Puerto Rico increases to 3-0 mark in Pool A

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, July 4, 2016 – Puerto Rico claimed a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-19) victory over Canada to remain undefeated in three outings in Pool A of the XV Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup.

Puerto Rico established their service game and could neutralize Canada as they held an 8-2 margin in the ace department led by Stephanie Enright with four.

As coach Juan Carlos Nuñez continued to rotate his players for third consecutive day, Karina Ocasio and Enright were the top scorers of the winning side with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Lynda Morales and Aury Cruz contributed 9 and 8 points, respectively in the win.

Canada’s Shainah Joseph was the most prolific scorer of the match with 13 points while teammate Michaela Reesor added 8.

“Our serves have improved a lot since the first match and we were able to neutralize the blocking of Canada which is one of their strengths,” Nuñez said. “I keep rotating my players to keep everyone fresh before the Olympics.”

“The key was their serve-reception which was very good and we also couldn’t pass well to our setters,” said Arnd Ludwig, the coach of Canada.

“Puerto Rico has been playing consistently and we have to be on top of our game to have a chance against them,” Canadian Lucille Charuk said.

“Our goal is to win one of the medals and basically we have been trying to get a good rhythm before the match against Dominican Republic on Wednesday,” said Aury Cruz of Puerto Rico. “Our offensive serves were the key for us today.”