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CALI, Colombia, November 26, 2021. - Argentina
recovered to beat Puerto Rico in four sets 3-1
(19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21) in pool A of the
men’s volleyball tournament of the I Junior Pan
American Games Cali-Valle 2021.
Argentina had a rough start losing the first set
but recovered with tenacity to beat a resistant
Puerto Rico. Both teams scored 50 points on
attacks and 7 points on blocks, Argentina held a
slim 3-2 margin in serves while committing fewer
errors (29-34).
Outside hitter and captain Mauro Zelaya led
Argentina’s scorers with 15 points, middle
blocker Imanol Salazar added 14 points including
the most blocks with 5 and opposite hitter
Lorenzo Nieto scored 11 points.
Puerto Rican outside hitter and captain Pedro
Molina scored a match-high of 19 points,
accompanied by middle blocker Willy Varela and
outside hitter Omar Hoyos with 11 points each.
Next matches in pool A are Puerto Rico against
Guatemala and Colombia vs. Argentina.
Mauro Zelaya, captain of Argentina:
“The difference with Puerto Rico was our
block-defense, whey we blocked we were able to
recover and held a huge margin. We must start
every match with energy and conviction, that way
we won’t lose the first set like today”.
Pablo Rico, head coach of Argentina:
“Our counter-attack in the first set made the
difference, we did poorly and it wasn’t what we
had planned, I recognize our opponents’ good
effort that attacked noticeably well. We
adjusted and then it was better, we lived it
with intensity”.
Pedro Molina, captain of Puerto Rico:
“Argentina is a well-adjusted team, compared to
us that we had a few practices before coming. I
think we did it well against a good team and
every day we will perform better than today”.
Gerardo De Jesús Sánchez, head coach of Puerto
Rico:
“It was intense, we played against one of the
best teams in the world, and Argentina has a
decade of being in finals, in U21 they finished
among the top 8 in the world. Argentina is a
team with a lot of practice and good technique,
we did our best but it wasn’t enough”.
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