Puerto Rico blanks Cuba

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 8, 2018 – Puerto Rico swept Cuba 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-23) in a duel between teams from the Greater Antilles at the Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup on Sunday.

The Puerto Rican team relied on their strong serves to dominate the Cuban side as the winners outscored the losers 11-4 in the aces category.

Marie Pilar Victoria, Noami Santos and Shirley Ferrer were the best Puerto Ricans in attack finishing with 13, 12 and 11 points, respectively. Sulian Matienzo had 10 points for Cuba and Ailama Cese added 8 coming off the bench.

Natalia Valentin, captain of Puerto Rico: Our service was important but we also had good reception and defense. Cuba never quit and they deserve credit. Our team will continue improving.

Sulian Matienzo, captain of Cuba: We improved the level after the first set but Puerto Rico kept pressing. I think we are going to play better.

Javier Gaspar, coach of Puerto Rico: Cuba was really tough, especially in the third set. Our service caused damage because it limited their attacking capacity. That was the difference.

Wilfredo Robinson, coach of Cuba: Our reception failed and we also made too many mistakes with our serves. I want to congratulate Puerto Rico. They were accurate with their serves.