Puerto Rico will face USA in the semifinals

MAYAGÜEZ, Puerto Rico, September 1, 2011. - Puerto Rico qualified to the semifinals of the Men’s NORCECA Championship by defeating Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-19), in the second quarterfinal match of the day.

Puerto Rico claimed the victory with more experience and a better offensive strategy than Trinidad & Tobago. The winners had advantage in serves 7-1. Puerto Rico is set to meet USA in tomorrow’s second semifinal.

Top scorers were team captains; Victor Rivera of Puerto Rico with 15 points and Nolan Tash on the Trinidad & Tobago’s side with 8.

Fernando Morales of Puerto Rico expressed “we wanted to win fast and try to think about tomorrow’s match; Trinidad & Tobago is a very athletic team and we simply did what we know how to do.”

“We were one player short, Marc had to leave back home for some personal issues, so I believe we weren’t as focused as we should have been, also Puerto Rico took advantage of our errors” said Nolan Tash captain of Trinidad & Tobago.

Argentinean coach for Puerto Rico, Carlos Cardona, satisfied with the win indicated “I am twice as happy, first for the victory and second because our young players took charge of the game with responsibility”.

Gideon Dickson was realistic with today’s result “Puerto Rico is a professional and disciplined team, I congratulate them.”