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TORONTO, Canada, July 18, 2015 – United States beat Puerto Rico
3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-14) to maintain their spotless record in
Pool B of the women’s volleyball tournament at the Pan American
Games in Toronto.
The Americans, who have yet to lose a set after two days of
actions, were threatened in the second set when the Puerto
Ricans were ahead 22-21 but won the next four points with
Kristin Hildebrand capping the surge with her third ace of the
match.
Krista Vansant topped the balanced attack of the winners with 12
points, followed by Hildebrand and Nicole Fawcett who added 10
points apiece. Rachael Adams chipped in with 8 in the victory.
Stefanie Enright finished with 11 points as the only Puerto
Rican player with double figures in the scores. Karina Ocasio
and Aurea Cruz each concluded with 8 points.
The USA team led in attacks 41-28 and in aces 5-2 as both sides
scored with six blocks apiece.
Kristin Hildebrand, Captain of United States: “We did a good job
fighting back from 22-20 as we made the plays with our serves
and good blocking and defense. I am really happy. We did a good
scouting against Puerto Rico as we were able to control their
fast offense.”
Aurea Cruz, player of Puerto Rico: “I don’t have many words.
Maybe disappointed summarize everything. We were not able to
close the second set. We couldn’t do the job. We need to be
consistent from the 20-point mark on. We need to dig out of that
hole we have been. The team is still hungry and we have the
chance to win one of the medals. Our next opponent (Peru) has a
lot of energy and we will need a good game on Monday to overcome
them.”
Daniel Fisher, Coach of United States: “The first and the third
set were too fast, but they gave us everything we can handle on
the second set, so congratulations to them for that. We did a
nice job tonight. I thing we outplayed them in transition when
we struggled, especially on the second set when they were in
system. They were tough to stop but in transition we played very
well and it was a good team effort.”
Jose Mieles, Coach of Puerto Rico: “My team did not play. We
could not get on the court to win a match. We know the level USA
have. Their system is very well set. We couldn’t. I think the
second set was a key. We could solve some situations by getting
the best from the mistakes made by USA. We were just three
points away to get it in our favor 22-20 and failed in the
passing game in our fundamentals.
So I am not satisfied about it”. |
