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TORONTO, Canada, July 17, 2015 – Puerto Rico produced a big
surprise in opening day of the men’s volleyball tournament at
the Pan American Games by defeating United States 3-1 (25-23,
24-26, 25-20, 28-26) at Exhibition Centre on Friday.
The more experienced Puerto Ricans overcame the hard-hitting
Americans and took advantage of 42 unforced errors committed by
the defeated side compared to their own 27 faults.
Steven Morales topped the scoring of Puerto Rico with 17 while
receiving respectable offensive support from Jackson Rivera and
Hector Soto, who contributed 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Zachary La Cavera had a match-high 20 points in the losing cause
while teammates Brian Cook and Taylor Averrill finished with 17
and 10 in their haul.
Javier Gaspar, coach of Puerto Rico: “This was a difficult
match. Despite USA is bringing many college players they have
very good system and they are a very physical team. We had to do
a good job with Angel Perez and Edgardo Goas. This was not our
best match. In the first one you go out a little bit nervous,
but we were gaining confidence as the match went by and did the
best to win in four sets.”
Hector Soto, player of Puerto Rico: “Puerto Rico never has been
in medal round at the Pan American Games and this is my last
opportunity so I am trying very hard to accomplish that goal.
The experience helped us. We were able to play better at the end
of the sets than during the whole match. They are a young team
and we are coming from playing in the group 3 of the World
League.”
Charles Sullivan, coach of United States: “We competed against a
good experienced team. Our team still needs to make some
adjustments. The key of the victory was that Puerto Rico served
very well and we need to serve better.”
Zachary La Cavera, player of United States: “They are a very
emotional team, and they really thrive on energy and the fans.
Especially for us, we were not playing so well. I don’t think we
adapted pretty well and I think things we were too slow on our
side, maybe we had a good fight in the end, but we just let them
get into the game and take it away.” |
