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COLIMA, Mexico, June 25, 2021. - Puerto Rico and
Nicaragua moved into semifinals of the NORCECA
Continental Cup Finals winning their
quarterfinal matches thru golden sets in Colima,
Mexico on Friday.
Puerto Rico needed a Golden Set to come out on
top Guatemala. It was Guatemalan number one team
of Andy Leonardo and Luis García winning the
first match in extended three set victory 2-1
(22-20, 12-21, 15-13) over Kevin Rodríguez/Cristian
Encarnación of Puerto Rico-1. Andy and Luis were
stronger at the beginning while Kevin and
Cristian gained more confidence edging Guatemala
to a third set. On the other hand, Josue Rivera
and Juan Carlos Ribas of PUR-2 had no
difficulties beating GUA-2 of Edgar Maldonado
and Andre Nuyens 21-10, 21-14.
Kevin Rodríguez and Cristian Encarnación faced
Leonardo and García once again in the Golden Set
jumping to an early 6-1 advantage; despite some
big spikes and monster blocks from Guatemala,
the Puerto Rican duo kept their focus and with
smart moves won their semifinal spot 15-9.
We asked Puerto Rico what was the difference
between the first match and the Golden set;
Kevin Rodríguez indicated that they were more
persevering and played slower “we were thinking
of not relaxing too much when being ahead and it
worked”. Encarnación added “we were more
confident; we played hard every point because it
was a shorter set”.
Central American champions and NORCECA Tour
medalists Ruben Mora and Dany López of
Nicaragua, beat U.S. Virgin Islands’ team one of
Marc Lomeli/Austin Pippen with a very consistent
performance 2-0 (21-14, 21-17). With Jefferson
Cascante and Denis López out of the competition,
they also won the Golden Set to ISV-2 of Daniel
Samuelson/Brian Kwasny by a tight 15-12.
Dany López said that they needed to prepare
mentally because Nicaragua’s two team was
removed due to one positive covid test, “we’ve
been dealing with a lot of stress, probably
reaching semifinals would have been easier; I am
glad for Nicaragua and AFECAVOL, hoping to play
well tomorrow”.
In Saturday’s semifinals, Kevin Rodríguez/Cristian
Encarnación and Josue Rivera/Juan Ribas of
Puerto Rico will play Josue Gaxiola/Jose Luis
Rubio and Juan Virgen/Lombardo Ontiveros of
Mexico; while Nicaraguan Ruben Mora alongside
Dany López are scheduled to face Canadian duo
Schachter Samuel/Sam Pedlow. Canada’s 2 team of
Grant O’Gorman/Ben Saxton earned a bye, if
Mora/Lopez beat Schachter Samuel/Sam Pedlow, a
Golden Set will decide who advances to finals.
The men’s final is programmed to take place at
3:00pm local time on Sunday; the winning
coountry will go to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic
Games.
Friday’s Results Quarterfinals
Puerto Rico 2, Guatemala 1
Andy Leonardo/Luis García GUA-1 d Kevin
Rodríguez/Cristian Encarnación PUR-1 (22-20,
12-21, 15-13)
Josue Rivera/Juan C. Ribas PUR-2 d Edgar
Maldonado/Andre Nuyens GUA-2 (21-10, 21-14)
GOLDEN SET: Kevin Rodríguez/Cristian Encarnación
PUR-1 d Andy Leonardo/Luis García GUA-1 (15-9)
Nicaragua 2, U.S. Virgin Islands 1
Ruben Mora/Dany López NCA-1 d Marc Lomeli/Austin
Pippen ISV-1 (21-14, 21-17)
Daniel Samuelson/Brian Kwasny ISV-2 d Jefferson
Cascante/Denis López NCA-2 (21-0, 21-0)
GOLDEN SET: Ruben Mora/Dany López NCA-1 Daniel
Samuelson/Brian Kwasny ISV-2 (15-12) |
