Brazil battled to remain unbeaten

CIUDAD JUAREZ, México, July 3, 2011 – Brazil had to battle to defeat Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-10) and remain unbeaten in Pool B along with USA at the 10^th Women´s Pan American Cup in Universidad Autónoma Ciudad Juarez.

It was one of the best matches of Pool B so far where Brazil had to use all its offensive and defensive skills to beat a fierce Puerto Rico in front of a great audience that cheered the whole night for both teams.

Thaisa Menezes topped Brazil with 15 points, 10 of them were blocks, and Sheila Castro scored 11 points, ten via attacks and one ace.  For Puerto Rico, Stephanie Enright scored 9 points.

“We lacked concentration during the match, but in the third set our service was more determined and that gave us the game,” Fabiana Claudino, Brazil’s captain said.

A disappointed Vilmarie Mojica said: “The third set doesn’t reflect the match; we tried as much as we could to keep up with Brazil.”

Jose Roberto Gimaraes commented his team’s many mistakes “in the second set made things complicated, and it’s not possible to give too many spaces to Puerto Rico.” He also spoke about the fact that the pressure is on the big teams, so expectations are high.

“We’re up against the best teams in the world, we were much better today but Brazil knew how to dominate us,” said David Alemán, coach from Puerto Rico.