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AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico, August 13, 2021. - Host
Mexico topped pool B defeating Puerto Rico 3-0
(25-10, 25-15) at the Women’s U23 Pan American
Cup on Friday night at the Olympic Gymnasium of
Aguascalientes.
Once again Coach Luis Alberto Leon had the
opportunity to use his entire roster in a match
dominated by Mexico. The home team finishes the
preliminary round with 3-0 record and will meet
Suriname in semifinals, while Puerto Rico (1-2)
plays against defending champion Dominican
Republic.
Mexico edged Puerto Rico by huge margins in
attacks 33-16 and serves 11-1; Puerto Rico did
better in blocks 3-1. Mexico benefited by 30
Puerto Rican errors while limiting to 18 their
own.
With 8 points apiece, opposite Marian Ovalle and
Karen Paola Rivera led Mexico’s attackers,
joined by middle blocker Cindy García and
outside hitters Grecia Castro alongside Atenas
Gutierrez with 7 points all. Puerto Rico’s
offense was led by Karolina Rodríguez with 6
points, outside hitter Nahirka Malpica and
opposite Ana Beatriz Fuentes added 5 points
each.
Marian Ovalle top scorer of Mexico: “With our
consistency we’ve been able to reach the
positive results we were hoping for; we followed
our coaches’ instructions and kept our
concentration, focusing on the game. Qualifying
to Cali was our first goal and now we want to
reach the final match”.
Paola Martell Captain of Puerto Rico: “Mexico
played well, we could have done better. We had
too many highs and lows. We hope to put in
practice all we’ve been training for the past
months”.
Luis Alberto León Coach of Mexico: “Everything
worked out well for my girls today, they did
pretty well. We will keep our same system; we
are ready for the semifinal”.
José Rivera Guinand Coach of Puerto Rico:
“Tonight our reception wasn’t at its best and we
must restructure again for what lies ahead. This
is a part of the national team that will be
competing at the U18 FIVB World Championship,
they are 15 years old; they are gaining
experience. In semifinals we will face defending
champions, so we are going one match at a time”.
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