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BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, October 16, 2009 –
Three-time defending champions USA advanced to a
final match against Cuba at the NORCECA Men’s
Continental Championship after a 25-16, 25-23,
25-22 victory against hosts Puerto Rico on
Friday.
Cuba has 13 titles in the 20-year history of the
event and USA has won the other seven including
the last three editions.
David Lee and William Priddy had stellar
offensive performances with Lee recording 15
points (13 of 16 attacks) and Priddy adding 13
points with 11 kills in 18 tries. Victor Rivera
and Hector Soto had 14 and 12 points
respectively for Puerto Rico.
“We played very good team volleyball and
dictated the tempo of the match,” said Thomas
Hoff, the USA captain. “We had a real good
practice yesterday and it set the tone for us.”
Head coach Alan Knipe added: “It wasn’t the
easiest match but our players kept the composure
and Sean Rooney came off the bench to help us
win the second set. Cuba is a very talented team
with many different weapons and tomorrow we need
to play better than today.”
Luis Rodriguez, the captain of Puerto Rico,
said: “It was an excellent match. Taking aside
the first set, we played point by point with
them. But we couldn’t close the second set and
maybe that was the difference.”
“USA defeated us with their attack down the
middle,” said Carlos Cardona, the coach of
Puerto Rico. “Our offense wasn’t good today.
Only Victor Rivera did a good job offensively.”
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