Puerto Rico to play Colombia for ticket to Lima

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 12, 2018 – Puerto Rico advanced to a clash with Colombia for the last available ticket to next year’s Pan American Games after a 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-20) victory over Peru on Thursday.

Puerto Rico held advantages of 9-4 in blocks and 9-3 in serves.

Alba Hernández scored 14 points as three other Puerto Ricans reached double figures. Shirley Ferrer and Neira Ortiz added 13 and 10, respectively. Daly Santana finished with 9.

Kiara Montes and Brenda Lobaton each had 9 points for Peru. Brenda Uribe and Yujhami Mosquera finished with 6 apiece.

Natalia Valentín, captain of Puerto Rico: We focused on putting pressure with our serves and it paid off. Also our defense worked well and made just a few errors. The victory is a confidence builder for the match against Colombia for the qualifier to the Pan Am Games.

Javier Gaspar, coach of Puerto Rico: We minimized the errors and focused on our plan. We studied our opponents well and came out winners. This is a very strong tournament and the physical preparation is very important.

Carlos Aparicio, coach of Peru: I am satisfied with the dedication of my players. Our team looked tired because of the short time to prepare the players physically. Puerto Rico was a superior team. I hope we can put a better team for the Pan American Games 2019.