Canada, and Argentina, all of which competed in the 2016 Olympics. Along with libero Del Valle, Puerto Rico will need big-time performances from its top opposite Maurice Torres, who was a two-time All-American at Pepperdine; captain and setter Edgardo Goas, a teammate of Del Valle's at Penn State; and outside hitter Sequiel Sanchez.


Sequiel Sanchez, World League 2016 | Photo courtesy FIVB

"We are looking pretty solid," Del Valle said. "We have a lot of veterans mixed with youngsters, so we still have to find our own identity and our own chemistry when we're playing since we haven't had the opportunity to play together in an actual match."

The Puerto Rico men will kick off the Pan-Am Cup on July 25 at 2 PM ET against Argentina. Watch the match, and all other matches from the Pan-Am Cup, LIVE, right here on FloVolleyball.

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