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GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, May 27, 2022. -
Mexico won their semifinal to Puerto Rico in
five dramatic sets 3-2 (25-19, 25-19, 20-25,
18-25, 17-15) at the Boys’ U19 Pan American Cup
on Friday in Guatemala City.
Mexico will face the U.S. in the gold medal
match. This is Mexico’s third consecutive title
match in the history of the U19 Pan Am Cup; they
won in 2017 to Chile and lost in the past
edition to Cuba.
Puerto Rico´s remarkable performance recovering
from a two-set deficit was a dramatic closing
for the fifth day of competition. Both teams
missed one match point before Mexico’s semifinal
victory.
Mexico led by a slim 53-51 margin in attacks and
17-14 in blocks, while Puerto Rico did better in
serves with a 9-4 advantage. Mexico committed 29
errors and Puerto Rico committed 31.
Mexico’s opposite player Julio Cesar Serrano
scored a tournament-high of 28 points, on 20
kills, a match-high of 6 blocks and 2 aces;
outside hitter Ines Antonio Vargas collected 20
points, on 19 kills and one block, and outside
hitter Victor Miranda added 10 points.
On Puerto Rico´s side, outside hitter Victor
Torres topped with 22 points, on 19 attacks, 2
blocks and one ace, middle blocker Ramon Rosado
contributed with 16 points, on 12 kills, 2
blocks and 2 aces, and outside hitter Diego
Lopez added 12 points, on 10 kills and 2 blocks.
Oscar Viña Guevara, Head Coach Mexico:
“It was a nice game, we suffered and I hope
everyone here enjoyed it. Because of the
player’s age, it’s normal for them to have ups
and downs in their level of play; in addition
that due to the pandemic they haven’t had the
opportunity to compete in nationals nor at an
international level, that’s why this is a great
achievement”.
Francisco Negron, Head Coach Puerto Rico:
“Puerto Rico lacks international experience.
We recovered because we made changes in our
line-up, in the way they attacked in and out
from the sides; also they stabilized the passing
and started to convert balls into points, which
that wasn’t the case in the first two sets. The
fifth set could have gone either way, it was a
great match”. |
