Mexico wins spectacular match over Puerto Rico

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, October 27, 2011 – Mexico made a spectacular comeback from a 0-2 deficit to defeat Puerto Rico 24-26, 16-25, 28-26, 25-21, 15-9 while claiming a ticket to the semifinal round of the men’s volleyball tournament at the Pan American Games on Thursday.

Captain Ivan Contreras topped Mexico with 22 points while Gustavo Meyer, Samuel Cordova and Tomas Aguilera each finished with 14 points. Puerto Rico’s Victor Rivera and Hector Soto registered 20 and 18 respectively while Roberto Muñiz and Juan Figueroa 15 and 12.

Iván Contreras (Captain of Mexico): “For the most of the guys who play in this national team is a new feeling. We had spent a lot of time without defeating Puerto Rico. The pressure by the audience was determinant in this match. There are a lot of services that they usually don’t fail, but this time with the support of the fans they failed.”

Héctor Soto (Captain of Puerto Rico): “We started like we wanted, but they increased their game level and we could not adjust to their change and they played very well.”

Jorge Azair (Coach of Mexico): “For the last years they have defeated us many times and now at home we finally broke that jinx. Jorge Quiñones stabilized the reception and Carlos (Guerra) played very tough on the fifth set.”

Carlos Cardona (Coach of Puerto Rico): “On the first sets, Puerto Rico did everything to win, but in the end did everything to lose. We lost our attack ability. We tried to change our setter, but it didn’t work.”