|
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, May 23, 2022. -
United States controlled Chile 3-0 (26-24,
25-16, 25-11) on day one of the fourth edition
of the Boys’ U19 Pan American Cup, a qualifying
tournament to the FIVB U19 World Championship.
United States dominated Chile with strength in
pool B, finishing with an overwhelming advantage
of 40-20 in attacks, 7-0 in blocks and 10-0 in
serves. The U.S. scored 31 points from opponent
errors and limited to 19 their own.
Opposite hitter Finn Kearney from USA scored a
match-high of 19 points, leading serves with 8
points; outside hitter Sterling Foley
contributed with 18 points and team captain Sean
Kelly registered 14 points. Outside hitter Ian
Gei led Chile with 8 points.
On day two of the event, United States (1-0)
meets Costa Rica (0-1) and Chile (0-1) plays
against Mexico (1-0).
Sean Kelly, Captain United States: “Me
and my team had never played internationally, it
feels great, it’s surreal, a crazy experience.
It was a team effort, we started off a little
slow in the first set, but our energy was great
to pull off with the victory; and then the next
two sets we played much better volleyball”.
Charles Sullivan, Head Coach United States: “In
the first set we were maybe overanxious and
Chile played really well, but we remained
focused and made some adjustments; still Chile
paused us to raise our game and take every rally
very seriously”.
Felipe Valenzuela, Captain Chile: “They
beat us well, mostly because of what we showed,
failing in passing and in controlling our
anxiety. Now we have to think about the next
match, think
of winning because we will battle for
second place”.
Ivan Villarreal, Head Coach Chile: “It
was a complicated match, on paper we knew the
United States was superior, they showed it and
overcame us. I think we could have done a bit
more in the first set, but our lack of
experience was a factor and we must grow
emotionally”. |
