Canada edged Puerto Rico in five sets

 

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 18, 2007.- Canada edged a resilient Puerto Rico in five sets to even its record at 1-1 in Pool A of the Norceca Women’s Qualification Tournament. The score was 25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 18-25, 16-14.

 

Tasha Holness was the best Canadian with 18 points, including 8 blocks, while Stacey Gordon and Tammy Mahon added 17 and 14 respectively. Puerto Rican Sarai Alvarez led all the scorers with 27 points and siblings Aury and Eva Cruz added 16 and 11.

 

“We played well during the first two sets but then Puerto Rico came back strong. The fifth set was a battle point by point. We are happy with this victory and we are not going to stop here,” said Naoki Miyashita, the coach of Canada.

 

“We were over anxious in the first two sets and they combined well. We missed with our serves during the first two sets but then we recovered,” said Juan Carlos Nunez, the Puerto Rican coach. “We improved in the rest of the game which was very close and at the end, Canada pulled out the win.”

 

In a close battle during the first set, Canada prevailed 25-22 with the blocking of Tasha Holness, who rejected three kills and had one ace among her six points, and the spikes of Shelley Chalmers and Tammy Mahon.

 

Puerto Rico battled back behind Ania Ruiz to make close what was a one-side set halfway into the second set. Stacey Gordon twice came up for Canada with solid spikes to give her side new life and the eventual win 25-21.

 

The sides engaged in a tough battle in the third set won by Puerto Rico 25-22. With the score tied at 21-all, Aury Cruz emerged with three consecutive points, including a big block, to put her team on the path to the triumph.

 

Sarai Alvarez was spectacular in the fourth with nine points forcing a tie-breaker as Puerto Rico took the set 25-18.

 

The fifth set was a seesaw battle with the decisive point in favour of Canada when Puerto Rican Alvarez stepped on the line while attacking from the back side.