Puerto Rico secures third place in Pool B

PACHUCA, México, June, 15, 2014 -  Puerto Rico dominated Colombia 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 31-29) to secure third place of Pool B and a spot in the quarterfinals of the XIII Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup at Carlos Martinez Balmori Multipost Hall of the Autonomous University of Hidalgo.

The Puerto Ricans used their experience to solve the critical situations, especially in the fourth set when the rivals battled hard. They closed with an advantage in attacks (49-36) and a slight 8-7 margin in blocks.

The top scorers in the match were Aurea Cruz and Vanessa Velez each with 14 points, while Alexandra Oquendo contributed 11 for Puerto Rico who finished with a 2-2 win-loss mark in the preliminary round.

For the South Americans (1-3) Margarita Martinez and Yeisy Soto had 11 points apiece while Ivonne Montano added 10.

JoséMieles, coach of Puerto Rico was glad about “the performances of my players, who were able to control and follow the plan we practice in the morning, but we also have to give credit to the progress of the opponents in the last two years thanks to the work of their coach.”

Captain Sheila Ocasio said to be proud of her team because “we followed the instructions and kept the calm at the key moments. In the third set, Colombia battled, is a young group with talent and will be better in the future.”

Mauro Marasciulo, Coach of Colombia pointed out to the importance of playing at this tough level. “I had two juniors and the rest are under 21. Puerto Rico has a league of quality and the girls play overseas and that’s our problem without exposition, but I continue with calm working to have a good national team.”

María Alejandra Martin, Captain of Colombia, admitted they didn’t play well in the first two sets like the opponents, “and in the third quarter we reacted but the Puerto Ricans were over us. Congratulations.”