Ibarra scores 27 in Chile’s win over Puerto Rico

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, April 24, 2019 – Chile overcame Puerto Rico 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-21, 26-24) in a match of Pool B of the U19 Boys’ Volleyball Pan American Cup on Wednesday at Ricardo Arias Pavilion in Santo Domingo.

The South American squad erased a three-point deficit (24-21) in the fourth set to claim the victory.

Vicente Ibarra scored a match-high 27 points, including three blocks and two aces, to carry most of the load of the Chilean offense. Vicente Valenzuela helped in defense with 6 blocks among his 9 points while Antar Derpich added 12 in the victory.

Sebastian Negron and Ismael Hernández each had 16 points for Puerto Rico and Diego Rosich finished with 13.

Chile benefitted from 38 unforced errors by Puerto Rico while committing 26 of their own.

Vicente Ibarra, captain of Chile: “First of all I am very glad. It was a tough match because our team had a lot of ups and downs but at the end we could get the win.”

Wilmer Hernández, captain of Puerto Rico: “We had many errors in reception and in finishing details. Now we just have to work for the next match.”

Ivan Villareal, coach of Chile: “Congratulations to Puerto Rico. It is not an easy opponent. My team bounced back from a bad first set and we were able to leave with the win.”

Juan Albarrán, coach of Puerto Rico: “First of all my respects to Chile. In the first set our team was good with the serves which damage the sync of Chile’s defense but in the second and third set we were down a little. In the fourth we came back to lead but had problems with the reception and the little things are the ones that win the games”.