Argentina opens with a victory over Puerto Rico

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, August 20, 2013 - Gustavo Vaca and Agustin Ramonda scored 14 points apiece as Argentina overcame Puerto Rico in a 3-1 (18-25, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-18) victory during the second day at VIII Men’s Pan American Cup.

Ezequiel Palacios scored 13 points for the South American team, while for Puerto Rico Ezequiel Cruz tallied 14, captain Roberto Muniz added 12 and Mannix Roman had 11 points.

“We fell in a lot of mistakes, we had a bad reception. We are living a change in our team; we are working on the restructuration. We are a new team, but have to keep working on our team performance,” said Muniz.

“This was a match with a lot of mistakes for us, we went on four sets, we need to concentrate in our next rival”, said David Aleman, coach of Puerto Rico.

Argentinean captain Juan Ignacio Finoli remarked: “This was a nice win, because in the beginning we went out with some nerves, we are a very young team and faced a senior one, but in the end we corrected our mistakes.”

Head coach Alejandro Grossi commented: “To start with a victory is always important, you prepare to win, we improved in some situations, and did not rotate well as Puerto Rico did, but fortunately we made a difference in our transition”.