Puerto Rico earns spot against USA in semifinals

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 8, 2016 - Puerto Rico earned a semifinal ticket at the XV Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup after a convincing straight-set win 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-18) over Argentina on Friday night.

The Puerto Ricans will meet the United States in the first semifinal of Saturday. Puerto Rico subdued their opponents in attacks 38-21, blocks 11-3 and service winners 5-3.

Stefanie Enright had 16 points, including 5 aces, while Karina Ocasio and Lynda Morales added 10 and 9, respectively, with 6 blocks by Morales. Emilce Sosa was the best for Argentina with 7 points.

“It has been one of our best games of all summer,” said Juan Carlos Nunez, the coach of Puerto Rico. “The girls came back focused after the loss to the Dominican Republic and did everything right. We served tactically trying to avoid the attack down the middle which is one of the strong points of Argentina”

“The overall performance of our team and some of the players, individually, was bad,” said Guillermo Orduna, the coach of Argentina. “Puerto Rico played with consistency and we couldn’t do too much.”

Karina Ocasio, player of Puerto Rico: “We didn’t expect to win in three sets. Our matches against Argentina are usually very close and longer. The difference today was that we made fewer mistakes and served and blocked better.”

Emilce Sosa, player of Argentina: “We tried to play but they didn’t allow us to do too much. We failed in all aspects of the game.”